When James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad hit theaters and streaming in 2021, audiences were shocked by its body count. Beloved and quirky characters alike were wiped out in over-the-top fashion. But few deaths hit as hard—or seemed as definitive—as the fate of Christopher Smith, a.k.a. Peacemaker (played by John Cena).
After a brutal fight with Rick Flag and a tense standoff with Bloodsport, Peacemaker appeared to be killed by a bullet to the neck just before Jotunheim, the giant fortress in Corto Maltese, collapsed on top of him. For many viewers, that looked like the end.
But then came the post-credit twist: Peacemaker was alive. And not only alive, but destined to star in his very own TV show, Peacemaker (2022), which dove deeper into his troubled psyche, questionable morality, and even darker past.
So the burning question is: How did Peacemaker survive? Was it comic-book logic, pure plot armor, or something more grounded? Let’s take a detailed look at every angle—what happened in the movie, what the show tells us, the medical plausibility, James Gunn’s narrative choices, and what it all means for Peacemaker’s character arc.
Peacemaker’s “Death” in The Suicide Squad
To understand his survival, we first need to revisit what happened in The Suicide Squad.
The Fight With Rick Flag
Deep within Jotunheim, Rick Flag uncovers a drive containing evidence that the U.S. government was secretly behind the creation and cover-up of Project Starfish. Flag refuses to let it be buried. Peacemaker, however, has sworn an oath to maintain peace at all costs—even if it means killing heroes to preserve government secrets.
The two clash in one of the film’s most emotional fights. Peacemaker ends up impaling Flag through the heart with a shard of porcelain, killing him. This brutal moment cemented him as one of the movie’s most controversial characters.
The Duel With Bloodsport
But Peacemaker’s troubles don’t end there. Ratcatcher 2 flees with the drive, and Peacemaker corners her. Just before he can shoot her, Bloodsport arrives.
The two face off in a tense gunslinger-style duel. Both fire at the same time. Peacemaker’s bullet should have killed Bloodsport—but Bloodsport’s “smaller bullet” pierces through Peacemaker’s larger one, continues, and strikes Peacemaker in the neck.
Peacemaker collapses. Blood pools. The building crumbles around him. For the audience, this looked like a clean kill and a crushing finale for John Cena’s character.
The Post-Credit Reveal: He’s Alive
But James Gunn had other plans.
In the post-credit scene, two A.R.G.U.S. agents, Emilia Harcourt and John Economos, walk through a hospital hallway. They stop by a room where Peacemaker lies unconscious, hooked up to monitors but very much alive.
“He’s in critical condition, but stable,” a nurse remarks.
Economos sighs, “Great. Just what the world needs—Peacemaker.”
This stinger exists for one reason: to set up the Peacemaker series. Peacemaker didn’t die because Gunn wasn’t done telling his story. Instead, his survival becomes the entry point into a whole new chapter of his life.
How Peacemaker Survives (the Show) Explains It
Episode 1 of Peacemaker, titled “A Whole New Whirled,” opens with Christopher Smith in a hospital bed. It’s been five months since Corto Maltese. He still feels sore, but he’s able to walk and move.
A doctor delivers the key line:
“You got shot, a building fell on you, and all you had to replace was a clavicle. You’re the luckiest man alive.”
This moment is crucial. It tells us exactly what his injuries were and how he survived:
- The bullet hit his neck but didn’t sever a carotid artery, jugular vein, or spinal cord.
- The collapse of Jotunheim caused additional trauma, but the most serious surgical repair needed was a clavicle replacement.
- After five months of recovery, he’s cleared to leave.
The show makes no mention of experimental technology, metahuman healing, or comic-book resurrections. Peacemaker is alive because—against all odds—he simply got lucky.
The Anatomy of Survival: Is It Realistic?
A gunshot to the neck is usually catastrophic. The neck contains the body’s most vital structures:
- Carotid arteries (carry blood to the brain)
- Jugular veins (carry blood away from the brain)
- Trachea (airway)
- Esophagus (swallowing passage)
- Spinal cord (nerve control)
Damage to any of these usually means death within minutes. So how did Peacemaker avoid it?
Medical experts point out that the lateral neck has “safe corridors” where a bullet can pass through muscle and soft tissue without hitting anything vital. If the bullet also fragments or loses energy (as Bloodsport’s smaller bullet likely did when passing through another bullet first), the wound can be survivable.
The mention of a clavicle replacement suggests the bullet (or falling debris) traveled downward into his collarbone. While painful and debilitating, a fractured clavicle is fixable with surgery. The fact that he was hospitalized for five months also lines up with a long orthopedic recovery.
In short: improbable, but not impossible.
The Building Collapse Factor
Even if the bullet didn’t kill him, surely the collapse of Jotunheim did?
Not necessarily. Structural collapses often create “survivor’s voids”—pockets of space where debris piles in such a way that someone can survive with injuries but without being completely crushed. Search-and-rescue teams often find survivors hours or even days later in such spaces.
In Peacemaker’s case, A.R.G.U.S. was actively searching the site. They had medical tech and extraction teams ready. His survival through the collapse isn’t magic; it’s logistics combined with narrative convenience.
James Gunn’s Narrative Choice
From a storytelling perspective, James Gunn always intended Peacemaker to survive. HBO Max had already ordered Peacemaker as a spinoff before The Suicide Squad even hit theaters.
Why Peacemaker? Gunn has said that John Cena’s mix of absurd comedy, raw physicality, and unexpected vulnerability made him the perfect character to explore further. Where The Suicide Squad showed Peacemaker as a violent zealot willing to kill in the name of peace, Gunn wanted the series to peel back the layers and ask:
- Can a man who “cherishes peace so much he’ll kill for it” actually learn what peace means?
- What shaped him into this person?
- Can he change, or is he destined to repeat the cycle?
To tell that story, Gunn needed him alive. Thus, the post-credit reveal and the series’ grounded-but-lucky medical explanation.
Fan Theories About His Survival
Even with the show’s clear explanation, fans have debated how Peacemaker could have lived. Here are the most popular theories—and why they don’t hold up.
1. His Helmet Saved Him
Some fans suggested Peacemaker’s high-tech helmets deflected the bullet. But the wound was clearly in his neck, not his skull. His helmet was off during the duel, so this theory doesn’t match the visuals.
2. Waller Used Advanced Tech to Revive Him
Others speculated A.R.G.U.S. used experimental science, nanotech, or even a Lazarus Pit-style resurrection to bring him back. But Peacemaker makes no mention of this. The doctor’s line about a clavicle replacement is too mundane for a high-tech revival.
3. Continuity Reboot
Some thought his death was retconned away when James Gunn began reshaping DC continuity. But the post-credit scene and the Peacemaker pilot were filmed together. His survival wasn’t a retcon—it was planned all along.
The Character Arc: Why Survival Matters
Peacemaker’s survival isn’t just a plot point. It’s the foundation for his character development.
In The Suicide Squad, he’s a cold zealot who kills Rick Flag without hesitation. In Peacemaker, he’s forced to face the consequences of that action. He struggles with guilt, his toxic upbringing under Auggie Smith (White Dragon), and his desperate desire to be “a good man.”
If he had died in Corto Maltese, that growth wouldn’t exist. His survival allows James Gunn to tell a redemption story—not of a perfect hero, but of a deeply flawed man trying, stumbling, and sometimes failing to be better.
Comic Book Comparisons
Interestingly, in the original Charlton Comics and later DC comics, Peacemaker doesn’t die in his early outings either. His stories often revolve around him surviving against incredible odds due to a mix of training, willpower, and sheer luck.
The cinematic version mirrors that tradition: Peacemaker isn’t invincible, but he’s almost too stubborn to die. His “luckiest man alive” survival fits perfectly within the legacy of the character.
The Timeline of His Survival
To put it all together:
- Corto Maltese: Bloodsport shoots Peacemaker in the neck. He collapses. Jotunheim falls.
- Shortly after, A.R.G.U.S. extraction teams find him alive in the rubble. He’s stabilized and rushed to a hospital.
- Five months later: After surgery (clavicle replacement) and rehab, he’s discharged.
- Immediately after release, Waller’s team scoops him up for Project Butterfly, preventing him from returning to prison.
This timeline explains everything between his “death” in The Suicide Squad and his starring role in Peacemaker.
Why “Luckiest Man Alive” Is the Final Word
At the end of the day, the series doesn’t overcomplicate things. The doctor’s line in Episode 1 is the definitive explanation: Peacemaker survived because he was lucky.
- Lucky the bullet missed major arteries.
- Lucky, the building collapse created a survivable void.
- Lucky A.R.G.U.S. found him fast enough.
- Luckily, his injuries, while serious, were surgically fixable.
In-universe, he’s “the luckiest man alive.” Out-of-universe, he survived because James Gunn wanted to explore his story further—and John Cena was too good in the role to waste on a single film.
Conclusion
So how did Peacemaker survive?
The answer is a mix of medical plausibility, narrative intent, and good old-fashioned comic book luck. The bullet wound wasn’t instantly fatal. The building collapse didn’t crush him. He endured months of painful recovery. And, most importantly, James Gunn wanted to use him as a lens to explore masculinity, guilt, and redemption in the DC universe.
Peacemaker’s survival isn’t just about cheating death. It’s about giving the character—and the audience—a second chance. A chance to look past the blood and bravado, to see the broken man beneath, and to ask whether someone like him can ever truly find peace.
In that sense, Peacemaker didn’t just survive a bullet and a collapse. He survived to become something more: a man forced to confront the very meaning of the word “peace.”
