Peacemaker's Missing Character Makes The Suicide Squad's Villain Even Darker

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Peacemaker.

A character from The Suicide Squad is notably absent from the first three episodes of Peacemaker and it has some possibly dark implications for villain Amanda Waller. Task Force X is famous for being the best of the worst. While anti-heroes like Harley Quinn and King Shark get the job done, their methods are often morally questionable, and Peacemaker has shown a willingness to betray and kill his teammates. Fittingly, the mastermind in charge, Amanda Waller, is used to implementing some twisted tactics to get what she wants.

However, Amanda Waller is a human amongst metahumans. While she's smart and powerful enough to have deadly, superpowered criminals under her thumb, her wits are challenged by people like Batman, and her determination is matched by people like Bloodsport and Ratcatcher 2, who ignored her orders to leave Corto Maltese without fighting Starro. No less importantly, Amanda Waller isn't invulnerable to a blow to the head with a golf club, which Flo Crawley delivers in order to help Task Force X.

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According to a tweet from Peacemaker writer and director James Gunn, Flo Crawley was initially supposed to be arrested, but the scene was cut for flow, leaving her fate open to interpretation. Considering that Amanda Waller punished Emilia Harcourt and John Economos with a subpar HQ for betraying her, the absence of Flo Crawley in Peacemaker Waller resorted to a harsher punishment for her. It's extremely easy for Waller to wipe anybody off the map if it's necessary. Knocking Amanda Waller out with a golf club definitely earns Flow Crawley a more permanent retribution.

In the comics, Flo Crawley is Amanda Waller's cousin. She becomes friends with Oracle and develops a crush on Bronze Tiger, which leads her to participate in an on-field mission with the Female Fury Lashina. When Amanda Waller realizes Flo Crawley is in peril, she sends Task Force X/Suicide Squad team members to Apokolips to rescue her, to no avail. It's possible that Amanda Waller and Flo Crawley are also relatives in the DCEU (although this relationship seems to have been transferred to Leota Adebayo, Waller's daughter, in Peacemaker). If so, Waller could have sent Crawley far away from any Suicide Squad-related missions to both protect her and intimidate the rest of her colleagues, making them think that she killed her.

Whatever happened to Flo Crawley after The Suicide Squad, the fact that anyone could hurt Amanda Waller and get away with it is an issue the Task Force X boss has to solve before assembling a new team. Peacemaker highlights how important reputation is for a superhero, with Chris Smith constantly teased for not being the hero he believes himself to be and constantly being compared to heroes like Aquaman and Batman. For better or for worse, killing is the name of the game in the more grounded part of the DCEU.

More: Peacemaker: What Is Amanda Waller's Plan?

Peacemaker releases new episodes on Thursdays on HBO Max.