- The trailer for Peacemaker season 2 episode 8 has been released
- It teases a surreal, thrilling and potentially sad ending for the HBO Max show
- Some big fan theories have emerged online about how it’ll impact the DC Universe
There’s only one more episode left of Peacemaker season 2 before the show departs our screens once more – or forever, if recent comments made by James Gunn about Peacemaker‘s future are to be believed.
Before this season’s finale, titled ‘The Full Nelson’, makes landfall, HBO Max has whet our appetite for what’s expected to be a surreal, thrilling and potentially emotional eighth episode. Indeed, a 30-second teaser has been released for next week’s chapter – and, shocking no-one, it’s already spawned a host of fan theories.
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Viewers aren’t just speculating on how the DC Universe (DCU) TV series’ latest season might end, either. Gunn has already suggested that the show’s latest finale will set up events to come in other DCU Chapter One projects, so its importance on Gunn and Peter Safran’s nascent cinematic franchise isn’t lost on Peacemaker‘s audience.
Nonetheless, three particular theories are dominating online watercooler discussions about this season’s forthcoming finale. Let’s take a look at them, then, and see if one or more have some substance to them.
1. ARGUS unlocks the door to the DC Multiverse – and The Batman Part II
One thing is already abundantly clear about what’ll happen in ‘The Full Nelson’: Rick Flag Sr and ARGUS’ wanted to get their hands on Chris Smith’s interdimensional device for a very specific reason.
With Smith finally handing said device over to them at the end of Peacemaker season 2 episode 7, ARGUS is wasting no time putting it to good (read: bad) use.
As the above teaser reveals, the 11th Street Kids – minus Smith, who’s been locked up for his supposed crimes – and various ARGUS agents will be sent to explore other realities within the DC Multiverse. We see Emilia Harcourt and company explore a colorful, candy cane world that’s hiding… something. A different door leading to the giant skull spider-infested hellscape dimension we first saw in Peacemaker season 2’s official trailer is also shown.
We already know that Smith’s device grants access to the Quantum Unfolding Chamber (QUC) and, according to the titular character, 99 other universes. But, given Flag Sr’s reservations about interdimensional travel and parallel worlds – after all, he’s constantly said he doesn’t want a repeat of what happened in Superman – why is he hell-bent on using the QUC device to explore other realities?
The answer is simple. As Harcourt tells John Economos later in the teaser, ARGUS wants to find “resources [and] new ground for overpopulation”. It seems, then, that ARGUS wants to locate other habitable dimensions, extract their resources for the DCU’s Earth, and maybe even re-settle some of its planet’s human population in these other realities.
That presents numerous problems, one of which I’ll get to in its own section later on.
Not only does it make the DCU’s Earth susceptible to all manner of dangerous alien lifeforms, it also presents the opportunity for a vengeful Keith/Captain Triumph to come after Chris one final time. Sure, that’ll only be possible if ARGUS opens the door to Earth-2. However, given the tragic events of Peacemaker season 2 episode 7 and the fact that a rage-filled Keith was shown to be still alive before that chapter ended, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him this season.
ARGUS’ exploration of the multiverse might not be all bad news, though. It’s possible that one of the QUC’s 99 doors leads to Matt Reeves’ Bat-Verse, aka the one where Robert Pattinson plays Bruce Wayne and his vigilante alter-ego Batman.
If that’s the case, is it too much of a stretch to think that Peacemaker‘s season 2 finale could include a crowd-pleasing cameo from The Batman‘s lead star? What if it gives us the tiniest glimpse of something that may happen in The Batman Part II, too (learn more about that film in my guide on The Batman Part II)? Admittedly, the latter is a pipe-dream, but the former would certainly help to cement the DC Elseworlds initiative that all non-DCU projects, such as Reeves’ Bat-Verse (would the Snyder-Verse fall under this umbrella term, too?) will be collectively known as.
2. Peacemaker season 2 episode 8 will set up Man of Tomorrow – and reveal its villain
Peacemaker has already given us some clues about what Gunn’s Superman sequel, aka Man of Tomorrow, will entail. Indeed, season 2 episode 6’s big cameo was the perfect set up for Man of Tomorrow, but what this season’s finale goes further and officially confirms who its villain will be?
Gunn has previously dropped some hints over the identity of this flick’s primary antagonist. In mid-September, he suggested it’ll be someone so powerful that arch-enemies Clark Kent/Superman and Lex Luthor will need to work together to defeat them. Nearly two weeks later, Gunn shared an image of Man of Tomorrow‘s finished script, which appeared to include another tease about its main villain.
With Flag Sr and ARGUS exploring alternate dimensions in ‘The Full Nelson’, some fans think one of these realities holds the key to introducing Man of Tomorrow‘s primary villain – that being, if you believe fans anyway, Brainiac.
It’s not such an outlandish theory when you read people’s reasoning for this hypothesis. Redditors including cig_sg_throwaway and LastofDays94, plus ResetEra user Zebesian-X, make compelling arguments about this theory, and I wouldn’t put it past Gunn to reward Peacemaker fans for watching this incredibly important DCU project by revealing Brainiac will be his Superman follow-up’s Big Bad.
We don’t have much longer to wait to see if this particular theory is true. In the meantime, get the lowdown on everything we know so far about Man of Tomorrow.
3. Vigilante-1 and Vigilante-2 swapped universes in season 2 episode 7
Given the theories I’ve previously discussed, it might sound strange to say this is the one I’m incredibly skeptical of. Nevertheless, it’s worth discussing because it’s such a compelling fan theory.
Amid the chaos of this season’s seventh entry, titled ‘Like a Keith in the Night’, it’s entirely possible that the Earth-1 version of Adrian Chase/Vigilante (aka the one who exists in the DCU) traded places with his Earth-2 variant. That means the DCU’s Vigilante stayed behind on Earth-2 to allow his friends to escape, with Earth-2 Vigilante taking his place in the DCU.
It seems that fans can’t agree whether this is the case, either. On Reddit, users siddhartha404, Imaginary_Penalty_97 and Kiki_and_Horst all suspect this switcheroo took place.
They’re not the only ones who think so, either. Over on ResetEra, MadLaughter, Mister Ursine and yap are also convinced this occurred.
Others aren’t so sure. Redditor CalligrapherBorn9924, plus ResetEra members Toth and Layell don’t think they traded places, for example.
So, what should we believe? According to ResetEra user somethingrandom, this episode’s subtitles reveal the Earth-2 version of Vigilante is the one that stayed behind. Unless, as somethingrandom suggests, the closed caption team made a mistake, that appears to settle this particular debate.
But, what do you make of the above theories? And have you seen any others that sound like they could be proven correct in one of the next episode of best HBO Max shows’ second season? Let me know in the comments.
