Spoilers for season one of Peacemaker ahead.
In creating Peacemaker’s title sequence dance number, James Gunn has said that his goal was to “vanquish the skip forward button,” and it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t 100% percent successful.
The opening number features the show’s cast dancing to Wig Wam’s “Do Ya Wanna Taste It”—a modern song that sounds like it’s ripped straight from the 80s hair metal scene. The actors are blank-faced and serious, and the choreography is blunt and angular, like if brutalist architecture were a form of dance.
The opening sequence has been consistently delightful, but now that the season has wrapped, have we gained any new perspective into its meaning?
“Ramifications”
Speaking to Polygon for a profile that ran last month, Gunn said that he wanted the number to set the series apart—to “be a signpost for people that this isn’t just your normal DC or Marvel TV show.”
But he didn’t choose the song randomly. Gunn says he loves the Wig Wam song, and that it reflects the “attitude” of the show, but also said the lyrics would have “ramifications further on” in the series.
So what lyrics might he have been talking about? There are plenty of lines in the song that could be applied to Peacemaker as a character, as a show, and to the overarching journey of these characters.
Just to name a few that stand out, we have “Make a move extreme/ Make a shortcut to your dreams,” and “Tear your world apart / Once the magic starts.” Those sorts of lines feel very emblematic of this show and its characters’ vibes and motivations.
But looking specifically at the later episodes and finale (spoilers ahead), other lines come into focus.
When we see the butterflies (the alien lifeform body-snatching humankind) taking over, we have, “Kill your self-control/Welcome to the show” and also, “Poison to your mind/Devil in disguise.”
And when Chris (aka Peacemaker) is is given the possibility of seeing a world finally potentially lining up with his ideal and extremely flawed version of “peace,” but knowing that that would mean he, his friends, and all of humanity would have to give themselves over to alien domination and conformity, we have this line:
Baby you’re losing ground
Blind to what you’ll soon become
The mirror lies, the whole world’s wrong but you
Are these the sorts of “ramifications” Gunn was talking about? I honestly don’t know but it’s a fun rabbit hole to go down!
Those blank faces
Now that the season has ended, it also begs the question: Was there a reason for the expressionless aesthetic in the opening number? Even without a bigger “reason,” the effect is fantastic, creating a totally compelling dichotomy between the super-serious tone and the goofy dance moves.
But in the finale, we were repeatedly reminded of the importance of remaining expressionless as Economos (Steve Agee) has to blend in with the butterflies, who are supposed to not show human emotion. (And he has to do so despite having one of the most emotional moments of the entire series to date.)
Is the decision not to show any emotion a clue that some of these characters are actually butterflies? While there were no new reveals to that end in the finale itself, the fact that Murn has been taken over by an alien was a major season one twist.
What do you think? Do you see any new meaning in the opening number now that season one has wrapped? Let us know in the comments.
(image: HBO Max)
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