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James Gunn Justifies Peacemaker's Murder of Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad


Credit: WB

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is one of the finest comic book film offerings we got last year. And despite underperforming at the box office, the film still generated enough buzz and appreciation online. However, not everyone was pleased with the director's decision to kill off several characters from the original David Ayer film, including the shocking death of Rick Flag at the hands of Peacemaker.

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Credit: WB



Unsurprisingly, Gunn has drawn flak over his decision and fans on social media still question it, months after the film was released. Well, the director of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is unapologetic about it and according to him, Christopher Smith has every reason in the world to murder Flag.

Appearing on the Podly: The Peacemaker Podcast, Gunn said: People constantly are writing on Twitter about how awful [Peacemaker] is and how mad they are that he killed Rick Flag — and I may get shit for saying this — but what he was doing, he had a reason for doing it. He kills Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad because there's a piece of evidence that he believes will cause the world a great amount of disturbance and death and violence. He's covering up the truth, so if you believe in the truth being out there no matter what, you definitely don't agree with that."

Also Read: Peacemaker: James Gunn Explains the Hidden Meaning Behind the Opening Credits

Honestly, I was among the fans who were bummed out after The Suicide Squad killed off Flag. He had loads of potential and Gunn's soft-reboot pretty much redeemed the character who was mostly underappreciated in the theatrical cut of the film. But since the world of superheroes offers loads of possibilities, there might be a chance that we'll see him back eventually. Who knows?

Meanwhile, the first three episodes of Peacemaker are now available for streaming on HBO Max.

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