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Peacemaker: So, How Are Things Going for Chris Over on "Salvation"?

So, how are things going for Chris, aka Peacemaker, over on Salvation? James Gunn offered a brief (and sadly, not surprising) "update."



Article Summary

  • James Gunn shares a grim Peacemaker update, saying Chris Smith’s life on Salvation is “not easy” after the finale.
  • Peacemaker ends Season 2 trapped on Salvation, a prison planet built to hold metahumans and political threats.
  • The finale ties Salvation to DC Comics’ Salvation Run, with Rick Flag Sr. and Lex Luthor pushing the prison-planet plan.
  • As Peacemaker is taken away, the rest of the team launch Checkmate to counter Amanda Waller.

By the time the credits rolled on the second season finale of DC Studios and writer/director James Gunn's John Cena-starring Peacemaker, there was a whole lot to be happy about when it came to our favorite folks. Well, except for one person: our main man, Chris Smith, aka Peacemaker. Though we recap what went down (and the season finale's comics equivalents) below, let's just say that Chris has been imprisoned on a planet far away from Earth, where some very shady folks are going to send metahumans (and probably pretty much anyone else) who aren't willing to play ball and get in line with their agenda. Yeah, it's not good. Based on a quick update Gunn offered, it doesn't sound like it's going to get better. Asked on Threads for an update on Peacemaker and how he's holding up, Gunn offered the ominous, "It's not easy."

Peacemaker
Image: HBO Max/DC Studios

Here's a look at Gunn's heartbreaking update on Chris, followed by a look back at the finale:

Peacemaker
Image: Threads Screencap

During the season finale, we learn that what Flag (Frank Grillo), Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), and the others have been looking for is their "Salvation." No, we're not talking about seeing the error of their ways. We're talking about a planet that seems perfect for using as a prison to store metahumans, a plan that Flag ends up selling to the government. And based on the data and analysis that Luthor provided, they have a way of accessing the planet directly without needing the QUC. A prison planet meant for metahumans is definitely the kind of thing that serves as an overarching threat to the entire DCU. We have a feeling that Luthor's work on this is going to earn him some serious "time served." On the comics side…

"Salvation Run": Running for seven issues, from 2007 to 2008, Salvation Run was written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges, with art by Sean Chen, Walden Wong, Joe Bennett, and Belardino Brabo. After a wild round of assaults from various big bads, the U.S. Government charges Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad with rounding up supervillains so they can be imprisoned on a distant planet named "Salvation." Over the run of the series, villains either worked to find a way of escaping or ruling over their new home planet. Some of the famous/infamous names that found themselves residing on Salvation were Lex Luthor, the Joker, The Flash's Rogues (Heat Wave, Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Abra Kadabra, and Mirror Master), Catwoman, and more.

Peacemaker
PEACEMAKER (Image: HBO Max Screencaps; DC Comics)

"Salvation Run": Running for seven issues, from 2007 to 2008, Salvation Run was written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges, with art by Sean Chen, Walden Wong, Joe Bennett, and Belardino Brabo. After a wild round of assaults from various big bads, the U.S. Government charges Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad with rounding up supervillains so they can be imprisoned on a distant planet named "Salvation." Over the run of the series, villains either worked to find a way of escaping or ruling over their new home planet. Some of the famous/infamous names that found themselves residing on Salvation were Lex Luthor, the Joker, The Flash's Rogues (Heat Wave, Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Abra Kadabra, and Mirror Master), Catwoman, and more.

Peacemaker: So, How Are Things Going for Chris Over on "Salvation"?
PEACEMAKER – Image: HBO Max Screencaps; DC Comics

Before Chris gets black-bagged by Flag and dropped off as a "test subject" for the not-very-safe prison planet Salvation, we see Adrian (Freddie Stroma) putting those skids of cash to excellent use. Welcome to Checkmate ("Making the World Better"), a counter-intelligence organization that counts Chris, Adrian, Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), Economos (Steve Agee), Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Fleury (Tim Meadows), Judomaster (Nhut Le), Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez), and Eagly. It seems like Flag and Waller will have some problems on their hands, and the DCU has a new intelligence agency in play. And if there was one team that won't stop until Chris is found, it's this one. On the comics side…

"Checkmate": Created by Paul Kupperberg and Steve Erwin and first appearing in Action Comics #598 (March 1988), the Checkmate organization was previously known as The Agency, a branch of Task Force X that Amanda Waller first established. Originally under the command of Colonel Valentina Vostok (Doom Patrol's Negative Woman) and designated to accomplish missions around the world that maintain the best interests of the United States, The Agency would be renamed Checkmate by new head Harry Stein. Taking its name from the winning Chess move, the organization's structure was based on Chess pieces: a King, a Queen, and a number of Bishops, Rooks, Knights, and Pawns. It should be noted that at one point in the organization's history, Maxwell Lord had taken on the title of Black King, devising a plan to use the organization to eliminate metahumans with the intent of manipulating the agency to kill all metahumans on Earth. In the end, Wonder Woman would end up breaking Lord's neck to break his control over Superman.


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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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