DC’s Peacemaker’s Abilities, Strengths, Weaknesses

One of the characters that were introduced to use in The Suicide Squad, which was released in 2021, is Peacemaker, who formed part of the aforementioned group and was one of the antagonists near the end of the film. While we do know that Peacemaker survived in the film and is set to have his own spin-off series, there are still some people who don’t know much about him.

Specifically, what are Peacemaker’s abilities, strengths, and weaknesses? While some of these questions may have been answered in The Suicide Squad, it still is better to explore what Peacemaker can do ahead of the release of his own spin-off series on HBO Max.

Peacemaker’s Abilities

One of the things that you should know about Peacemaker is that he is an ordinary human. There is nothing extraordinary about Peacemaker because his basic physiology is that of a regular human being. This means that he is not like other heroes or villains who have superhuman capabilities and powers. Peacemaker has no superhuman abilities or powers whatsoever, but he still possesses amazing abilities that you don’t often see in regular humans.

• Master marksman. Peacemaker is a master marksman that could use almost any type of ranged weapon with ease. He has trained his entire life in the use of different weapons, and that allows him to shoot his targets without even taking half a second to aim. He can accurately fire all of his different weapons from quite a good distance without even looking. And, in his final confrontation with Bloodsport in The Suicide Squad, he shot an opposing bullet head-on.
• Expert hand-to-hand fighter. Coupled with his amazing human capabilities is Peacemaker’s hand-to-hand fighting prowess. Thanks to his rigorous training since he was a child, Peacemaker is an elite combatant that can go toe-to-toe with any seasoned fighter. And he is so good as a combatant that he fought Rick Flag, an expertly trained military personnel, on par in The Suicide Squad.
• Close-ranged weapons expert. While Peacemaker may be proficient with guns and other ranged weapons and is just as good without weapons, he was also portrayed to be an expert in close-ranged weapons as well. This was seen when he was using his ax and sword in The Suicide Squad. As Waller herself said, anything can be a weapon in the hands of Peacemaker because of his childhood training and background as a weapons specialist.
• Indomitable will. Perhaps Peacemaker’s greatest ability is his indomitable will. He is so obsessed with keeping the peace that there is nothing that can stand in his way. His will is so great that whenever he puts his mind into something that will allow him to achieve or keep the peace, he will stop at nothing to try and do whatever it takes to achieve his mission. This attribute is what separates him from all of the other weapons experts in DC.

Peacemaker’s Strengths

Despite the fact that Peacemaker is an ordinary human, he is anything but ordinary when compared to other humans. Portrayed by former wrestling superstar John Cena, who is a huge man himself, Peacemaker’s capabilities surpass that of a regular human’s. His abilities include:

• Peak human strength. Peacemaker is one of the strongest non-superpowered humans in the DC universe, as his strength is easily at peak levels for any human. That means that he trained his body to be as strong as it is to the point that he can easily manhandle other people with his strength, such as burying an ax deep into a man’s head with ease and slamming people left and right as if they weighed nothing. In a way, choosing John Cena to portray Peacemaker was the perfect choice to display how strong this character is.
• Peak human durability. On top of his peak human strength, Peacemaker also possesses peak human durability, which means that he can both dish out and take hits at the highest level possible for a human. He is resilient enough to take and survive hits that could have normally taken out any other person. But the best display of his durability was when he survived a gunshot that should have been fatal for any human.
• Peak human stamina. Peacemaker is not only strong but also has the endurance of a peak athlete. He shows little to no fatigue during his fights. While other humans who possess supreme strength tend to tire out quickly, the same cannot be said about Peacemaker because he can go for a very long time during any fight he is in.
• Peak human reflexes. In most cases, the strongest humans tend to be quite slow. As strong as Peacemaker is, he also possesses peak human reflexes in the sense that he can move very quickly for his size and react fast enough to different situations. You can easily see this whenever he is shooting his gun or whenever he reacts quick enough to prevent his opponents from reaching or shooting their weapons first.

Peacemaker’s Weaknesses

At the end of the day, Peacemaker is still an ordinary human. While he may have augmented his physical abilities to peak human levels, he still possesses all of the other weaknesses that humans have, albeit to a lesser extent. And while he does have an indomitable will, it is also that very same obsession in peace that can be his downfall.

• Human physiology. Peacemaker is still human in the most basic sense of the word. He might have trained his body to the point that it is close to superhuman levels, he still has the same weaknesses that any human has. That means that he can still die when he takes enough damage from piercing, slashing, and blunt force weapons. On top of that, he is just as susceptible as any human is to things such as drowning, explosion, poison, and illness.
• Obsession with peace. Even though he might have an indomitable will when it comes to wanting to keep the peace, his obsession with peace can also be a weakness. That’s because being so obsessed with peace can cloud his judgment and make it more difficult for him to choose the right action to take in situations where peace is at stake.