Peacemaker is back! The DCU is here! And James Gunn is at the wheel, and one thing about Gunn is that he loves his deep cuts and obscure characters. Many will remember the select few strewn about The Suicide Squad like Double Down, Kaleidoscope, Calendar, and the assorted name drops throughout the rest of his work. Of course, Peacemaker has been brimming with all sorts of references and appearances and Season 2 features a rather random debut of an obscure rogue of Batman’s.
Who is White Rabbit?
In the very first episode of the second season of Peacemaker, we see Chris Smith suited up and preparing for an interview with the Justice Gang, hoping to be recruited after saving the world and turning a new leaf. Upon approaching the front door, it quickly opens to a female figure emerging, the figure is quickly revealed to be a blonde woman in tears and dressed up in a scantily-clad rabbit costume.
The woman in question, of course, is White Rabbit, an obscure Batman villain who has seemingly been denied a spot on the Justice Gang. The character is played by actress Brey Noelle, who makes a brief appearance following her rejection from the Justice Gang, although she should’ve seen that coming if this version of the character matches the one you’re about to learn a whole lot about.
White Rabbit first appeared in Batman: The Dark Knight Vol 2 #1 in November of 2011. The character was created by David Finch and Paul Jenkins. Jaina Hudson was an Indian socialite born to a Bollywood actress and an American diplomat named Tom Hudson. Jaina moved to Gotham City with her family around the age of 9. When she grew up she would eventually meet Bruce Wayne at a charity fundraiser for Pakistan, resulting in the two nearly going out on a date before she was revealed to be one half of White Rabbit.
The White Rabbit first appeared in Gotham City following a jailbreak at Arkham Asylum, where she taunted both Batman and the Gotham City Police Department before making her escape through the chaos in the halls of the asylum. It would be revealed that White Rabbit was behind the escapes at Arkham, but still evading capture from the Dark Knight, even after being thwarted by the Flash as she attempted to inject Batman with an unknown toxin.
White Rabbit would go on to pop up here and there, making appearances on teams like the Secret Society of Supervillains, a team formed following the arrival of the Crime Syndicate on Earth-1. She even appeared during the Arkham War as Bane arrived at the Asylum and briefly joined teams such as the Wonderland Gang and even as of last year, the Gotham City Sirens.
What Are White Rabbit’s Abilities?
Shortly after moving to Gotham City, Jaina discovered her meta ability to be able to physically separate into White Rabbit, a distinct individual with her own personality, but still as a part of Jaina, which allows her to be in multiple places at once. It isn’t totally known how this ability really works, as the White Rabbit persona doesn’t even resemble her in the slightest, with white skin, silver hair, and bright pink eyes, opposed to Jaina’s olive skin, black hair, and green eyes.
Jaina was revealed to have another personality that differed from White Rabbit, this one being dubbed Dumb Bunny, appropriately named due to the persona’s low intellect. What this one lacks in smarts, it makes up for in strength. This first appeared when Jaina was kidnapped alongside the Gotham City Sirens by Punchline and the Nasty Boys, who forced her and White Rabbit to merge and serve wealthy investors who degrade her. White Rabbit is able to snap out of it when they begin to torture animals, causing her to produce the new persona, Dumb Bunny. Bunny is able to free the Sirens and stop Punchline.
The first episode of Peacemaker Season 2 is streaming now on HBO Max, with new episodes will premiere on HBO Max every Thursday at 9 PM EST. You can check out our review of the first five episodes of this season here!
