The latest season of Peacemaker is pushing some story elements in some interesting directions, and James Gunn couldn’t be more unapologetic about it.
Episode 6 shocked fans with the reveal that Chris Smith stumbled into Earth-X, an alternate reality where the Nazis won World War II and took control of America.
By Episode 7, it was confirmed that anyone who isn’t white is locked away in camps, which is a grim and unsettling vision of a world ruled by hate.
Some viewers, unbelievably, took to social media to complain about how Peacemaker handled its depiction of Nazis. But Gunn, never one to shy away from controversy, is making it clear he’s not losing a minute of sleep over it.
In a recent interview with GQ, Gunn said: “The show delights me. I really do whatever I want with Peacemaker—and I mean, in one respect, I do whatever I want with anything, because I am able to make my own choices and I’m my own boss.
He added: “But with Peacemaker, we really let it go. We take chances. We go to places where I think other people are afraid to go.”
He went on to explain that there was some internal pushback behind the scenes, but he wasn’t about to compromise the story.
“We got a lot of pushback from various sources within the structure, on this episode in particular, and we’re like, ‘Let’s not be bashful about this. Let’s just do the story that we want to do and I don’t want to have to pull punches with it.’”
And as far as those complaining online? Gunn couldn’t care less. “And it’s interesting because there hasn’t been that sort of… I have a few racists that have called me polarizing, but I’m okay with being polarizing and letting racists fall to the wayside. People have loved this episode the most, so it’s exciting.”
While it sounds like the show won’t be revisiting Earth-X anytime soon, fans can expect next week’s episode to dive deeper into the mysterious QUC and what it means for the Man of Tomorrow.
As for the backlash? It’s hard to take anyone seriously who’s upset about Nazis being portrayed in an unflattering light. Peacemaker is just doing what it does best: telling wild, fearless stories that refuse to play it safe.
