Peacemaker Season 2 Ending Sows Seeds for DCU’s Future, But Can It Avoid DCEU’s Mistakes?

James Gunn claimed that the Peacemaker Season 2 ending would be important to the future of the DCU. There are several reasons for this based on the finale. Chief among them, however, is the fate of Peacemaker himself and references to a classic DC Comics storyline. Beyond being a simple nod to the source material, this could foreshadow one way Gunn can avoid one of the biggest DCEU missteps.

The Peacemaker Season 2 finale, “Full Nelson,” largely centers around ARGUS exploring the multiverse alongside former LuthorCorp employees. This is facilitated through the alien portal generator that was previously controlled by Auggie Smith and then Peacemaker. It soon becomes clear, however, that General Rick Flag Sr. is more concerned with finding something in particular than the lives of his agents.

That something is revealed to be an Earth-like planet, which is dubbed Salvation. With that secured, General Flag proposes a plan to turn Salvation into a secret prison for metahumans, similar to what Lex Luthor tried to construct in a pocket universe in the DCU Superman movie. The episode ends with Peacemaker becoming the first person to be stranded on Salvation with no apparent hope of returning to Earth.

How Peacemaker Season 2 sets up a Salvation Run-inspired storyline

Peacemaker Season 2’s use of a world called Salvation as a prison for supervillains is a direct reference to a 2008 DC Comics storyline called Salvation Run. Based on a pitch by Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, the seven-part miniseries found Suicide Squad bosses Rick Flag Jr. and Amanda Waller heading a similar initiative. However, the peaceful world they called Salvation proved to be far less idyllic than they thought.

The story came to center around three factions of villains, headed by The Joker, Lex Luthor, and Vandal Savage. However, the final issues introduced a twist regarding the origins of Salvation. Namely, that it was a training ground used by the New Gods of Apokolips. The series concluded with the surviving villains returning to Earth using a teleporter designed by Lex Luthor. However, according to James Gunn, the DCU will not be adapting this storyline completely.

“We’re taking elements like Salvation, but we’re not adapting that total story,” Gunn noted in an exclusive press conference ahead of the Peacemaker Season 2 ending. “For example, there’s a very distinct storyline in the comics that involves The Joker vs Lex Luthor, but we’re not doing that.” This raises the question of just what purpose the introduction of Salvation into the DCU serves.  

DCU could introduce major supervillains before superheroes

One possibility is that the existence of Salvation could be used to introduce multiple DC Comics villains into DCU. The original Salvation Run comics highlighted several popular villains, like Catwoman, Captain Cold, and Cheetah. This would address one of the bigger issues with the DCEU; a lack of decent recurring villains.

The DCEU, for all it did right in adapting the comics, failed to introduce most of the superheroes’ most famous foils. This was largely due to the superheroes’ solo films either killing off the villains after a single battle or never continuing their stories. The Flash, for instance, never faced any of his Rogues outside of a cameo catching Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad.

James Gunn has yet to confirm what plans he might have in store for Salvation in the DCU. However, Gunn has always had a fondness for stories involving ragtag teams fighting the odds. Gunn could produce another DCU series based around C-list supervillains reenacting The Hunger Games. However, this could also set the stage for Man of Tomorrow, with Superman and Lex Luthor forced to work together to escape Salvation.