A 2006 movie with a 17% Rotten Tomatoes score helped to set up one ofDC’s most irredeemable villains on-screen - despite not being a superhero film itself. DC’s movie history is fascinating both in terms of the turns it has taken over the years, and because of the array of names that have helped it unfold over the decades.
Naturally, all the cast and crew involved in each project have their own lives outside of the superhero world, which has also led to some interesting reunions in projects over the years. One such example of this plays a key role in making one of DC’s most irredeemable on-screen villains particularly potent.
How A Divisive 2006 Movie Helped Make A Truly Evil DC Villain Work
InPeacemaker: The Official Podcast, actor Robert Patrick revealed that he and John Cena, who played Auggie Smith and Auggie’s son Christopher - otherwise known as Peacemaker - had already acted together beforehand. As Patrick references, this was in none other thanThe Marine, a 2006 movie that saw divided results.
With a box office of $22 million on a $15 million budget (as per The Numbers), and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of 17%, it’s clearThe Marineisn’t exactly a revered piece of movie history for most people. That said, it is interesting to note it gave John Cena and Robert Patrick prior experience acting out conflicts together on-screen.
Years later, the two actors would end up in a surprisingly similar scenario thanks toPeacemaker, wherein Patrick’s role as Auggie - the neo-Nazi supervillain known as White Dragon - sees him quickly become the show’s secondary antagonist after serving as a particularly unpleasant character from the start.
As Auggie’s relationship with Peacemaker is the primary way we see him in the story, the conflict between them - and how it shows August as an entirely hateful person in every aspect of his life - helps to show just how redeemable the villain is. As Patrick mentions, this was helped by the on-screen history he and Cena already had.
Peacemaker’s Dynamic With His Father Proved The DC Villain Was Truly Irredeemable
ThroughoutPeacemaker, the timeline of Christopher Smith and his father are both set out, and cement that Auggie has not only been a cruel person for as long as Peacemaker has been alive, but also one that’s abused his own son this whole time, with any good traits in Peacemaker seemingly being in spite of his father.
This seems to have worsened after Auggie had his two then-child sons put on a public fight match, which saw Chris accidentally kill his brother. Despite Auggie being the one who’s responsible for this tragedy - since he had his children fight seemingly for entertainment, and is the one who trains Chris to kill - he instead blames Chris, further traumatizing him.
Though Auggie begins the story already looking decidedly irredeemable in terms of his beliefs, his scenes with Peacemaker cement that there doesn’t seem to be any corner of the character’s heart that hasn’t been corrupted, and that he indeed seems capable of only hate.
Indeed, in the end, the White Dragon ends up being a more active villain in many regards than the Butterflies the team are actively opposing throughout the course of the show - especially since the team have to actively hunt the Butterflies down for the most part, whereas Peacemaker’s father actively decides to kill him in episode 6.
Ultimately, the fact that August is so irredeemably evil inPeacemakerhelps make his conflict with the show’s main character all the more compelling, and allows audiences who didn’t previously to feel at least a little more sympathetic to the character, if only because of who his father is.
Peacemaker Season 2 Can Still Use John Cena & Robert Patrick’s Fascinating DC Dynamic
WhilePeacemakerseason 1 closes out with its protagonist killing the White Dragon in the show’s second-to-last episode, this doesn’t seem to be the end of the character’s presence in the series.Peacemakerseason 1, episode 7 sees Auggie die, but the season 1 finale brings him back via Chris seeming to hallucinate him.
Given this - and the fact Robert Patrick has discussed filming forPeacemakerseason 2- it seems Cena and Patrick will continue their on-screen history nineteen years afterThe Marinebegan it. WithThe Marinebeing Cena’s first credited movie performance, this seems perhaps especially fitting.
While Peacemaker comes a long way over the course of the first season of the show, him being figuratively - and literally - haunted by his father throughout the second chapter of the series would make sense, especially given how a lot of the character’s emotional baggage clearly has its roots in just how awful the man who raised him was.
In effect, this also meansthe DC Universe timelinecan more directly use the compelling if heartbreaking dynamic between Peacemaker and his father more directly inPeacemakerseason 2, helping further set up this new era forDC, and further proving that there are some truly diabolical villains within the annals of the new cinematic world and its history.
