Game Of Thrones' Creator Helped Craft The Comic At The Center Of James Gunn's DC Universe

He might not be able to give the world a finished copy of "The Winds of Winter," but there are plenty of other accomplishments George R.R. Martin can be proud of, one of which is a DC comic book run that has recently become part of James Gunn's DC universe. Back in 2007, the writer behind "Game of Thrones" helped co-create and pitch alongside John Joss. Miller, a story that would serve as the foundation for "Salvation Run."

The limited comic series was eventually written by Bill Willingham and later by Lila Sturgess. The limited series followed some of DC's most notorious villains stranded on an inescapable planet and forced to survive. Over time, they begin to build a small society, only for chaos to erupt, with some of DC's most feared villains sticking to their nature and turning on each other.

According to Martin in a 2007 blog post, the story was originally conceived as an Elseworlds tale, separate from the main DC Universe. "When Britain sent convicts to Australia, they were transported 'for the term of your natural life,' wrote Martin. "And that was the premise of our story, too. There was no escape. The planet was in another galaxy, millions of light-years away, accessible only by Boom Tube." Unfortunately, creative differences led him and Miller to leave the project, which was then given to Willingham. However, decades later, Martin's original concept may finally get a chance to be adapted as part of James Gunn's upcoming DCU plans.

While it might've ended up being a seven-issue series firmly set in the DC universe, "Salvation Run," which was initially titled "Exiles in Paradise," was originally set to run a lot longer. "We wanted to tell a story that would span decades," Martin teased. "Characters would die, would change, would marry, would have children. Wars would be fought, but eventually, from the chaos and brutality of the early days, a society would be born." A story with such a lengthy timespan certainly sounds like something from Martin, but what's interesting is that Gunn has already hinted that his take on "Salvation Run" could tell a similar story. Speaking on the "Go Read Some Comics" podcast, Gunn admitted he was late in learning who was originally responsible for the story being set up to play a crucial role in the DCU's future.

"I didn't know about this until later on. And I knew because I read 'Salvation Run,' and I'm like, 'Oh, this is such a great idea.' I think the story can be more like this. And my story was always more like what George R.R. Martin's original intention was," Gunn revealed. "And so that was just, it's just one of those weird moments where you go, 'God, life is so strange.'"

Just how much of Martin's story will bleed into Gunn's adaptation is unknown. However, given there are no plans for a third season of "Peacemaker," could our reunion with Christopher Smith see him welcoming more of Earth Prime's unwanted most wanted onto the Salvation planet, and teeing up a brand new show that's almost a "Lost" for supervillains? More importantly, will we see it before "The Winds of Winter?"