Peacemaker season 2 episode 8 is out now – and it drops some big clues about where the DC Universe (DCU) could go next.
Titled ‘Full Nelson’, the HBO Max TV show’s finale – and, potentially, last-ever episode – feels quite rushed for a near-hour-long episode. Nonetheless, it delivers some huge reveals, which include setting up a potential Peacemaker spin-off and Man of Tomorrow, the latter being the follow-up to 2025’s Superman movie.
As the credits roll on this season’s final chapter, I imagine you’ve got lots of questions about the above and other things that happen in ‘Full Nelson’ – and I’m going to do my best to answer them. Full spoilers immediately follow for Peacemaker‘s season 2 finale, so do not proceed unless you’ve seen it.
Who dies in Peacemaker season 2 episode 8?
Thankfully, nobody important. Sure, a bunch of ARGUS agents die at the hands of the various monstrosities that inhabit the different dimensions that are explored by said agency’s employees. That number includes Agent Clyne, whose face is munched on by the tiny, flesh-eating imps that populate a Willy Wonka-like world.
Peacemaker season 2‘s main cast, though, all make it out alive. That means the titular anti-hero, the rest of the 11th Street Kids (including Eagly!), and characters who made their live-action DCU debuts in this show – Rick Flag Sr, Sasha Bordeaux, and Langston Fleury – survive.
That said, it’s not all good news for all of the above individuals. Or, to be more precise, Chris Smith, aka Peacemaker…
Salvation explained: what is the new world we see in the Peacemaker season 2 finale?
In the season 2 finale’s final sequence, Smith is kidnapped by ARGUS agents and brought back to their headquarters. Arriving at ARGUS HQ, he’s greeted by Flag Sr, the institute’s acting director, and sent through a doorway to Salvation, aka the seemingly idyllic world that was discovered during ARGUS’ exploration of other realities in ‘Full Nelson’.
Confused, Smith asks Flag Sr what’s going on. The latter tells Smith that he’s being used as a guinea pig so ARGUS can study the effects of Salvation’s atmosphere, environment, and other potentially deadly things on the human body.
The reason Smith was selected? Because, understandably, Flag Sr still wants revenge for Smith killing Flag Sr’s son in 2021’s The Suicide Squad. Cue Flag Sr and company closing the only doorway to Salvation as Smith races towards it in a bid to escape. Trapped and alone, Smith hears something roar from a nearby forest. Screen cuts to black. Roll credits.
OK, so what exactly is Salvation? Well, apart from the fact that it appears to habitable, Flag Sr wants it to be a prison-like world that metahumans can be sent to – permanently, might I add – if they pose a threat to the DCU’s planet Earth. The US government seems to be on board with Flag Sr’s plan, too, especially after Flag Sr convinces them that Lex Luthor might have been onto something with his crusade against metahumans.
Smith might be Salvation’s first inmate, but he certainly won’t be its last. In fact, its introduction might serve as a jumping-off point for other DCU Chapter One projects, including the sequel to 2025’s Superman. Speaking of which…
How DC Comics’ Salvation Run might set up Man of Tomorrow, aka James Gunn’s Superman sequel
As I said, Salvation isn’t a novel concept that DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn concocted for Peacemaker. Indeed, it’s a world that actually exists in DC Comics, and there’s a specific 2007 comic book series, titled ‘Salvation Run’, that might hold some clues as to what’s to come in Gunn’s Superman sequel.
Based on a pitch from none other than Game of Thrones author George RR Martin, ‘Salvation Run’ is a seven-issue series that ran from November 2007 to June 2008. In it, supervillains captured by The Suicide Squad were sent to and imprisoned on a planet called Salvation. There, DC’s various Big Bads form alliances to either try and escape this world, or accept their fate and decide to rule over it.
What’s interesting about Salvation – or, to call it by its science-designated name, Cygnus 4019 – is actually a ‘training world’ for the New Gods of Apokolips. This is the planet ruled by Darkseid, aka one of DC Comics’ most iconic supervillains.
OK, so what’s this got to do with Man of Tomorrow, aka Gunn’s next DCU production? Well, Darkseid won’t be the primary villain of that piece. He’s more likely to be a Thanos-level threat who pops up at the end of DCU Chapter One, titled ‘Gods and Monsters’, or in a future DCU saga.
However, it’s possible that DeSaad, one of Darkseid’s lieutenants who oversees the New Gods’ training program on Salvation, could be Man of Tomorrow‘s primary antagonist instead. That would mean, though, that we were all wrong to assume that Gunn was teasing Brainiac would be Man of Tomorrow‘s villain when he shared that film’s finished script in mid-September.
If – and it’s still a big if – DeSaad is Man of Tomorrow‘s Big Bad, he’s certainly a supervillain powerful enough to force archenemies Superman and Lex Luthor to team up. Gunn has already confirmed that Man of Tomorrow will be “a story about Lex and Superman having to work together”, so it might be that they have to set their differences aside to prevent DeSaad from invading planet Earth.
Admittedly, this is all just speculation at this point. Salvation’s inclusion in one of the best HBO Max shows‘ latest finale might just be an Easter egg for eagle-eyed fans to pick out. Alternatively, it may lay the groundwork for a completely different DCU project, which just so happened to be teased in ‘Full Nelson’…
Checkmate explained: what is the new agency that’s set up in Peacemaker’s season 2 finale?
After they track down an on-the-run Smith and Eagly, the 11th Street Kids – Emilia Harcourt, John Economos, Leota Adebayo, and Adrian Chase/Vigilante – convince Smith that he’s not the cursed monster he claims to be.
Indeed, they suggest it’s not too late to be the hero he’s always wanted to be. And, armed with Adebayo’s dream of establishing a new spy agency and a boatload of cash (read: blood money) that Chase has stored in his mom’s basement, the group set out to be the heroic counterpart to the increasingly nefarious ARGUS.
Introducing Checkmate, a new organization born out of Adebayo’s spy agency blueprint and funded by Chase’s secret cash pile. Smith and the 11th Street Kids aren’t its only employees, either – indeed, alienated by the wicked turn ARGUS has taken, Sasha Bordeaux, Langston Fleury, and Rip Jagger/Judomaster are also along for the ride.
Like planet Salvation, Checkmate isn’t something concocted by Gunn.
Established in ‘Action Comics #598’ in March 1988, Checkmate is a covert operations agency set up by Amanda Waller that’s included the likes of Peacemaker, Vigilante, and Bordeaux among its roster. Characters who’ve appeared in other DCU films and TV shows, such as Creature Commandos‘ GI Robot, Superman‘s Mister Terrific, and Peacemaker 2‘s Maxwell Lord, have also been part of its line-up.
In my Peacemaker season 2 finale predictions piece, I suggested Checkmate would be established in the DCU and even be a spin-off of the aforementioned show.
At the time of publication, a Checkmate TV series hasn’t been announced. However, with a third season of Peacemaker looking incredibly unlikely (more on this in a moment), I wouldn’t be surprised if Gunn confirms Checkmate is in development.
It sounds like that’ll happen sooner rather than later, too. Speaking on the latest episode of the Official Peacemaker Podcast, Gunn said: “Peacemaker will be back as this TV show. We’ll see exactly what form. We have plans”, before adding “we’ll see the series’ primary cast “in the future of the DCU in not too long”.
Will there be a Peacemaker season 3?
Not with that exact title. Speaking in late September, Gunn indicated that Peacemaker season 2 wouldn’t get a sequel. However, with Checkmate now established in the DCU, it’s possible that a Checkmate TV show will be Peacemaker season 3 in all but name.
Smith’s disappearance could form the basis of its plot, too, with his allies using their resources to find out exactly what’s happened to him. So, while Peacemaker 3 isn’t technically in the DCU’s future, a potential Checkmate off-shoot could be.
Are there any cameos in Peacemaker season 2’s final episode?
Nope. In the season 2 finale predictions piece I linked to earlier, I speculated on the prospect of seeing Superman or even Robert Pattinson’s Batman in ‘Full Nelson’. I also discussed the prospect of the latter happening in a Peacemaker season 2 episode 8 trailer fan theory article.
Neither of those cameos – or any others, for that matter – occurred, though, so that’s one thing I guessed incorrectly!
Are there any mid-credits or post-credits scenes in Peacemaker season 2’s eighth chapter?
Yes, there are a couple of end credits stingers. However, like its forebears’ post-credits scenes, they’re just joke-laden extensions of sequences that actually made it into the episode.
The first, which takes place when Flag Sr is telling high-ranking Pentagon officials about Salvation, sees US Secretary of Defence General Mori ask Flag Sr if he’ll install a bug-zapper-style barrier on Salvation to prevent its metahuman inmates from escaping. Cue an exasperated Flag Sr trying to tell Mori that Salvation won’t need one, because the only way or out is via one of the multidimensional doorways that ARGUS controls.
The second end credits scene is a continuation of Economos’ humorously awkward conversation with Sydney Happersen and other ARGUS employees. There are a couple of funny lines that are improvised by Steve Agee, who plays Economos, but you can see why this sequence was shortened.
And, that’s it, I think! Have I missed anything significant that happened in ‘Full Nelson’? Or have I got something wrong about any of the above? Let me know in the comments. Once you’re done, read the section below for more DCU-based coverage.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
