How Salvation Run units up Man of Tomorrow's new villain

Peacemaker season 2 simply ended on a large cliffhanger that would have huge ramifications on the way forward for the DC Universe. We nonetheless do not know if the sequence will get a 3rd season, however showrunner James Gunn has confirmed that it’s going to additionally function a direct lead-in in Man of Tomorrow (the Superman not-a-sequel follow-up that he is additionally writing and directing). With that in thoughts, one explicit element from the Peacemaker season 2 finale could possibly be the important thing to understanding Man of Tomorrow and its mysterious villain.

Intrigued? Let’s dive in.

Full spoilers under for the tip of Peacemaker season 2.

Peacemaker season 2 ending defined

Picture: HBO Max

The finale of Peacemaker season 2 begins with ARGUS, led by Rick Flag (Frank Grillo), exploring the multiversal doorway that Chris Smith/Peacemaker (John Cena) handed over on the finish of the earlier episode. It is unclear what they’re in search of, till they discover it: a liveable planet the place Flag can banish all of Earth’s metahumans. He names this planet Salvation, with plans to make use of it as a large, inescapable jail.

On the very finish of the episode, ARGUS kidnaps Chris and shoves him by way of the doorway into Salvation. Rick reveals that Peacemaker can be his check topic to verify Salvation is definitely liveable (he isn’t a complete monster, apparently) and the doorway disappears behind him, trapping Chris on their own on an alien planet in one other dimension. Then, we hear a cacophony of roars that sort of sound like a bunch of offscreen dinosaurs about to devour Chris. Roll credit.

So what does it imply? To grasp, it is value wanting into DC comics historical past, particularly, the story of Salvation Run.

Salvation Run and Peacemaker

Printed in 2007-2008 throughout DC’s Ultimate Disaster crossover occasion, Salvation Run was a seven-issue restricted sequence impressed by an thought from George R.R. Martin. It was written by Invoice Willingham and Lilah Sturges, with artwork by Sean Chen, Walden Wong, Joe Bennett, and Belardino Brabo.

The fundamental premise of the comedian was that the Suicide Squad (led by Amanda Waller) captured a bunch of supervillains and banished them to a distant planet known as Salvation. The listing of imprisoned villains included Lex Luthor, the Joker, Killer Croc, Bane, Deadshot, Gorilla Grodd, Hugo Unusual, Clayface, Mister Freeze, Poison Ivy, Hyena, and dozens extra. Waller additionally threw in some morally ambiguous characters, like Catwoman, for good measure.

The thought was to let the villains struggle it out and die, however there was a twist. Seems, Salvation was really a “coaching planet” for the New Gods of Apokolips, aka, the hellish planet dominated by Darkseid. Even worse, Salvation was underneath the authority of one among Darkseid’s most annoying followers: DeSaad.

DeSaad and the Man of Tomorrow

Within the comics, DeSaad serves a really particular function: he is Darkseid torture man. DeSaad can also be a genius who loves inventing new methods to torture his victims, and is just about immortal. In some iterations, he is tremendous sturdy, too, and has different powers like telepathy and the flexibility to manage others’ feelings. In different phrases, he is terrifying.

If James Gunn is riffing on the Salvation Run plotline (and this appears very probably primarily based on the jail planet’s identify in Peacemaker), then it appears logical that he could possibly be organising DeSaad because the DCU’s subsequent massive unhealthy. This will surely be a scary sufficient menace to get Superman and Lex Luthor working collectively on the identical group towards a higher menace — particularly if Lex feels unhealthy for developing with the thought of a multiversal jail within the first place.

To be clear, we’re taking some massive speculative leaps right here, however primarily based on the ending of Peacemaker season 2, DeSaad simply jumped method up within the rankings for Man of Tomorrow’s foremost villain. And as an added bonus, he might act as an appetizer for Darkseid himself as soon as Gunn will get round to creating his personal Justice League film.

Fortunately, we can’t have to attend an excessive amount of longer to seek out out for certain. Man of Tomorrow is anticipated to begin filming in April of 2026.

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