‘Peacemaker’ Season 2: Lex Luthor’s Surprising Return Explained
Peacemaker’s latest episode dropped on Thursday night and it answers a lot of the questions viewers, and curious eavesdroppers, have had since the season premiere. The most prominent ones: Will there be cameos by characters from Superman? And what is the deal with the parallel dimension?
Gunn, who wrote the series on top of directing the episode, answered both and his answers probably won’t shock you. This is a spoiler warning for those who care. Regarding question number one, the answer is a definitive yes, as Nicholas Hoult reprised Lex Luthor for the first time since Superman in the DCU, and it didn’t take long.
Following the events of the film, Lex is locked up in Belle Reve, but he is still an asset to the government. He is a genius with valuable intel, which Rick Flagg, Sr., (Frank Grillo) hopes he can use to the advantage of ARGUS.
Additionally, since Gunn likes to make secondary characters the butt of gratuitous jokes, Lex insinuates two Batman villains on his cell block are engaged in some jailhouse love. No names were mentioned, but the descriptions sounded like Killer Croc and Dr. Phosphorus. (That’s what social media thinks, anyway.)
As for the second question, things only get bleaker. The dimension Christopher Smith (John Cena) is so at peace in turns out to be the DCU version of Earth-X, the infamous alternative timeline dominated by Nazis. First appearing in the comics as far back as 1973, the idea for Earth-X has been adapted and reimagined in new continuities, the animated universe, and the Arrowverse.
That was not very long ago, so Gunn is keeping the turnaround on the concept relatively brief. This is no surprise considering what Gunn did with The Sons of Themyscira in Creature Commandos.
RELATED: Despite Earth-2 Focus, James Gunn Says ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Is Not “A Multiverse Story”
Gunn kept the twist a secret and he was rather successful at doing so. Few really noticed or knew what the dimension would be despite rumors circulating. That said, his real goal is to enhance the drama between Smith and budding love interest, Harcourt (Jennifer Holland).
“Probably the biggest scene in the show was the scene between Peacemaker and Harcourt in the interrogation room. In a lot of ways, that’s the heart of the show. It isn’t about Earth X. It’s about them,” Gunn tells Variety.
“And people are also going to find out next episode, that Earth X is not simplistic. If we were raised in Nazi world and accepted that as being OK, how would you think? We get a little bit more of that with specific characters next episode,” he continued .After that, Gunn says Earth-X is “not a major part of the storytelling.”
NEXT: James Gunn Confirms Victor Frankenstein Is A Secret Villain Of ‘Creature Commandos’
