Season 2 of John Cena’s DC series has come to an end as well, and now the buzz and speculation about there possibly being a Peacemaker Season 3 is as loud as ever. Unfortunately, though, neither has a third season for the fan-favorite show been officially greenlit yet, nor has James Gunn completely closed the door on the possibility of it materializing.
During a recent (now-deleted) interview with Deadline (via Yahoo! News), the co-CEO of the DCU was asked to confess if he was planning a third season for the recently concluded series. Gunn replied,
No, this is about the wider DCU and other stories in which this will play out right now. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be. I don’t want to never say never, but right now, no, this is about the future of the DCU. It’s an important character.
The mastermind gave a similar response previously as well, during an interview with Deadline a few days before the release of episode 7 of season 2. He said,
You’re gonna find out more in episode 8 because it’s not necessarily that. Some of these characters will continue, but also, it’s not exactly Peacemaker 3. I’m not ruling it out. You’ll see (episode) 8, and maybe you’ll find out a little bit more.
That sounds like, although the future of the solo series on the DC anti-hero is unclear for now, some key characters from the Peacemaker universe will evidently continue to have a presence in James Gunn’s revamped version of the super-verse, moving forward.
As for the query about Cena or any other character from his lore returning in Supergirl or Man of Tomorrow, Gunn very clearly said, “Well, we’ll have to see. That’s a secret.” So that’s that too.
James Gunn Says Peacemaker S2 Ending Sets up a Broader Role for the Character in the DCU
Though he didn’t confirm if there will be a third season for the Peacemaker series in the near future or not, James Gunn emphasized how important a character John Cena’s Chris Smith is – not only for him, but for his DC Universe as a whole as well.
That’s not all. Gunn even explained just how much significance Cena’s character holds in this super-verse, even among all the other bigger diamonds like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, saying, In his latest interview with Deadline, when asked if the conclusion of season 2 of the series will be setting up a broader role for the anti-hero in the DC Universe, he said,
Moving forward, yes. He’s important. He’s really important to me. Peacemaker is an important character. I said from the beginning when we took on this job, it’s about really propping up and maintaining and repositioning. The big diamond properties that DC has, the Batmans and Wonder Womans and Supermans, and then creating diamond properties out of the smaller characters like Peacemaker.
While that’s that, what further backs up his claims about Cena’s Chris Smith being an important character is how Gunn brought the character back in his own series despite initially intending to kill him, once and for all, at the end of The Suicide Squad. In fact, so much so that the director even appears to have broken his biggest rule about ‘never bring back a dead character’ for him!
As Cena explained at the Fan Expo Denver earlier this year, in August (via PopVerse),
We had so much fun making that movie, he broke his rule of never bring back someone you killed. So, for someone to expect very little out of me and choose me last, and for me to make such an impression on such a brilliant creative mind that he breaks a cardinal rule that he has, and for us to go on to do good work together and develop a great friendship, man, that’s one hell of a day at the office.
That explains why, despite seemingly dying at the end of The Suicide Squad, Cena’s anti-hero was revealed to be alive (albeit very injured) in the post-credits scene of the movie. Then came the television series based on the character, which recently concluded its second season with one of the most harrowing turns of events.
What Happened at the End of Peacemaker S2?
Peacemaker Season 2 brought the series to a conclusion, though it didn’t just wrap up the storyline. Season finale episode 8, titled Full Nelson, launched two major concepts that seem very important to the future of James Gunn’s DC Universe: Checkmate and Salvation. Before explaining that further, here’s a full summary of what actually went down in the season finale:
In the penultimate episode of Peacemaker Season 2, John Cena’s Chris Smith faced the shattering consequences of yet another failed attempt to make peace with his past. On an alternate Earth ruled by Nazis, Vigilante (played by Freddie Stroma) killed Chris’ twisted alternate father (played by Robert Patrick), setting off a brutal chain reaction.
On the other hand, the 11th Street Kids turned on Chris’ brother, Keith (played by David Denman), beating him savagely as Chris pleaded for mercy, crushed by guilt over the endless death surrounding him.
They then dragged Keith back to the main universe, where Emilia Harcourt (played by Jennifer Holland) could finish him off. However, arriving police officers prevented her from carrying out the job, leaving behind a vengeful, Nazi version of Chris’ brother, alive and burning with hatred somewhere in the multiverse.
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Back home, a weary Chris handed over the Quantum Unfolding Chamber (QUC) to Rick Flag Sr. (played by Frank Grillo) and A.R.G.U.S., before surrendering to the police, believing that his imprisonment was the only way to protect his friends. However, things took a turn and, in the finale, the 11th Street Kids rallied around him once more.
Led by Leota Adebayo (played by Danielle Brooks), they broke him out and forged a new purpose as “Checkmate,” teaming up with Sasha Bordeaux (played by Sol Rodríguez) and Langston Fleury (played by Tim Meadows) to fight under their own banner: No orders, no corruption, just accountability.
Meanwhile, Flag Sr. and A.R.G.U.S., now working with Lex Luthor’s allies from Superman, begin using the Quantum Chamber to explore other dimensions, supposedly searching for a habitable world. But Flag’s cryptic demeanor suggested a darker motive. When he found a planet he deemed perfect, Flag came clean about his real plan: to turn it into a metahuman prison called “Salvation.”
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The finale ended with a gut punch worthy of Peacemaker’s chaotic life. Just when it felt like Chris could finally find peace, A.R.G.U.S. agents abducted him, taking him to Flag. In an even more surprising turn of events, the finale had Flag claiming that Chris “volunteered” to be Salvation’s first test subject, showing him the forged papers.
Then came the ultimate cold blow: Flag locked Chris inside the alien world while coldly admitting that it was revenge for the death of his son, Rick Flag Jr. (remember The Suicide Squad?). Just like that, alone in the strange wilderness and surrounded by the cries of unseen creatures, Peacemaker became Salvation’s first and only prisoner – once again paying the price for trying to do the right thing.
In the comics, Salvation Run served as a major storyline where villains were exiled to an alien planet that turned out to be part of Darkseid’s empire, serving as a training ground for Parademons. Checkmate, on the other hand, is shown as an international intelligence agency that often counters organizations like A.R.G.U.S. Their stated goal? Simply to “make the world better.” And Gunn had something to say about their future in the DCU, as well.
James Gunn Also Shared His Vision About Salvation and Checkmate in the DCU
In his latest interview with Deadline, James Gunn was asked to talk broadly about the decision to bring the planet of Salvation and the Checkmate agency into his revamped DC Universe. To this, the director clarified that “those are the two things that were always a part of this season.” Gunn proceeded to explain,
When we sat down, even before I sat down with the writers room in DC, I had sort of mapped out what I thought the general story was, and two important aspects to that were Checkmate and especially Salvation, so those were things that I had pitched to everybody before we ever came into DC and then after we came into DC and we met with the writers room and worked things out a little bit more.
From his perspective, “that was always pretty instrumental in the overall, overarching story that I’m telling in the DCU, but also connected to it as well.” While that’s that, it’s not all.
Continuing, Gunn also spoke about what he envisioned the Checkmate agency to look like, moving forward in this universe. When asked if it will be its own thing or if he will carry it through specifically with Peacemaker or other DC television projects, the filmmaker said,
You’ll definitely see Checkmate carrying through like they’re a thing now, so they’re a part of what’s going to happen, and I think they’re going to be really, really good at what they do. When we see them next, I think their circumstances will be a little bit different than the startup that they’re now.
That’s more than enough to say that Gunn already has in his mind how he wants the universe to carry forward Checkmate’s story, especially with how Peacemaker season 2 concluded. For now, we can just hope it’s as interesting as the entirety of Cena’s anti-hero’s series, if not more.
What Did James Gunn Have to Say About the Future of Earth-X?
While all these talks about John Cena’s Chris Smith’s future are one thing, some must also be intrigued to know what James Gunn has planned to do about the Earth-X plotline, which he introduced in the recently concluded Season 2 of the series.
As fans already know, the Earth-X, aka Earth-2, storyline featured an alternate universe where Chris Smith’s family were heroic and the U.S. was under Nazi rule. This was largely resolved in Season 2. Plus, as Gunn previously said, Earth X will not expand into a larger DCU arc and only serves to deepen the Peacemaker’s character and challenge his understanding of happiness, morality, and love (via @movietitan on Instagram).
However, Gunn also shared that he holds some ideas about certain characters from this universe. Like Keith, for whom he said, in his interview with Deadline,
I have plans for Keith, I just haven’t figured out exactly how it’s all going to work out, so I have to make sure I can do it. It’s hard with the interdimensional hopping stuff to make these things come together in the way I’d like. I have what I would like to happen with Keith, but I’m not sure.
So, that’s all fans have to know right now about the future of Earth-X, Peacemaker Season 3, Checkmate, and Salvation in the DC Universe. What do you think about all this? Share with us your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
Peacemaker can currently be streamed on HBO Max.
