Why Peacemaker Retcons Batman's No Kill Rule In The DCEU
Warning: Contains spoilers for Peacemaker episode 4.
In Peacemaker episode 4, one conversation serves to retcon the DCEU’s take on Batman’s no-kill rule. Batman is famous for two crucial rules in his code: he doesn’t use guns and he doesn’t kill people. Zack Snyder’s entries to the DCEU put these rules aside, but James Gunn has made it clear that he’s bringing the second one back for Peacemaker.
When Ben Affleck put on the cape and cowl for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice during his entrance into the DCEU, some viewers were surprised to see him kill multiple people in the movie. Bruce Wayne’s kill count in his first DCEU appearance is hard to calculate, but he mows down several characters with machine guns mounted to his Batwing and Batmobile, breaks the neck of another, and blows up some characters by using a flamethrower. When asked about the decision, Zack Snyder made it clear that he didn’t feel it was realistic for someone like Batman to never actually kill anyone in his crime-fighting.
Related: Batman v Superman: How Many People Ben Affleck's Batman Kills
When Peacemaker returns to his father’s house in Peacemaker episode 4, “The Choad Less Traveled,” his neighbor questions him about whether he had a rogues' gallery like Batman and Peacemaker explains that his supervillains are all dead. The neighbor then announces that Batman doesn’t kill people. While Peacemaker raises the question of how many people have died because Batman kept letting his homicidal supervillains escape, this makes it clear that in this timeline Batman doesn’t kill people. Of course, this could be down to some spectacular PR on Bruce Wayne’s part, but it seems unlikely that in the modern-day people would not learn about it if Batman killed
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