Peacemaker Season 2 Finale Hints at Darkseid’s DCU Debut
Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Peacemaker season 2, episode 8
Peacemaker season 2’s ending could be James Gunn’s first big tease for the DCU’s Thanos equivalent. Following the season finale of Peacemaker season 2, which saw the formation of Checkmate in the DCU, the final episode saw John Cena’s Chris Smith secretly being captured by ARGUS, leading to a surprise cliffhanger with some major ramifications for the DCU’s future.
In Peacemaker season 2, episode 8, ARGUS and LuthorCorp were fully in control of Chris Smith’s Quantum Unfolding Chamber. This results in a major cliffhanger in the recently concluded series, which I believe could directly lead to Darkseid’s debut in the new DC Universe, one of the most powerful DC supervillains on par with Marvel’s Thanos.
Peacemaker Season 2’s Finale Ends On A Serious Cliffhanger
At the end of Peacemaker season 2, episode 8, Peacemaker and the 11th St. Kids choose to cut ties with ARGUS following their alliance with LuthorCorp and decision to use the QUC not to make the world better, but to find a seemingly uninhabited world where they could send metahumans.
Joined by former ARGUS agents Bordeaux, Fleury, and Judomaster, the 11 St. Kids formed their own independent spy agency named Checkmate in the DCU, inspired by the organization of the same name from the original comics.
However, the final scene of Peacemaker season 2 saw ARGUS director Rick Flag Sr. sending agents to capture Smith in the middle of the night, stranding Peacemaker on this new prison world to test for any adverse affects before sending metas (while also serving as revenge for Chris killing his son Rick Flag Jr. in The Suicide Squad).
As the season ends, the exiled Peacemaker discovers he’s not alone, hearing several monstrous sounds coming from a nearby treeline, contradicting ARGUS and LuthorCorp’s belief that the world was uninhabited.
What Is Salvation? The DCU’s New Metahuman Prison And Its Comics History Explained
The original comics provide some key answers as to what Chris Smith’s Peacemaker will likely be facing in the DCU’s future, and he’s more than likely in for a pretty wild ride.
This new prison world accessed by the QUC is named “Salvation” by Rick Flag Sr. in the DCU, inspired by 2007’s Salvation Run storyline which saw Amanda Waller and Flag covertly banishing multiple major supervillains to a remote and seemingly uninhabited world, removing them from Earth as their new inescapable prison.
Forced to survive on their own, these supervillains began choosing sides and fighting amongst themselves, with Joker and Lex Luthor emerging as key leaders (and rivals). While trying to devise a way back home, the exiled villains also had to fend off a variety of lethal monsters and creatures which ARGUS had no idea were present on the planet.
Ultimately, the major twist was that this world was actually a training ground for the Parademons of Apokolips. While it’s currently unknown which metas or villains ARGUS may send to join Peacemaker in future projects, it’s quite possible that the DCU’s Salvation will have similar connections to Apokolips…and its ruler.
Salvation Could Be James Gunn’s First Big Tease For Darkseid & Apokolips
If it’s revealed that DCU’s Salvation is also a training ground for Apokolips like in the comics, it would make the planet the first big tease for Darkseid, Apokolips’ ruler and New God seeking to conquer the entire multiverse with the Anti-Life Equation.
Although not featured in the DCEU’s theatrical release of Justice League in 2017, Darkseid was featured in 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League, confirmed to be Steppenwolf’s master and the future villain of Snyder’s future Justice Leaguemovies that never came to be.
DeSaad also debuted in Zack Snyder’sJustice League, another one of Darkseid’s key followers who was prominently featured in 2007’s Salvation Run, sending legions of Parademons to prove themselves once he discovered all the supervillains who’d been exiled on the planet.
The debut of Salvation in the DCU is very exciting all around, as it could easily be a unique vehicle to debut new supervillains in the DCU, while bringing major characters together for the first time.
The potential for Darkseid’s DCU debut was already pretty likely, as he’s easily one of the most powerful supervillains of all time (just like Thanos who concluded the MCU’s Infinity Saga). That said, it’d be pretty cool if James Gunn was playing the long game setting up the ruler of Apokolips, having already teased a future Darkseid appearance with Salvation’s debut.
All episodes of Peacemaker season 2 are now streaming on HBO Max.
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