Peacemaker’s Leota Adebayo Is Another Perfect James Gunn Character Trick

Warning! SPOILERS for Peacemaker episode 5.

In Peacemaker episode 5, the DCEU TV series demonstrated how James Gunn’s creation of the character of Leota Adebayo works perfectly for the story he set out to tell. James Gunn has become known for his comic book adaptations of strange properties in both the MCU and the DCEU where he often brings obscure characters from the comics to life. However, Leota demonstrates how his original characters can be just as important as those that he adapts.

Peacemaker episode 1 reintroduced Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) who both appeared in The Suicide Squad as part of the Task Force X control team. It also introduced Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji), an emotionally closed-off black-ops operative, and Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), a newbie to the field and the daughter of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). Leota has always been more open to seeing the good in Peacemaker (John Cena), but in Peacemaker episode 5, Leota Adebayo connects on a deeper level with him before having to betray him by planting the forged diary for her mother.

Peacemaker himself was introduced in The Suicide Squad and the only side of him that was really visible was the obnoxious façade that he put up. While Harcourt and Economos got to know him through that mission, Leota is coming to him with fresh eyes at a point after he has killed Rick Flag and had his assumptions about himself shaken to their core. By creating Leota as a new face who is not already jaded by being part of the world of black-ops, she’s able to provide the viewer with a perspective on Peacemaker that is more akin to that of an average person. Her detachment from the business is what allows her – and through her proxy, the audience – to see the sadness in Peacemaker’s character, and using her familial connection to Peacemaker‘s Waller as an explanation for how someone so fresh could be in that position was a stroke of genius from James Gunn.

Gunn’s creation of Leota Adebayo also allows him to place a more progressive political lens on Peacemaker. Politics is an innate part of Peacemaker’s storyline, as it is built around Peacemaker’s relationship with his father (Robert Patrick), and coming to realize how problematically racist and offensive his white supremacist ideals are. While most of the team are clearly opposed to white supremacy and think White Dragon is a bad person, they’re mostly portrayed as apolitical, keeping themselves from getting personally involved in anything they’re doing. However, Leota’s openness to discuss the issues allows her to confront Peacemaker on behalf of the viewer, pointing out that his father hates people with her color skin and her LGBTQ+ relationship also helps to bring in other more progressive views and discussion.

James Gunn’s inclusion of Keeya as Leota Adebayo’s wife is similarly perfect in how it enables him to portray the character. Leota is put off by a lot of the things that the team does, questioning ideals that lead to killing innocent bodyguards. Having a family outside of her new black-ops life sets her apart from the rest of the Peacemaker cast and helps to keep her accountable to her values. Peacemaker episode 5 hammers this point home as Leota finally returns Keeya’s call and reflects on the damage that the work is doing to her not after being in a firefight against aliens, but after betraying Peacemaker’s trust. It is unclear how Peacemaker will end and whether Leota Adebayo will return for Peacemaker season 2, but she has been a perfect creation by James Gunn who’s helped redefine Peacemaker after The Suicide Squad.

Peacemaker releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO.

About The Author

Faefyx Collington
(489 Articles Published)

Faefyx Collington (They/Them) is a senior features writer for Screen Rant. They’re a British writer of both fiction and non-fiction, focussing on science fiction, fantasy, and mystery for the former and on culture, gender, and current affairs for the latter.
Never content to settle to one thing, Faefyx is also a co-host and producer of the podcast and video series “Unramblings,” and can occasionally be found making music around the internet as well.
Having acquired degrees on both sides of the Atlantic, Fyx has settled (for the moment) in the southern United States where they live with their spouse and an entirely appropriate number of cats.

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