Peacemaker Season 2 has been one long game of cat and mouse, with Christopher Smith trying desperately to get away from A.R.G.U.S. and its new leader, Rick Flag Sr., who is looking to avenge his son’s murder as seen in The Suicide Squad. In the last four episodes, we’ve seen him crash out, try to run, and even hide out in an old cabin, but one hiding place has been especially useful: an alternate world where his family is intact and Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) is alive and well.
But by the end of Season 2 Episode 5, it seems like the story is poised to confirm one of the biggest fan theories about this universe — and force its characters to face an uncomfortable truth.
Warning! Spoilers for Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 5 ahead!
In a last-ditch effort to get away from A.R.G.U.S. and, perhaps more importantly, his problems, Chris escapes into the alternate universe forever, leaving the alien gateway behind for his friends Adebayo, Harcourt, Adrian, and John Economos to trade for clemency since they helped him hide out. But once he’s gone, they decide to use it to get him back.
Unfortunately, this alternate dimension may not be all it's cracked up to be. In fact, a leading fan theory suggests it may secretly be a fascist or white supremacist state. The evidence for this is a little hard to ignore — there are no non-white people in any of the scenes in the alternate universe, not even within the background extras. This isn’t just an oversight on James Gunn and the DC casting department, since there’s plenty of diversity in the original universe scenes, just look at the sting scene from early in this episode.
Then there are the more subtle reasons: this is a world where Chris’ father, a known racist in the original world, is still alive and is lauded as a hero. Is this because he’s a different person in this other universe, or is it because this is a world that celebrates those beliefs? There’s even a clue in the intro sequence: the original version of Harcourt has a look we’re used to, but the alternate version is dressed extremely conservatively, verging on dowdy.
Now, we’re about to see other characters enter this alternate universe, including Adebayo, who, as a Black woman, will probably notice the lack of diversity that Chris seemingly ignored. This harsh awakening is probably why James Gunn has been so secretive about every episode after this one. Apparently, not even his publicist has seen the last three episodes in the season.
This fan theory has been circling around the fandom since Chris visited the other universe. Now, we’re only one week away from seeing how the story will handle such a touchy realization: hopefully, James Gunn will be able to pull it off.
