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Peacemaker: James Gunn's Okay with Racists Calling Him "Polarizing"

James Gunn on the Earth-X reveal in Peacemaker S02E06: "Ignorance Is Chris," getting some pushback, and racists calling him "polarizing."

As a whole lot of folks await answers in this week's episode of DC Studios and HBO Max's John Cena-starring Peacemaker Season 2, writer/director James Gunn has been making the rounds to discuss S02E06 "Ignorance Is Chris." While there was a whole lot to take from the episode, the two biggest headlines were the ominous appearance of Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor and the big reveal that confirmed what a lot of folks have been fearing since the season kicked off. That's right, Chris's (Cena) "perfect universe" is actually Earth-X, a universe where the Nazis won WWII.

Speaking with GQ's Alex Pappademas about last week's episode, the second season, and the DCU overall, Gunn shared some crucial insights into how they approached the big Earth-X reveal, working with Danielle Brooks (Adebayo) to ensure she was good where things were going, and how many see what's playing out on their television screens reflecting the reality of their lives. It's a great interview, with Pappademas and Gunn having more of a conversation than an interview. One of our personal highlights was what Gunn had to share about how much making Peacemaker "delights" him.

"The show delights me. I really do whatever I want with 'Peacemaker'—and I mean, in one respect, I do whatever I want with anything, because I am able to make my own choices and I'm my own boss. But with 'Peacemaker,' we really let it go. We take chances. We go to places where I think other people are afraid to go," he shared.  That said, Gunn noted that doesn't mean they don't get "a lot of pushback" over the creative decisions that they make – especially the direction that "Ignorance Is Chris" went.

"We got a lot of pushback from various sources within the structure, on this episode in particular, and we're like, 'Let's not be bashful about this. Let's just do the story that we want to do, and I don't want to have to pull punches with it," he added. "And it's interesting because there hasn't been that sort of… I have a few racists that have called me polarizing, but I'm okay with being polarizing and letting racists fall to the wayside. People have loved this episode the most, so it's exciting."

"Listen, we're dealing with a very sensitive subject. We're dealing with racism and at the same time, there's humor in this episode. And so, you're dealing with something very delicate and yet we're not being delicate about it—but I don't think we're not being delicate in a non-thoughtful way," Gunn said, noting how they went into the episode understanding that there was a balancing act that would be in play. "I think we're being thoughtful about it. When I was first writing the episodes and I first finished the episode, I sent it to Danielle Brooks and we had a big conversation. I wanted to make sure she was okay with everything."

"I'm not sure if I was watching it as a casual viewer that I would've noticed what was going on in Earth X," Gunn continued, before offering one of the best reasons yet why the series is best served with a weekly release instead of a binge dump. "I think everybody online noticed what was happening, but also because they were discussing it. I showed the whole season to people before that and they did not notice at all. And it wasn't all white friends, it was people of color, white people, everybody who just didn't notice that all the extras were white every time we went to Earth X. And so, it was about the stuff with that—Adebayo specifically, and what happens at the end, because you don't want to treat it lightly and there's a humorous aspect to it, but it's also very scary. It was about the way we handled all that," he shared.

When Earth II Officially Became Earth-X…

Adrian, aka Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), met up with his other self in the new dimension, and they agreed on everything – except one big thing. In the new dimension, Peacemaker is Vigilante's arch-enemy, with the new dimension version revealing that he's the reason why he joined the "Sons of Liberty" – clearly a resistance group. After Chris and our Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) speak in the new dimension, the two walk through Chris's headquarters when Harcourt mentions that she hasn't seen any people of color. At first, Chris scoffs at her observation, but then the big reveal comes: instead of stars on the U.S. Flag, there's a Nazi symbol.

Meanwhile, Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) takes a break from Economos (Steve Agee) to go for a walk to clear her head in Chris's home neighborhood, when she notices people looking at her with fear and panic. Before long, Keith (David Denman) jumps from his vehicle and screams about "a Black" getting loose, and the last we see is Adebayo running with a mob chasing her. The reference that people of color are being imprisoned hits hard and sets up would could be a brutally painful penultimate episode to the season.

Peacemaker: Lex Luthor Enters the Scene…

After hitting a brick wall on how to find Chris, aka Peacemaker, Rick Flag Sr. makes a trip out to Belle Reve maximum security prison to meet with a special prisoner: Lex Luthor. I mean, if you need an expert on dimensional portals, it would seem that Lex would be the one to go to. Limping into their one-on-one with a cane in hand in the middle of serving his 250+-plus-year prison sentence (that's what you get for messing with Krypto), Lex throws a whole lot of "I Told You So" points at Rick about meta-humans. He also offers a very "descriptive" anecdote about the metahuman sounds that haunt him in Belle Reve, but we could never do it the justice that Hoult's delivery gives it. After reminding him that he can't out-negotiate him, so he shouldn't even try, Lex asks Rick to cut to the chase about what he wants.

While Lex makes it clear that he doesn't know (or care about) Peacemaker, his interest piques when Rick mentions the portable QUC (Quantum Unfolding Chamber) device that Chris uses. When Lex asks why Rick needs to find Chris and the device, Rick shares that it's to prevent another rift… and adds that he has an "idea," one "which could be beneficial to all of us." Lex wonders if being able to track the device would be enough to earn his freedom, but Rick shuts that down. Instead, Rick shares that the U.S. Government is prepared to offer him "a shot at redemption." Now, Lex is all ears.  Later, Rick is checking out from visiting Lex when Sasha (Sol Rodríguez) asks if the meeting was successful. Rick tells her he got what he needed and that Lex was being transferred to a new facility (non-metahuman, we're assuming). When she follows up by asking what else is in the deal, Rick responds, "Other than now, we're partners with Lex Luthor."

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