James Gunn Reveals Fan-Favorite Villain’s Fate in the DCU After Apparent Death

James Gunn just clarified the fate of one obscure criminal in the DC Universe on Peacemaker: The Official Podcast. In this week’s episode, Gunn answered questions submitted by fans on social media, including one about the villain Kite Man. Peacemaker Season 1 didn’t even mention the character out loud, but we did see a newspaper clipping about Peacemaker (John Cena) defeating Kite Man, leaving viewers to wonder if he was dead, or if he still has a future in the DCU. Gunn assured listeners that, in this case, Peacemaker did not use letha force, and that seems to be supported in the episode as well. Still, he didn’t say if or when the character might take flight again.

“It may say Peacemaker’s taken down Kite Man, I don’t think that means permanently,” Gunn said. “I don’t think it means he killed him, took him down. I think he just got him, and he’s in prison now. So, he’s still fine. We could see Kite Man, sure.”

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Right now, the Peacemaker podcast is made up mostly of commentary on Peacemaker Season 1, with Gunn chiming in specifically to point out things that are no longer canon in the DCU, and highlight important things that are. This call-out for Kite Man prompted a decisive stamp from a co-host declaring this even “canon.” In some ways, it’s amusing that this obscure character has a canonical place in the DCU before so many other, more beloved figures, including Batman himself, but many fans appreciate Gunn for these deep cuts.

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Kite Man as first introduced in a Batman comic back in 1960, and for the most part, he’s a pretty low-level, obscure criminal, sometimes used as bait by more nefarious supervillains. However, Kite Man has seen an spike in notoriety lately thanks to the animated series Harley Quinn, where he got some funny lines and a distinct place in the story. Unfortunately, Harley Quinn is not a canonical part of the DCU, so his characterization there doesn’t apply.

So far, the DCU consists only of Creature Commandos and Superman. Peacemaker Season 2 will also be a part of this continuity, but Gunn is still picking and choosing which aspects of the story to keep. It’s a pretty flexible setting at this point, as metahumans are well-established here with a long history and integration into every day life. What that means for an ordinary man who happens to be good with a hang-glider remains to be seen.

Peacemaker Season 2 premieres on August 21st on HBO Max. Season 1 is streaming there now, along with Creature Commandos. Peacemaker: The Official Podcast is available now on most podcast apps.