HBO Max’s Peacemaker wrapped up its first season on Thursday, with an episode jam-packed full of emotional character moments and shocking scenes. While one key sequence within the episode is already breaking the Internet with its connections to the larger live-action DC universe, there were a number of other references that absolutely surprised fans of the franchise’s comic book lore. Among them was a line of dialogue that name-dropped — for the first time in the DC Extended Universe — a certain Emerald Archer. Spoilers for Episode 8 of Peacemaker, “It’s Cow or Never”, below! Only look if you want to know!
The episode saw Christopher Smith / Peacemaker (John Cena) and his team attempting to break into the temporary fortress used by The Butterflies, in hopes of killing the alien “cow” that was the source of their food. The team tried to find a way to sneak some of Peacemaker’s most deadly helmets into the barn without detection, which proved to be a comedy of errors. After their first two attempts at trying to get a helmet through the air, the team entertained the possibility of sending it on an arrow-hoisted zipline. This led Adrian Chase / Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) to remark that that would be “like Green Arrow,” which Peacemaker shut down, saying “that dude goes to Brony conventions dressed as the back half of Twilight Sparkle” with a hole “drilled” in the back of the costume. John Economos (Steve Agee) then remarked that he’s also heard the same rumor.
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This bizarre and hilarious exchange serves as the first official confirmation that Green Arrow exists in the DCEU — particularly, on a level where he would be recognizable to Vigilante, Peacemaker, and Economos. That provides some pretty interesting context to Oliver Queen’s notoriety as a superhero in the universe, after years of fans speculating (and fancasting) about when and how he could exist in the franchise. The name-drop also comes after rumors had swirled about Green Arrow actually appearing in the show, which led to series creator James Gunn remarking that that was “nonsense”, but that he did love Green Arrow as a child.
What do you think of Peacemaker name-dropping Green Arrow in its Season 1 finale? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
The first season of Peacemaker is now available to stream exclusively on HBO Max. Season 2 is expected to debut at a later date.
