Full spoilers follow for Peacemaker through Season 2, Episode 3.
In Season 2 of Peacemaker, John Cena’s Chris Smith/AKA Peacemaker seems to have defied U2 and finally found what he’s looking for. Which is to say, thanks to his dead father’s multi-dimensional Quantum Unfolding Chamber, Chris has stumbled upon a world that’s just like his own, except instead of being a super-joke that none of the other heroes takes seriously, he’s instead a revered figure, beloved by little kids and boob-exposing fans alike.
This is a dimension where Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), who he is smitten with in his own reality, is his ex — and seemingly still has feelings for him. His dad, Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick), a racist POS in Chris’ world, is a loving father in this realm. And his brother Keith, tragically killed as a child in a pivotal and traumatic moment of Chris’ life, is alive and well here (and played by David Denman). Chris, Auggie, and Keith all have a loving relationship, and even make up the “Top Trio,” this Earth’s greatest superhero team.
But of course, we as the audience know, it’s all too good to be true. And now a bunch of fans have pieced together what could be wrong with what Chris calls the “best dimension ever.”
Is Peacemaker Season 2’s ‘Best Dimension Ever’ Actually a Nazi Earth?
Chris hasn’t figured this out yet, and who knows, maybe it will turn out to be nothing more than a fan theory. But it sure looks like the dimension Peacemaker has stumbled upon is actually not a great place at all for a vigilante with a heart of gold like him. That’s because it seems like it’s a white-supremacist planet…
As fans and outlets like CBR have pointed out, taking a close look at Episode 3, “Another Rick Up My Sleeve,” reveals that when Chris visits the alternate dimension, there are no people of color to be found anywhere. It’s all white folks as far as the eye can see, and that’s it.
Now, while this could just be the result of casting background extras without an eye to diversity, or the inadvertant framing of shots that happen to give that impression, these reasons for Peacemaker’s all-white dimension seem extremely unlikely for several reasons. The first is that in Chris’ home dimension, there’s no lack of diversity. So why would such production errors suddenly be made just when Chris is in the alternate world? But beyond that, there’s also the fact that, as noted earlier, Chris’ dad is a white supremacist.
Known as White Dragon, Prime Auggie Smith was an unrepentant racist who ultimately was killed by his son in Season 1 of the show. But now in Season 2, this alternate Auggie’s alter ego is Blue Dragon, who is one of the world’s biggest heroes. Sure, it could be that this Auggie just turned out differently from Prime Auggie and is a great guy. But then we look at all those shots of the outside world of his dimension in Episode 3 and that idea becomes a tougher sell. Doesn’t it make more sense that in such a world Blue Dragon and his sons would be the perfect choice to become its greatest heroes?
So Is This DC Comics’ Earth-X Dimension?
There is of course precedent for this concept in the comics. Earth-X is a lesser-known branch of the DC multiverse (created back in 1973) where, after FDR’s death, the Allied war effort didn’t go as well as it did in the mainstream DC universe (or ours for that matter!).
Long story short, the Germans got nukes too, World War II went on for decades, and eventually Hitler and the Nazis became the ruling power of the world, even as resistance fighters like Uncle Sam and his team the Freedom Fighters battled the Nazis. The general idea was reused after 2006’s Infinite Crisis, where Superman’s ship crashed in Czechoslovakia and he went on to become Overman, an Aryan super soldier.
The Arrowverse did its own version of an Earth-X storyline back in 2017. You can read more about the history of Earth-X at the link.
What Does This Mean for Chris?
Well, it’s not great, Bob. It’s been pretty clear that this dimension couldn’t be as good as it seemed for Chris. For one thing, that just wouldn’t be dramatically interesting. What, Peacemaker is finally going to find the perfect life and be happy? And what about all his friends back home?
But also, he’s kind of really shoveled himself into a pile already, and we’re only three episodes into the season at this point. Aside from having, you know, killed his alternate self, even if it was by accident, there’s also the fact that he has since assumed that self’s identity and lied to his father and beloved brother about it. He’s also lying to alt-Harcourt, and you can’t imagine that she’s going to be all that thrilled to find out he’s not the Chris she thinks he is (or that he killed the Chris she thinks he is).
My buddy Clint Gage, who handled our review of Episodes 1-5 of the season, pointed out that it actually could be more interesting if it turned out that this dimension isn’t a Nazi world. No, instead what if Chris just had to make the hard choice to leave his perfect life behind because his real life is still waiting for him in his own reality? We’ll see if the show goes in that direction, but after Episode 3, it doesn’t seem like it…
Talk to Scott Collura @ScottCollura, or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3. Or do both!
