The DCU Just Made Another DCEU Character Canon (& You Didn’t Even Notice)

Whenever a franchise decides to reboot, it knows it will have to deal with some confusion. It’s not as if there’s a title card at the start of any movie or TV show that tells the general audience to forget everything that came before. Well, there usually isn’t one, but DC Studios head James Gunn is using a unique technique to ensure everyone is up to speed with his new universe. While Superman jumps right into the action, the HBO Max series Peacemaker slows things down, kicking off with a montage that reveals everything that’s still canon from the first season of the show.

The big takeaway, of course, is that the Justice Gang takes the place of the Justice League and shows up late to save the world from the Butterfly invasion. That makes it easy to forget just how many major moments and characters are missing from the action. Fortunately, the DC Universe isn’t letting anything fall by the wayside. In fact, it brought another DC Extended Universe character into the fold, ensuring that their tragic story will never be forgotten.

A.R.G.U.S. Isn’t the Only Orginization After Peacemaker in Season 1

The injuries Christopher Smith sustains in The Suicide Squad leave him worse for wear. After recovering, he heads back to his home in Evergreen, Washington, and looks to turn over a new leaf. He can’t go long without finding companionship, though, so he decides to hook up with a woman he meets at a bar named Annie Sturphausen. Everything’s going swimmingly until Annie tries to kill her guest and acts in a way that a human shouldn’t. Peacemaker uses his helmet to defend himself, and Annie dies during the conflict. The incident puts the titular anti-hero on the local police’s radar, with Larry Fitzgibbons and Sophie Song being assigned to the case.

As Chris learns more about the Butterflies and teams up with A.R.G.U.S. once again, Fitzgibbons and Song are conducting their investigation. Sadly, they get in over their heads, and aliens take over their bodies, effectively killing them. The only thing left to do is for the 11th Street Kids to put their bodies out of their misery, which happens in the Season 1 finale. Since Fitzgibbons and Song didn’t return in the Season 2 opening recap, it felt as if the DCU was leaving them on the cutting room floor. However, the penultimate episode of Peacemaker‘s sophomore outing tosses that narrative in the garbage.

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Fitzgibbons Is Back in a Big Way in Peacemaker Season 2

Despite saving the world, Chris can’t catch a break in Peacemaker Season 2. It seems like everyone is out to get him, so he searches for a new home in the Quantum Unfolding Chamber. At first, Earth-2 is everything Chris needs it to be, as it provides him with a family, love, and a heroic career. But the truth is that Chris is ignoring all of the red flags, including a giant Hitler mural in the A.R.G.U.S. office. Once Auggie Smith learns about his “son” and his friends not being from around there, he brings them to his home to debrief and devise a plan. Their conversation gets interrupted by none other than Fitzgibbons, who is investigating the attack at A.R.G.U.S. and the death of a group of cops.

In one fell swoop, Peacemaker makes another major chunk of its first season canon. The only thing that’s missing is Song, who doesn’t appear with her Evergreen colleagues. However, there’s an obvious explanation for that, as any non-white person ends up in some sort of camp in the twisted reality. It remains to be seen if Song will appear in the final episode of Season 2 in a breakout sequence, but the odds aren’t looking good. After all, the 11th Street Kids abandon Earth-2 and return home after their identities are exposed. That’s probably for the best, though, because it would be a gut-punch to see Fitzgibbons treat his former partner the way that Keith Smith treats Leota Adebayo.

Peacemaker Season 2 is streaming on HBO Max.

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