James Gunn on Salvation, Checkmate, Deadpool Cameo

As Gunn explained on Tuesday during a virtual press conference (which Variety Salvation will play a central role in Gunn’s 2028 Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow. But both concepts will be a storyline that will run through the entire DCU, including DC Studios’ next HBO Max series, “Lanterns.”

“That always played a big part in the overarching story I’m telling in the DCU,” he said. “I had mapped out what I thought was the overall story, and two key aspects of that were Checkmate and especially Salvation.”

So what is Checkmate and how is it introduced in the DCU?

In the season finale of “Peacemaker,” which Gunn wrote and directed, the 11th Street Kids rally to save their friend and titular superhero, aka Chris Smith (John Cena), — ​​not from some nefarious evildoer, but from himself. Following his misadventures in the Nazi-infused alternate universe Earth-X in the previous episodes – where he saw his father die before his eyes, againand almost saw his brother die before his eyes, again — Chris is convinced that he is, in his words, “the angel of damn death.” He has left his home, cut himself off from his friends and wallows in misery in a cheap motel.

After Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Adrian (Freddie Stroma), Economos (Steve Agee), and Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) finally find him, however, they remind Chris that when he’s true to himself, he’s inspired them all to be true to themselves — and it’s pretty much the only time any of them feel like they’ve done good in the world. So, led by Adebayo, they decide to abandon the authorities who led them astray, and together build something that can actually improve people’s lives, using the vast pallets of “blood money” Adrian has collected from fighting crime as a vigilante.

So they found Checkmate, an independent, private crime-fighting agency that also includes Judomaster (Nhut Le) and disillusioned ARGUS agents Fleury (Tim Meadows) and Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez). Checkmate has a storied history in DC Comics, first appearing in 1988 and populated primarily by DC’s anti-heroes; Peacemaker and Vigilante were early members, and Bordeaux was also a prominent agent. (Other DC stars in Checkmate include Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Huntress and Mister Terrific.)

Gunn said he was a big fan of Checkmate in the comics and that he “always wanted to build Checkmate into the DCU.” “It’s the true culmination of the 11th Street Kids and their desire to be good,” he said. Checkmate will remain “separate from the other institutions in the DCU,” he said. “I think they will be very, very good at what they do. When we see them next time, their circumstances will be a little different than the startup they are in now.”

What about redemption?

Elsewhere in the season finale of “Peacemaker,” ARGUS chief Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) deployed the agency to use Chris’s transdimensional portal to locate an alternate universe as close to Earth conditions as possible. After many failed attempts – and the loss of several lives via a flesh-eating zombie universe and a demented candy-land-populated-with-flesh-eating-imps universe – Harcourt and Bordeaux finally seem to find what they’re looking for.

(When asked if there was an alternate universe he wanted to visit but couldn’t, Gunn started laughing. “I wanted them to open the door and see Deadpool in one room,” he said, still giggling. “I talked to Ryan Reynolds about it. But I would have to go through some pretty big hoops to do that. He wanted to do it!” in the other room. I should never have said it!”)

After the ARGUS team finds the ideal planet, they discover the true purpose behind their efforts: Flag wants to use the planet, which he calls “Salvation,” as a prison for metahumans beyond Earth’s grasp – an idea that first appeared in DC Comics in the 2007-2008 limited series “Salvation Run.”

“I love the concept of creating this prison, which was absolutely inescapable, but also a little rushed,” Gunn said. “Because based on their initial testing, they don’t think it’s dangerous. But in the comics and in this world, there’s clear evidence that it’s dangerous.”

While ‘Salvation Run’ featured a cavalcade of DC villains against each other – driven by a rivalry between Lex Luthor and the Joker – Gunn warned fans not to expect the DCU version of Salvation to stick close to the comics.

“It’s really about the concept,” he says. “The part that really spoke to me was the beginning, where Rick Flag Jr. and Amanda Waller [said]’Fuck it. Metahumans are a pain in the ass. They keep escaping. Let’s just get rid of them permanently.’ And of course, there are a lot of consequences for sending a bunch of bad guys to another dimension. In this case, the only person there right now is a good guy who has to survive on his own.

Ah yes – the season finale of “Peacemaker” ends on a huge cliffhanger, as Chris is kidnapped by Flag Sr. and is thrown into Salvation as revenge for Chris killing his son Rick Flag Jr. killed.

What does this mean for season 3 of “Peacemaker”?

Gunn indicated that as of now he has no plans to release “Peacemaker” for another season. “This is about the other stories in which this occurs [cliffhanger] will come true,” he said. He quickly added that he hasn’t ruled out a Season 3. “Never say never. But right now, this is about the future of the DCU.”

Gunn wasn’t sure if this means Cena will reprise Peacemaker in “Man of Tomorrow,” or even sooner in 2026’s “Supergirl.” But it was clear that audiences would expect a lot more from the character. First, he’s key to Gunn’s plan to use the DCU to create “diamond properties out of the minor characters” in the DC Comics canon, alongside Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman.

But more importantly, Peacemaker “is very important to me,” Gunn said. So much so that Gunn was moved to tears when talking about how the season 2 opening song of Foxy Shazam’s “Oh Lord” related to the character.

“I really like the character,” he said. “I could say about me, but I don’t really think it is. Chris is just incredibly human.”

Gunn first created Peacemaker as “douchey Captain America” ​​for his 2021 film “The Suicide Squad.” “He started out as a character who was the kind of guy that everyone calls morally reprehensible online every day,” he said. “I would have met Peacemaker at a party and said, ‘Who’s that fucking bastard over there?'”

And yet, Gunn has used “Peacemaker” to explore the same ideas about empathy and understanding that were at the forefront of “Superman.”

“We live in a world where everyone thinks the way to deal with people who think differently than you is to treat them like demons,” Gunn said. “What a fucking stupid idea. You want to change the world? You want the world to be a better place? You don’t do it by telling someone they’re bad. It’s just not the way you do it.”

Will “Man of Tomorrow” audiences have to watch “Peacemaker” season 2 to understand what happens?

As for Gunn: no. “I don’t expect people to go into ‘Man of Tomorrow’ knowing what redemption is,” he said. “You’ll find out everything you need to know about the metahumans disappearing in that movie.”

That said, Gunn knows firsthand from his time within the MCU with the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films that building a cinematic universe is a tricky endeavor.

“It’s a very, very, very delicate balance when writing these things,” he said. “You have to be able to tell the story in a way where people who already know the information won’t be bored, and where people who don’t know the information can get the information in an easy and simple way, but also not weighed down by too much nonsense. There has to be an elegance to storytelling. Too much mumbo-jumbo stuff for me is always something that I [avoid]. ‘Oh, this magic stone does this and that’ – there’s no emotional aspect to that. A prison in another dimension is easy for me to understand – and to express in one sentence.”

Now that “Peacemaker” has wrapped (for now), Gunn will cede the spotlight to several upcoming DC projects in which he is not the lead creative force, including “Lanterns,” “Supergirl,” “Clayface,” “The Batman 2.” But he made it clear that he will continue to write and direct the DC projects that form the core of the larger story within the DCU and involve Salvation, Superman, Lex Luthor and Rick Flag Sr.

“At least that’s the plan right now,” he said. “Maybe I’ll get so damn tired that I won’t be able to do it – because I’m pretty tired, but we’ll see!”