Peacemaker has already foregrounded this theme. Peter’s Walkman and his “Awesome Mix” serve as both a tether to his absent mother and a means of escaping the pain of reality. The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are fundamentally about escapism, about how Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) retreated from the death of his mother (Laura Haddock) into a space opera fantasy like Star Wars, with bubble-wrap spacesuits and arcade game drones. This has always been a theme of Gunn’s work. If Peacemaker is a story about how anybody can be redeemed and about how children can escape the clutches of abusive parents, then the soundtrack serves as one such catalyst for transformation. The soundtrack exists as an extension of the central ideas driving show. Peacemaker isn’t just using these songs for dramatic effect. Peacemaker justifies its heavy reliance on needle drops by making them essential to the show’s larger themes. Good music is cool, but the audience can listen to it on their own time. Like nostalgic callbacks, the most important thing is that these cues exist for some greater purpose than simply existing, to demonstrate something deeper than the pockets of the massive multimedia conglomerate commissioning the work. Sometimes, these musical choices can become so ubiquitous as to become clichés, with Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” appearing absolutely everywhere in the 2010s.Īs with any other form of reference in a television show or feature film, the needle drop needs to be deployed with both skill and intent. Sometimes, these musical choices can be a little too on the nose, such as playing “Sympathy for the Devil” to accompany a morally ambiguous protagonist. In recent years, there has been something of a backlash against what might be termed “ needle drop” soundtracks - films and television shows that rely heavily on existing music. Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy garnered a great deal of coverage for its “ Awesome Mix” soundtrack, which went on to become the bestselling album in the country and even prompted a re-release on cassette tape. Showrunner James Gunn even maintains a Spotify playlist that he updates weekly, including all of the tracks from the show.

The show’s soundtrack has attracted considerable attention. The last line has Economos (Steve Agee) repeating Peacemaker’s (John Cena) assertion that “there’s no wrong time to rock.” The first scene finds a young Christopher (Quinn Bennett) bonding with his brother Keith (Liam Hughes) through rock music. The episode is bookended with characters in dire situations escaping through music. “Stop Dragon My Heart Around” foregrounds the importance of music to the show. Music is an essential part of Peacemaker. This discussion and review contains spoilers for Peacemaker episode 7, “Stop Dragon My Heart Around” on HBO Max.

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