Why Judomaster’s Peacemaker Suit is Green & Not Comic-Accurate

Peacemaker director and writer James Gunn explains why Judomaster’s suit is green and not based on the comics’ Japanese flag design. Gunn’s The Suicide Squad introduced a handful of comic book characters into live-action, including John Cena’s Christopher Smith/Peacemaker. The film’s post-credits scene revealed the demented Captain America survived the events on Corto Maltese, which set up his self-titled HBO Max series. In addition to Cena, the spinoff series’ cast includes Jennifer Holland, Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, Freddie Stoma, Chukwudi Iwuji, and Nhut Le.

Peacemaker sees its titular character and the 11th Street Kids thwart an alien invasion by the Butterflies. The Butterflies are led by their queen, who initially inhabits the body of Senator Royland Goff. In episode 3, “Better Goff Dead,” audiences are introduced to another comic book character in Goff’s bodyguard, Judomaster, a martial artist with an affinity for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos who also happens to be a firm believer in the Butterflies’ cause. Judomaster is played by Le, who is best known for stints in Raven’s Home, Stardumb, and Kroll Show.

Gunn recently took to Twitter to explain why Judomaster’s costume in Peacemaker differs from the character’s garb in the comics. Gunn, who often interacts with fans on social media, said he didn’t think it was appropriate to further indulge the comics’ oversight by putting a non-Japanese character in a costume based on the Japanese flag. Check out the tweet below:

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Judomaster’s DC Extended Universe appearance marks the first time the comics superhero has gotten the live-action treatment. In the comics, Judomaster is a legacy name used by three characters, beginning with Hadley “Rip” Jagger—a World War II warrior who first appeared in 1965. Naturally, no one recognized the absurdity—for lack of a better word— of draping a white American superhero in the Japanese flag nearly six decades ago. This misstep was rectification with future iterations of the character. For example, in 2007, DC introduced a female Judomaster in former Yakuza assassin, Sonia Sato. Peacemaker’s Le is an American actor with Vietnamese ancestry; it wouldn’t have made much sense to give him a comics-accurate costume.

Le almost quit acting before Peacemaker, which is currently the highest-rated DCEU project on Rotten Tomatoes with 95% critics score and a 88% audiences score. The series has already been renewed for season 2, which will see Gunn return to write and direct following work on Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. On top of being a recurring adversary of Peacemaker, Judomaster is friends with Atom Smasher and other Justice Society of America members—who are making their DCEU debut in Warner Bros./DC Films’ upcoming Black Adam. That said, Le’s tenure in the universe has likely just begun.

Source: James Gunn/Twitter

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Josh Plainse
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Josh Plainse is a writer, movie, and television fanatic based out of Wisconsin. Josh works for Screen Rant covering the latest in entertainment while simultaneously pursuing the never-ending dream of becoming an established novelist, screenwriter, and/or decent human being. Josh would accredit characters such as Goku, Han Solo, Simba, and Maximus Decimus Meridius for instilling within him an affinity for storytelling. It is this incessant obsession which has propelled him to seek opportunities that inform, entertain, and inspire others.

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