How Peacemaker Avoids Batman’s Worst Vigilante Issue

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Warning: Contains spoilers for Peacemaker episode 5.

Despite the nature of Peacemaker as a character, the Peacemaker TV series has managed to avoid the biggest problem that Batman poses as a vigilante in the DCEU. Peacemaker was introduced as a character in The Suicide Squad where he was shown as a super-violent individual who would kill as many “men, women, and children,” as necessary to achieve peace. Peacemaker has challenged that idea but has also used another key plot device to avoid the Batman problem.

In recent years, Batman has increasingly been criticized for the fact that his superpower is ultimately having a lot of money and no consequences. In his move against organized crime, Batman functions in a similar way to a police officer but with no restrictions on hurting people or breaching their privacy. Many have now pointed out that he could achieve greater social change through the use of his fortune (an element that DC has tried to combat with the Wayne Foundation), but as he pursues his nighttime activities he creates his own authority and has no check or balances on his actions.

Related: Why Peacemaker Retcons Batman's No Kill Rule In The DCEU

The Peacemaker TV series cleverly manages to avoid this problem that plagues Batman and other vigilante stories. Because Peacemaker is forced into service by the ARGUS team, he is able to serve outside of the usual law without acting free of consequences and oversight. However, Peacemaker also avoids becoming a police show by having the agency that he gains authority from having to work around a compromised government and compromised police force to try and actually serve the people. This is helped by the fact that Peacemaker shows hesitation about killing people he is