Warning! This article contains minor spoilers for Peacemaker season 2, episode 1.
Via Peacemaker season 2, James Gunn’s DCU takes some subtle jabs at Jared Leto. Peacemaker season 2’s story centers around the titular hero after his season 1 adventures, only this time in the newly-launched DC Universe. The ending of Superman saw the DCU truly begin, with Peacemaker picking up where that left off.
However, the two projects could not be more different from a tonal perspective. Superman included some jokes, yet Peacemaker season 2 is much more in James Gunn’s comedic wheelhouse. The jokes from Peacemaker season 2’s cast come much more frequently than they did in Superman, emulating Gunn’s prior work on the series.
As evidenced by Peacemaker season 2’s reviews, the comedic tone of the show blends perfectly with its more dramatized elements, making for a solid continuation of the DC Universe. Linking to the humorous nature of Peacemaker season 2, the show’s first episode and post-credits scene pokes fun at former Joker actor Jared Leto.
Peacemaker’s Thirty Seconds to Mars Jokes Explained
The way in which Peacemaker takes jabs at Jared Leto is via several Thirty Seconds to Mars jokes, the band Leto formed alongside his brother. At one point, Peacemaker asks Emilia Harcourt why her knuckles are bloody, to which she replies that she had an episode punching her dashboard. Chris replies:
“The last time I was in that car it was playing some Spin Doctors and Thirty Seconds to Mars or some shit. I was gonna kick its ass then, but you two seemed like you were on good terms.”
Harcourt retorts that she is not on good terms with Thirty Seconds to Mars. Then, in Peacemaker season 2, episode 1’s post-credit scene, an extended version of that moment is shown.
Harcourt is shown telling Chris that he cannot lump Thirty Seconds to Mars in with Spin Doctors, as the latter are actually good. Chris then says, “Yeah, geez, anybody’s better than Thirty Seconds to Mars. That garage band I was in for two seconds is better than Thirty Seconds to Mars.”
One possible layer to these jokes is simply that James Gunn does not care for Thirty Seconds to Mars’ music, as the filmmaker is known to be particular about his music taste. However, it could also link to Jared Leto.
Jared Leto was the DCEU’s Joker, meaning the joke could have been included as a meta joke to reference that. Beyond that, Gunn could be directly jabbing at Leto, with a tweet from the director (via Reddit) in 2018 indicating his feelings about the actor. Of course, this is all speculation and conjecture, but Peacemaker‘s Thirty Seconds to Mars jokes have a lot of layers.
Why Peacemaker’s Credits’ Scene Is A Thirty Seconds to Mars Joke
A major question that will be raised about Peacemaker season 2, episode 1’s end-credit scene is why it is a Thirty Seconds to Mars joke. Most post-credit scenes in recent years have tended to be included as teasers for future projects, meaning many would be forgiven for assuming Peacemaker season 2, episode 1’s scene sets up next week’s installment.
That said, Gunn opted for a similar approach that he took with Superman‘s post-credit scenes. Both Superman scenes found in the credits were not important regarding setting up future DCU stories. Instead, they were fun scenes involving Superman hugging Krypto and Superman aiding Mr. Terrific with the clean-up of Metropolis.
Gunn insisted that he included these scenes as he does not want to set up something that may not pay off in the future of the DCU.
Rather than tease a story that has not been greenlit or confirmed, Gunn would rather give audiences a fun tag at the end of stories. Peacemaker season 2’s Thirty Seconds to Mars jokes follow that rule of thumb, all while providing some insight into parts of the initial scene in the episode that did not make the final cut.
Peacemaker
7/10
- Release Date
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January 13, 2022
- Network
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HBO Max, Max
