‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 finale ends on a cliffhanger and teases new location key to DCU’s future
The highly anticipated finale of 'Peacemaker' Season 2 was packed with many emotional character moments, DC Easter eggs, and a wild ending that put the main protagonist in an unexpected situation. However, what caught the attention of fans in the Season 2 finale was the introduction of Salvation, a distant, mysterious planet with an environment similar to Earth's. In the eighth episode of the HBO Max series, viewers were introduced to Salvation as Rick Flag Sr. (played by Frank Grillo) revealed that the planet was being considered as a prison for metahumans.
The reason for exploring the planet as a potential prison was that Arkham Asylum and Belle Reve were no longer sufficient to contain supervillains. Upping the ante, 'Peacemaker' Season 2 ended with Flag Sr. kidnapping Christopher Smith (Peacemaker) to trap him inside Salvation. Flag mentioned that Smith is the first "volunteer" so that he can test out the environment of Salvation and its effects on the human body. As he left the planet, closing the multiversal doorway, Smith was left alone in a field surrounded by a forest as mysterious growling sounds took over.
The move is presumably Flag Sr's revenge plan against Peacemaker (played by John Cena) for killing Rick Flag Jr. in 'The Suicide Squad.' Notably, the show's creator, James Gunn, has confirmed that this particular location is "incredibly important" to DCU's future. During the official 'Peace By Peace: Part Three' featurette attached to the end of 'Peacemaker' Season 2, Gunn and John shed light on what lies ahead for the DC Universe after the introduction of the mysterious planet.
According to The Direct, Gunn shared, "I'm leaving Peacemaker stranded on the planet Salvation. And that's going to be an incredibly important thing in the future of the DCU." On the other hand, Cena described the ending of his character 'Peacemaker' as "pretty crazy." The WWE star said, "Chris is alone in an unfamiliar world. Which is a pretty crazy ending to a pretty crazy eight episodes."
Speaking of Salvation, Gunn said, "And we see finally, the presentation of something really important to the DCU as a whole, which is the presentation of Salvation to the Secretary of Defense... And we learn that the reason they found Salvation is not to help humanity in any real way... Well, they're trying to help humanity, but they're helping humanity by sending the metahumans into Salvation. Villainous metahumans, they say, but metahumans. And this does come from the comics." For DC fans, the name 'Salvation' has a strong context. As per Polygon, Salvation, in the DC Universe, was actually a "training planet" for the New Gods of Apokolips, and was under the authority of DeSaad, one of Darkseid's most disturbing followers. The planet appeared in 'Salvation Run', a seven-issue limited series. However, the connection remains highly speculative.