The Peacemaker Season 2 Finale Introduces A Location That Could Have Major DC Universe Implications

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This article contains spoilers for "Peacemaker" season 2, episode 8 — "Full Nelson" 

Ever since his DC Universe debut on "Creature Commandos," Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) has been associated with metahumans and their prison system. However, after effectively taking over the Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) role in the grand scheme of things, he seems to have become far more proactive in their containment. "Full Nelson" reveals the true extent of his endgame: He's been looking for a more effective way to contain the DCU's cavalcade of metahuman prisoners, and Peacemaker's (John Cena) dimension portal technology gives him just that.

After several false starts — including a visit to the imp-infested candy dimension the Earth-X Auggie (Robert Patrick) and Keith Smith (David Denman) discuss earlier in the season — Flag's team finally finds what he's after. Dubbing the planet Salvation, Flag unveils his plan to use it as an off-world metahuman prison, and even dumps Peacemaker there as a guinea pig. 

For comic fans, this is both bad news (for Peacemaker) and an excellent development (for the DCU at large). Salvation, as it turns out, is an important location in the comics, serving as the central location of the excellent 2008 miniseries "Salvation Run." This story features Flag, Waller, and a group called Checkmate (which "Full Nelson" also introduces) dump a number of extremely prominent supervillains on the planet, which unfortunately also happens to be highly dangerous behind its idyllic facade. 

Since "Salvation Run" features a laundry list of DC's most prominent villains and James Gunn clearly means to adapt the story in one way or another, Salvation could become the DCU's go-to location for handily introducing just about any supervillain the universe's various stories might need. 

The "Salvation Run" comic features a massive collection of villainous metahumans, from the Flash's rogues gallery to the Joker and even Lex Luthor (played in the DCU by Nicholas Hoult, and already connected to the story thanks to his important cameo appearance in "Peacemaker" season 2). These characters struggle to coexist, form factions, and occasionally murder each other while struggling to survive on the planet — all of which is bread and butter to Gunn, whose superhero résumé consists almost entirely of villain and outcast teams doing such things. 

What's more, the planet Salvation is even connected to the infamous planet Apokolips, in case Gunn wants to bring the New Gods and DC ube-rvillain Darkseid in play at some point down the line. In other words, "Salvation Run" offers endless storytelling opportunities and it's pretty clever to introduce the prison planet so early in the DCU game. 

I'm not sure that Gunn will adapt "Salvation Run" in its full extent, though. The Joker almost certainly won't be introduced like this, and Lex Luthor has his hands full with Gunn's "Superman" sequel, "The Man of Tomorrow." Besides, the ending of "Peacemaker" season 2 seems to set the planet up as a key location for season 3. 

At the very least, the DCU "Salvation Run" seems destined to send Peacemaker in yet another messy "The Suicide Squad"-style adventure, accompanied by some of the more expendable villains from the comic (Here's looking at you, Psimon), and some of the wackier DC baddies such as the gorilla/brain-in-a-jar team of Monsieur Mallah and The Brain. Who knows? It might even reunite Peacemaker with old enemy Bloodsport (Idris Elba), who's part of Luthor's team in the comic.

All of "Peacemaker" season 2 is now streaming on HBO Max.