Peacemaker: James Gunn Reveals Batman Joke Was Almost Rejected by DC

There was a moment early on in the first episode of Peacemaker where we see Peacemaker exchange words with his father's neighbor who said that he is not a hero if he kills people, unlike Batman. Peacemaker responded by saying that Batman will never cross the line because he is a "p*ssy." It was a funny moment during the episode, but as it turns out, it almost got rejected by DC.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter podcast TV's Top 5, James Gunn revealed that the Batman joke almost didn't get approval by DC. "I was very surprised because they were not too fond of Peacemaker calling Batman a p*ssy," he said. "I’m like, ‘But he talks about all these other terrible things about all these other superheroes that are much worse than calling Batman a p*ssy.’ Not only that, Batman is the only one he makes a fair point about; everybody else he’s really just believing stuff that he read on the Internet. Everything that he believes is kind of nonsense, and Batman is the only one who has a point of view on that makes any sense whatsoever."

In the end, DC let him move forward with the joke. "They let me get away with what I got away with at the end of the day," Gunn said.

However, when asked about why DC didn't have any concern about the jokes regarding Aquaman and Superman, Gunn responded, "I don’t know. You’d have to ask them. I don’t know why him calling Batman a p*ssy is potentially more offensive than him saying Superman [has a poop fetish]. I don’t understand why one was brought up and one wasn’t."

It is understandable why DC had initial concerns about the joke since it might be a bit too far for their standards, especially since Batman is one of their important gems and they want to protect it. However, it suits the character and the series if they would do some playful jokes on the existing superheroes in the universe and it also adds a bit of connectivity to the rest of the DCEU. But most importantly, the jokes were funny and we're glad that DC let Gunn get away with them at the end.

Also Read: Peacemaker Episode 4 Trailer Shows the Team Saving the World from Butterfly Invasion

New episodes of Peacemaker premiere every Thursday on HBO Max.