Spoiler Alert: This story describes the major plot developments for episode 6, season 2 of “Peacemaker,” currently streaming on HBO Max.
In Season 2 of “Peace Maker,” Christopher Smith (John Cena), the prestigious filming first questioner hero, is fascinated by an alternative universe who never accidentally killed his older brother as a child. On this earth, Chris, his older brother Keith, aka Captain Triumph (David Denman), and his father Aussie (aka Blue Dragon (Robert Patrick)) are not just happy families, but a trio of beloved superheroes. An alternative version of Chris’ love in life, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), is emotionally well-regulated and can maintain a romantic relationship. Life in this alt-earth seems so wonderful, and Chris’s own life seems so bad. At the end of Episode 5, he chooses to abandon his world and move to an alternative. (episode.
Still, for many viewers, something about this world has always felt…off. In episode 6, Ignorance is Chris, after Harcourt, Adebayo (Daniel Brooks), Vigilante (Fredristroma), Econos (Steve Age) (called the Children of 11th Avenue), it’s all recommended to challenge Art AEARTH and convince P-Secker. (Because this is a “peacemaker,” along the way, they are splattered in the stash of a recovered smuggling cocaine vigilante.)
Once they arrive, they split up quickly. Harcourt convinces Keith to take her to Argus headquarters. Vigilante is pleased to find his Alt-earth Doppelgänger. Meanwhile, Adebayo and Economos were behind the Smiths’ property without a clear sense of what to do, so Adebayo decides to explore the neighborhood. As she walks around, people stare at her in shock and disgust, slamming and screaming at his break until Keith passes by. Adebayo begins to run for her life as Nazi Americans chase her.
At this same moment, Peacemaker looks closely at the American flags lined up in his terror after he and Harcourt have tearful hearts about each other’s emotions. On this planet, like DC Comics, James Gunn, the creator of “Peacemaker” and co-priest of DC Studios, calls it “Earth X.”
Gunn, who wrote and directed the episode, refused to send it for advance review because he adhered to this twist so closely. However, he did his own private test screening for Season 2 to see if Earth X realized that only white people were inhabited before the big release of Episode 6.
“No one noticed at all,” he told Variety. “And it was people of color, too. By the way, it wasn’t just white people.”
The Internet is the Internet, but some fans correctly speculated that this twist was coming after sharing Harcourt’s observations about the whiteness of the population – consistent with the fact that on the main planet, Aussie is a toxic white supremacist known as the White Dragon.
“It’s really hard to see the millions of people watching the show online saying, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a screenshot of what this is like in an alternative world, there’s a screenshot of DCU background actors.’ “A lot of people don’t go online to talk about television, so I got lots of comments from people who were surprised, but a lot of people knew it was coming.”
Gunn spoke about his experience filming the episode in the 2024 presidential election, why he brought Lex Luther (Nicholas Foolt) to the show, how Superman didn’t join him, how Rex’s cameo led to the 2027 feature film, Superman: Man of Tomorrow, and why he filmed the episode.
So the Nazis.
So the Nazis!
Could you talk about how you decided to hide this twist in sight? Do you seem to want to put your audience into the Peacemaker’s mindset?
Very appearance! Peacemakers are not the bad guys. He is not racist, but he has this kind of narcissistic tendency to judge moments based on how he is treated and judged. He can go to this other planet and never realizes, “Wait a second…” In other words, I think you’re blind to something you don’t notice on a TV show with a 30-second clip. He didn’t notice that it was walking and everyone was driving a white thing. Meanwhile, Harcourt, who is more careful about details and sensitive to such things anyway, finds her in public. She looked around and said, “What’s that?”
But part of that is us, right? To be honest with God, I don’t think I’ve noticed that I’m in the bubble and not talking to people online about the show. And I think that’s something we all might be able to think about.
On the official “Peacemaker” podcast, he said that in a podcast about the episode, the first scene outside the Vigilante home was filmed on Halloween 2024.
The morning after the presidential election, we filmed a scene where cocaine was splattered across everyone. But when I write a show like this, I tell the story first and foremost. I don’t think, “Oh, I have to prove the point about something.” But there are definitely things that influence what I write from our real world. Clearly, Adebayo’s situation at the end of the episode is most important from a certain point of view. But at the end of the day, the show is about the relationship between the kids on 11th Avenue and what they get from each other and how they change. Perhaps the biggest scene in the show was between Peacemaker and Harcourt in the interrogation room. In many ways, that’s the heart of the show. It’s not about Earth X. That’s about them.
Also, people are trying to find the next episode. Earth X is not simple. What would you think if we grew up in the Nazi world and accepted it as ok? I’ll get a little more of it with a certain character in the next episode.
Speaking about the next episode, Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) visits Lex Luthor of Bell Rev Prison and attacks a deal with him in exchange for helping him find a peace manager. Should we expect to see Superman Earth X or Earth 1 version of David Coren Sweat on the show?
no. In fact, David was very upset that Nick had attended the show, but he didn’t. It didn’t work. Rex was needed on the show to serve a specific purpose. And in fact, the Rex and Rick flags are there to be so influential what happens in the “Man of Tomorrow” aspect. So everything is connected. However, this relationship between Rick Flag and Lex Luther is potentially negative for Superman and all Meta people.
While working on “Superman,” you were writing this season, so did you know where you wanted to film the Rex story of “Man of Tomorrow”?
Completely, yeah. I didn’t know a few things about it, but I knew what the overall story of the DCU was. That was what I proposed to David Theslav (CEO of Warner Bros Discovery) before I got to work. Here is the story. This movie, this show, this movie, this show, and all of those things will fit in a variety of ways. There were things we didn’t expect, like “Clayface,” and others were more difficult paths to travel. But a general overview of that overall story is something we follow through, such as “Superman,” “Peacemaker,” and “The Man of Tomorrow.”
How much Earth X plays a role in the DCU moving forward?
Not much. It’s not a large part of storytelling. It’s about peace.
To return to my previous question, you wrote this show clearly without knowing what the outcome of the presidential election would be. But knowing that this twist is coming, bringing the edge of the real world closer to Earth X than anyone would have expected, how was it?
(Long pause) I don’t think I know how to answer the question. Obviously there is a lot in a world where I am not satisfied with. I am not as narcissistic as I think about the world in relation to my TV show. So there’s something strange about this show. There was something strange about “Superman.” Absolutely 100% of that film is written, before anything happens between Israel and Palestine, and everyone continues to refuse to believe it is not. it’s not. it’s not. You can take whatever you want to mean what you want, but I did not write it to put it in the Israeli and Palestinian position.
Do you feel the same about this season in “Peace Maker”?
So, of course, there are a few next episodes with similarities. We’ve seen more racism recently, right? Is that because there is more racism or is it okay if it’s public? Probably the latter. That’s clearly disappointing. And if my stupid TV shows have something to do with people like, “Oh, maybe I should be more aware of my bias,” then great. But that’s not what I wrote the show. I write “Superman” and write shows for emotional angles, like about kindness. If there was a socio-political aspect of “Superman,” it means there was a lack of human kindness, understanding and affection, whatever their thoughts and feelings were.
Everyone is a damn anti-hero. Everyone is so damn cool. How about not being cool? How about being a wonderful person for someone? Why is it considered an old-fashioned Pollyanna? I want to be Pollyanna. I love my side. I believe in the goodness of the human spirit. A lot of people who do things I don’t like think they are inherently good people. I think they just have strange ideas about things and we can communicate with those people. Maybe I’m naive, I don’t know, but that’s me.
This interview was compiled and condensed.
