James Gunn talks about the fans reception of the huge Peacemaker Season 2 twist

When Peacemaker Season 2 started, we saw Chris Smith, aka Peacemaker, go to an alternate universe where everything seemed to be better than the universe he was from. In that universe, Chris is a celebrated hero, his brother Keith and father Auggie had never died, and both brothers have a great relationship with their father. Besides, while Chris of the other universe had lost Emilia Harcourt even after dating her, Harcourt of the other universe still had a soft spot for him. It was Chris' dream universe until it wasn't.

Peacemaker Season 2, episode six, Ignorance Is Chris, shows us a dark reality of this seemingly perfect universe. The alternate universe Chris seems to prefer turns out to be an America with only white people and no people of color. Evidently, it is far from perfect and even worse than Chris' universe in some aspects. It was a huge twist in the show, and James Gunn, creator and showrunner, gave some interesting insights about the revelation in an interview with Collider.

James Gunn talks about fan reaction to Peacemaker Season 2, episode six

Peacemaker Season 1 follows Chris Smith being forced to join a task force for a project called 'Project Butterfly' after he recovered from the events of Suicide Squad (2021). Season 2 follows Chris as he discovers a seemingly great and better alternate universe and tries to evade Rick Flag Sr., who wants to avenge his son's death by making Chris pay.

As viewers watched episode six of Peacemaker Season 2, the alternate universe Chris seems to prefer has an America that is N*zi. There are only white people, and no people of color can be seen. This twist has shocked viewers because they, like Chris, were under the impression that the alternate universe was a better one. While some fans might have seen this twist coming, many didn't, and James Gunn spoke about the reactions to Collider, saying,

"I mean, all it takes is one person to go, 'Hey, look at all the background actors in this world. And then look at all the background actors—' You know, my backgrounds are very diverse, and it's important to me that they are, and that we get people from all different walks of life and different-looking people. And so once that's out, then the whole thing is gone,"

Thus, even Gunn knows how much attention some fans pay to minute details, and some might have figured it out early. He also talked about getting messages from people whom he had earlier shown some of the episodes. Many hadn't seen this twist coming. As Gunn said,

"And, this morning, I got tons of messages from people; they couldn't believe it was happening. Because they're kind of living in their own little Peacemaker bubble, like I am when I'm watching a TV show. When I watch a TV show, I do not go online and read about the TV show. I don't go on Reddit and discuss the TV show if it's not mine. But when you're online in that group, of course, everybody knew."

The new twist also makes one thing clear: what else is messed up in this universe? Chris had told Adebayo that the alternate universe was

"land of goodness and light, and we're in the dark version."

But now that we know how messed up the alternate universe is, it is slightly hopeful that our world, despite having its issues, has some goodness too. Since the original universe of Peacemaker depicts our world, it is hopeful to see how different it is from the alternate one. While our world and the original one of the show have their problems, there are still some things to be thankful for. James Gunn pointed this out while talking to Collider, saying,

"I think it's important for people to also like— we have a lot of problems in this world. A lot of problems, serious problems, some of which are reflected in the show. But also, we have good things too, and it's important to see that as well. We do have a lot of good people in this world. We have people that are trying to affect positive change, and it's important not to pretend like that's not happening. But, at the end of it, it's about Christopher Smith's personal journey for me."

Peacemaker is streaming on HBO Max. Episode 7 comes out on October 2, 2025.

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