On today's episode of Unbinged, we're gonna be breaking down and reviewing Peacemaker season two, episode one. Guys, DC has never been better. I'm so hyped right now. We're also gonna be breaking down how they're going from the DCEU to the DCU, all in just one simple scene. Theories about what is next for these characters because there are so many alternate universes that we could be looking at here, plus all the Easter eggs that you may have missed.
Alfredo Brown:All that and more on normal episode of Unbench.
Jagger May:This is your spoiler warning for Peacemaker and the DCU.
Alfredo Brown:Guys, DC Studios has never been better. This show instantly has me so hyped. I went back, rewatched all of season one. It is so much better than I remember. And then going into season two, I'm really excited for where we're going.
Alfredo Brown:And we're gonna talk about all of that, everything we saw here in episode one. But before we do, I wanna let everyone know this is a brand new YouTube channel for us, but the pod has been around for a minute. We switched over to a brand new YouTube channel here starting over, and we're gonna be covering peacemaker like you see right now, alien Earth task over on HBO Max, Gen V, stranger things fallout, it welcome to dairy. This is going to be your show to come to and listen to or watch right after you watch these shows on TV. So make sure you are joining us for that.
Alfredo Brown:We're also on the audio side on Apple podcast or Spotify, so make sure you subscribe either here on YouTube or on the audio side. Like this video, comment down below with your thoughts on the video, and I promise we get back to every single comment. Guys, back to this show because DC Studios, everything's looking good. James Gunn, three for three, four for four right now, if you include the Suicide Squad. But what I love that they're doing is that they're well rounded right out of the gate.
Alfredo Brown:This isn't something kind of like how Marvel just kept kind of hitting the same like they're spamming the Iron Man button over and over. DC has gone and they they they hit on animation, film and TV, and it's all been James Gunn, so it's felt very cohesive. But I think what I liked most about this and what we get instantly from this episode of Peacemaker is that the DCU has the ability to do so many different things and welcome a lot of different audiences.
Jagger May:Yep. And I think it's because it's the different tones, and I think James Gunn isn't afraid to accept that. Whereas, like, Marvel, we always got the same flavor and, you know, the we're gonna have a good cameo. We're gonna have a leading man or female. It's gonna be a lot of quippy jokes, you know, and and then we're gonna have a big bang, then it's done.
Jagger May:Oh, by the way, another cameo at the end that's gonna set up for the next movie, and then we're gonna do it all over again.
Alfredo Brown:So and so will return in Avengers.
Jagger May:Whatever gives a fuck. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. But like with this, even them keeping the Batman separate, it feels to me, this feels like like the comic books where it's like like right here, there's several Batman stories. There's a whole there's several, like, Superman stories.
Jagger May:Some of it is cohesive in its own thing, and then some of it is just a stand alone story that just fucking awesome. And I think that's great. Like, they're not gonna let I I think I don't I don't think they're gonna let canon get in the way of a good story, but at the same time, the canon is really good.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Well, they've already showed us.
Alfredo Brown:And story writing is really good too. Like, sorry, Kaufman. But before I let you go, the story the storyline is great. They're doing a lot of the therefore writing and then writing. You know, like like we've talked about in the past with the South Park writers, how they do it.
Alfredo Brown:It feels connected to the Superman universe while also telling its own story. Everything is very self contained, and you're getting payoffs for pretty much everything that you see on screen.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Well, what's even more brilliant to me is the fact that James Gunn is willing to go back and retcon something if it doesn't work or if it doesn't fit with his new canon.
Jagger May:It's ballsy.
Matthew Kopfhamer:And he's he's unabashedly It was ballsy. Unabashedly, like, fuck the justice league. They're out. The Justin's gang is in. And I'm almost surprised that they didn't go back and rechange that scene in the the first season itself, not just this previously.
Alfredo Brown:They probably will.
Matthew Kopfhamer:They may eventually. But I thought when I saw that, I was I had to pick my jaw off the floor because I was like, this is so fucking brilliant. Because my mind before the show, I was like, is the alternate dimension that he goes into gonna be the one with the justice gang and Superman? An easy run. Right.
Matthew Kopfhamer:And so the fact that he was like, no. We're just gonna make this a clean sweep from the start in the previously on, which I I I can't I can't imagine how many people skip that and are like, wait. What happened? So just so smart from James Gunn. And my one worry about the DCU moving forward is when he starts to take less and less control of the product as the director, and he just steps back as a The director.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. And he he steps back as a producer. Are we gonna have that same cohesion with storyline? I believe that he will be able to have that creative control to be able to make it work, but that's my one one, possible worry at this point.
Alfredo Brown:What I like, Koff, and what he's doing is he's giving himself that golden parachute here where he's making it so that everything is different. It doesn't have to be cohesive, and it can have different tones so that we don't get to a super girl and go, oh, well, James Gunn didn't direct this, you really feel it, and that makes it bad. No. We can get there and be like, oh, this is actually great, and he didn't direct it. So the DC universe can go in so many different directions.
Alfredo Brown:And, like, we're already seeing that here with peacemaker too, man. Like, we we already did the spoiler. Like, the orgy scene, we're not in Kansas anymore, bro. Like, this ain't Superman. This this ain't anything that we have seen before in the previous DCEU.
Alfredo Brown:This is this is closer to the boys than it is anything else, and they're they're kind of playing in that sandbox where we can be all the way on the spectrum of Marvel and be cutesy, but we can also be all the way on the other end where there's just swinging dicks on your TV.
Matthew Kopfhamer:What's cool is this?
Jagger May:And then Batman's another spectrum. It's like, you know, if you think about it.
Matthew Kopfhamer:This reminds me of a a little bit of creature commandos where some of those scenes got pretty wild because it was animation. And now that they're showing us in live action, I think it's it's incredible that we're seeing they're not afraid in the d c this new DCU to just go for it. Just let shit fucking get wild. Let's go.
Jagger May:Yeah. I know. I I was one of the people that, like, I was hand cutting fries and and grilling some chicken tenders for dinner, like, while the the thing was going. So I actually had
Alfredo Brown:a mix.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. Had I was hand
Alfredo Brown:cutting fries.
Matthew Kopfhamer:I had to
Jagger May:so I missed the
Matthew Kopfhamer:The chicken tenders. The I was blanching some stuff over there on the slide. I
Jagger May:gotta I gotta say for the brand, the fact that I'm eating chicken tenders and french fries, they are grilled chicken tenders, and I air fry potatoes on there. So like I can't, you know, like I do enjoy stuff sometimes. But the point is, I missed the opener about the justice gang. And then I went on Twitter and I was like, what? So I didn't like go back and rewatch it.
Jagger May:So I know that there's plenty of people that hit skip because I was binging Peacemaker while I was working during the day and didn't feel like I needed it. And then to the point of what you mentioned, about, like, what James Gunn does in his fingerprints on everything, the one thing that I really believe in is what he says, and he's already been rejecting scripts, like this isn't ready, is that, like, even though he won't be there to direct it, he's gonna at least say, this is okay and this is good. So even if, like, Matt Reeves is doing his Matt Reeves shit with the Batman, it's fine, but it's at least gonna be a good story. So it doesn't even matter if it's gonna be James Gunn or not. Whereas, like, we're reading now about Avengers Doomsday, and I don't wanna make this pod MCU versus DCU, but it's the the filmmaking where they're like, alright.
Jagger May:Let's get all these people together because this is our schedule. Let's film some shit. Let's see where the story is, and then we'll go back and make reshoots to make an actual movie. That that's where we come up with those problems. And I think James Gunn is adamant that that won't happen here.
Jagger May:And we may get slower projects, but I think it's just gonna be more impactful when we get there.
Matthew Kopfhamer:As long as it's quality projects And we can deal with them being slower release because then we know the care is being taken to give us properties that we will enjoy and and cherish going forward versus, well, we just got another piece of slop out. I guess we're gonna spend $20 to go watch it in the theaters.
Alfredo Brown:Jay to to keep, like, on the jag food train here, James Gunn is the chef that won't send something out
Matthew Kopfhamer:Until it's ready.
Alfredo Brown:He won't get it out of the pass unless it
Matthew Kopfhamer:is Refire it.
Jagger May:Like Exactly.
Alfredo Brown:He's not he's not just he's not just sending shit to tables, man. And I love that. And honestly, that's what's going to build trust with us in the D. C. U.
Alfredo Brown:Because we have been fucked over so many times with this D. C. U. With bad acting, bad scripts, bad
Matthew Kopfhamer:movies, everything,
Alfredo Brown:everything. And so this feels a lot better. So retconning the DCU was a ballsy, a bold choice, and it was it was the tough choice to make because he could have easily been, oh, look. I walked through a new door, and this is the David Corn sweat Superman universe. But, no, he just said that shit didn't happen.
Alfredo Brown:I'm going to keep the Suicide Squad stuff. Some of it. I'm going to keep Peacemaker season one, and I'm just going to swap out some of these characters. So we go back and look at it. We get the Justice Gang, Supergirl and Superman all showing up at the end of season one of Peacemaker there instead of who was the original Aquaman, Wonder Woman Flash and Superman.
Alfredo Brown:No Metamorpho here, which was pointed out online. That's because this is a flashback
Matthew Kopfhamer:for Superman.
Alfredo Brown:So takes place prior to Superman. So Metamorpho this would not be in that group just yet. So this is obviously when Kara is still not out running around to, you know, Red Sun planets getting trashed.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Not her birthday.
Alfredo Brown:Also, probably also probably why there's no crypto hanging out with Superman either. Unclear still whether we're going to get Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. I would think it would make sense. Cough, can we get your Amanda Waller impersonation?
Matthew Kopfhamer:My name's Amanda Waller. I'm not a crook.
Jagger May:Yep. It's Nixon, guys. If you hear
Matthew Kopfhamer:from the
Jagger May:old channel, you'll know it. Like, coughs, impressions are all
Matthew Kopfhamer:all Nixon. Variations of Nixon. What
Alfredo Brown:I love that they're gonna do here is, like, they didn't play. They didn't dance around it. They didn't take the whole episode to be like, okay. Now he's discovered this new universe. They just did it.
Alfredo Brown:They did it, and they were very intentional about saying previously on the DCU. That felt so intentional to do that. I love that they did that. And now what it does is it's gonna open up the story where when we go to these alternate universes, they're not just simply plot devices to tell you why Peacemaker is in this new universe. It's actually going to tell story.
Alfredo Brown:It's not just something where it's a convenience anymore. It's going to tell a real story. And honestly, guys, the way that this whole thing is leaning, it feels like it's going be a lot of alternate universe therapy. It's going to be a much deeper show than I think we came to know in season one. A lot of dealing with death, with life, what could have been.
Alfredo Brown:I've got a theory on that later, but I think you guys can see the theme of the show almost in the new intro song and dance here. It's not as silly and excited as the first season, which I didn't like this one as much, but it's still it's still fine.
Jagger May:Yep. I actually like the song more, but, like
Matthew Kopfhamer:The dance dance in the fifth.
Jagger May:That's the one that's
Alfredo Brown:first shit.
Jagger May:That yeah. I was about to say. Yeah.
Alfredo Brown:Jags are a resident sad boy.
Matthew Kopfhamer:So I think the song
Alfredo Brown:With his grilled tendies and his hand cut fries, listening to my chemical romance with the lights off. Yeah.
Matthew Kopfhamer:But no thirty seconds of arms because fuck Jared Leto. No. No. Fuck fuck that. Yeah.
Matthew Kopfhamer:By the
Alfredo Brown:way part of the idea that is that an is that an indirect
Matthew Kopfhamer:It's absolutely. You?
Jagger May:Absolutely it is. Come on. Out of his way to shit.
Matthew Kopfhamer:I don't even think it's just DCEU. He hates Jared
Jagger May:Leto, doc. Like, he goes out of his way to, like, catch him to throw a stray at Jared Leto. He's like, fuck.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. Fuck thirty seconds. They'd say
Jagger May:it, like, four times. Like, fuck thirty seconds of Mars.
Alfredo Brown:They even did
Jagger May:a stare at
Alfredo Brown:the end
Jagger May:where they kept talking about it. Was clearly a shot at Jared
Matthew Kopfhamer:Leto, which is wonderful.
Jagger May:And I I feel like and I love that, like James Gunn, this was them, like, recasting Rhodey, where he's just like, we're here now. This is it.
Alfredo Brown:Deal with it.
Jagger May:Yeah. Just deal with it. Exactly. And like and I love that you said that this whole season, and this is what I thought, and I would have been okay with it If it was, okay. We're just gonna bring peacemaker to the D C U, and this is gonna be his version of deadpool and Wolverine.
Jagger May:I'm okay with that, but it's not, and it's pretty brilliant.
Alfredo Brown:Worried that's what it was gonna be.
Jagger May:Yeah. And honestly think, though, that, like the way that he's shaping it up, it almost feels like a parody and anti multiverse where everything just like, no, we don't want a fucking multiverse. Like, it's bad. We don't want to do that. Know?
Alfredo Brown:Yes. Yes. So that's exactly how I look at this, this whole thing of like this quantum closet that has all these doors to all these different universes. It, like, it matches it matches what the show is so well, which is, hey. We're gonna be in this DCU from now on.
Alfredo Brown:We're saying goodbye to the DCU, what was, what could have been, all that because the grass is not always greener in all these other places, and we don't need to go into a bunch of million different fucking universes to make our universe better. It's different, and that's fine. And we can leave it there. Like, it just plays in so many levels and two. And it's also gonna be that's what the shows, the movies, the characters, everything is gonna be like.
Alfredo Brown:They're all going to be within their own little pocket universes, and that kind of plays onto everything that Lex did in Superman. And just it's honestly, I think it's brilliant writing. I think it's it's capturing the theme, and I'm I'm really excited to see where it's gonna go.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Do you think that that cryptid looking alien thing that walked out is another version of Chris Smith just from a different dimension?
Jagger May:That's what I thought. I literally thought it, like, that's alien
Matthew Kopfhamer:Like peacemaker alien?
Jagger May:He had the Sean Gunn boot.
Alfredo Brown:Martian peacemaker?
Matthew Kopfhamer:Something. Had He He looked like a green Martian. That that didn't didn't he? A little bit.
Jagger May:I didn't think so. I I
Alfredo Brown:will say that's, like, the one time where the practical costuming, like, didn't look good. It was almost like the you can see the zipper type thing. Like, you can actually see, like, where the mask and the neck don't be.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Looks like
Jagger May:a bad horse. I want your under there. We all know that.
Alfredo Brown:I know it is. Yes. It's of course it is. Like, they've always done they've always done such a good job at creature stuff, at least in in a in a James Gunn movie. Like, I've always been impressed by it.
Alfredo Brown:This is
Matthew Kopfhamer:the one time I was I wonder if that might be intentional then. Maybe it turns out to be a dude in a mask. I
Alfredo Brown:do think.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Like, it might be a dude in a costume. And that's what it turns out to be. He pulls the mask off and shit. It's fucking fuck you,
Alfredo Brown:you crypt keeper looking motherfucker.
Matthew Kopfhamer:I'm waiting for that gag to to pay off more because I think it's gonna it's gonna pay off into something funny.
Jagger May:Well, I've seen it in the previews where he's, like, coming out of the house and shit. I'm pretty sure.
Alfredo Brown:It's he's in the opening dance too.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. Exactly. He is in the background.
Alfredo Brown:Like, it He could he could just be the janitor from season one where you just got a funny moment, and that's it. Right?
Jagger May:That's true.
Alfredo Brown:Or he could be kinda the recurring, like, old man neighbor that was always there.
Jagger May:Where's your code already? Super villain. I'm
Matthew Kopfhamer:six feet down here. Batman's a bitch.
Jagger May:By the way, that list that came out, I think Dave Bautista and John Cena are the top two restless turn actor. Yes. And it's like tier
Alfredo Brown:Tier you're even close.
Jagger May:Than than The Rock. Like, it's like The Rock has an a '24 movie that's coming out. I'll reevaluate whenever I accidentally put that movie on. Yeah. You know?
Jagger May:But, like, until then, it's not even close. Like, John Cena is just fucking hilarious, man. Like, he's just so, so good. And he plays like, when he gets sad, I feel sad. It's not just like like the Yeah.
Jagger May:Like, it feels real. Like, the whole spectrum in this show. Like, I wanna do cocaine and, like, have orgies with you, man. I'm right here with you.
Matthew Kopfhamer:He's like us. He gets us.
Alfredo Brown:Okay. So establishing this new universe, right? Like, we we have our heroes, the Justice Gang, who I'm assuming this takes place after Superman because they're realizing, like, Superman is not going be part of what they're doing. He's still kind of his own thing. And maybe they're saying, Okay, stuff is getting bigger and more challenging.
Alfredo Brown:We need to keep adding like, let's just you know, we're in a hiring spree right now. We get to see Maxwell Lord, played by Sean Gunn, Hawkgirl and Guy Gardner. And Maxwell Lord sort of gives me the goofy Nick Fury vibes here, and I love that. Honestly, honestly, Jack, like you said it, how all these little pocket dimensions are kind of poking fun at the alternate universe stuff and timeline stuff in Marvel. And that's kind of how the Maxwell Lord thing feels like everything does sort of feel like a jab at the old DCEU and at Marvel a little bit with James Gunn.
Alfredo Brown:Like, he's he's fucking Tom Petty all throughout this DCU. And, like, I don't hate it. Like, and not everyone's catching it.
Jagger May:It's funny. It works. Just subtle enough. Yeah. It's just subtle enough that, like, the power nerds that are here right now will get it, but it's not gonna be, like, this this, like, trending thing on Twitter where it's like, James Gunn said fuck.
Jagger May:Kevin Farris.
Matthew Kopfhamer:He's got he's got enough he's got enough deniability to be like, no. What are you talking about? That's not a that's not a reference to that. But it's a wink and a exactly. It's a wink and a nod to be like, yeah.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Fuck it is.
Alfredo Brown:What I love that they did here with this scene first of all, hilarious. Hilarious. The whole, like, interviewing scene. We see, I think it was right White Rabbit, come running out of that building, like, crying. And, and then, you know, Peacemaker sits down.
Alfredo Brown:He's doing the whole interview thing. And, honestly, like, John Cena did a great job there. He did a great job there of kind of like going through a range of emotions and how awkward an interview can be all throughout this thing being utterly hilarious between these three characters. And I think despite like, yes, it set up some really good comedic beats. But what I think it did even more so is sort of establish what these heroes are.
Alfredo Brown:Like, this was less about introducing us and doing an exposition on Peacemaker and more of an exposition on these characters from Superman that we didn't get to learn about and what heroes truly are in the DCU. Because right now, everything is this corporate funded thing where we're supposed to be living in this time of gods and monsters and now the metahumans. And I think it opens it up to a more a less black and white, good, evil, a more gray area where it's like even the, quote, gods, these metahumans can be kind of fucked up and not really care and not be the nice people. You know, it's they're not all Supermans. I think what that does is it elevates Superman that much more.
Alfredo Brown:It's like he really is special. He really is special when you compare him to all these other people.
Jagger May:And it does it does what the boys does and all these other things, but it doesn't go all the way there to where the whole theme is like, yeah, powers are bad. And, you know, where it's and again, and I'll use this term again, the power nerds who watched, Justice League Unlimited, that's the Justice League. It's not just you have Batman and then you have the Flash, and then you have, like, the Superman, Wonder Woman types, the three archetypes where you have crazy fucking psychopath, the question,
Matthew Kopfhamer:which we
Jagger May:get, you know, where you have, like, Green Arrow. He's just like, I think yeah. Green Arrow's like, I think you all fucking suck, and I'm a liberal.
Matthew Kopfhamer:And, you know, like, he's,
Jagger May:like, all calling people out all the time.
Matthew Kopfhamer:But then he got
Jagger May:You know, where, like, it truly is multiple personalities.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. That's and and I think that's what's so good about that scene is it's showing the humanity, the differences in humanity amongst these heroes. Right? Like Guy Gardner, we got to see, like, in Superman, he was a dick throughout that movie. And, like, he just continues that in here.
Matthew Kopfhamer:But then to see Hawkgirl, like, we didn't get this out of Hawkgirl really when she wasn't interacting with Guy Gardner. Like, she was she was kind of addicted to Guy Gardner back when he like, they're playing off each other in Superman. But in this scene, we see, like, no. That's just kinda like she extends that to everybody when she's bored or when she's like, you know, wants to get out of there. So I think it's a really good job of, like you said, elevating Superman, but also showing the differences in in the different types of humanity that we're gonna encounter with these heroes.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Because I think that's one thing. And, again, going back to the MCU is one of the things they they really struggled with was to provide variety amongst their heroes, and they all kinda hit the same note. And so it feels less varied, whereas this feels like a true lived in world where we're gonna see so many different types of people, different types of heroes, different types of villains even, that it it truly feels lived in in, like, a a real breathing living world.
Jagger May:And and the other characters that I wanna see in here, like, everyone was like, I want booster gold, and I didn't quite get it. But now that I've seen what James Gunn is
Alfredo Brown:You know,
Jagger May:scary is. Booster gold has to be in this universe, man. He has to be in this universe. And I'm even okay with, like, a Kumail Nanjiani. Like, people keep casting him.
Jagger May:I think that's, like, the ideal fucking booster gold. The silly guy that's just like, hey, man. I need some some screen time. Where's my my influencer clout?
Alfredo Brown:I I love this because, like, Jack, I think you nailed it. There is this the JLU, this Justice League Unlimited vibe where I think we can get so many different factions of heroes and different types of heroes, and it's a more ambiguous group, not, you know, your typical Justice League that you've seen or even this justice gang. And then you got you're kind of like ten ninety nine, your individual contractors that show up in Batman and and these guys like that. They're not really part of this corporate funded shit, and they're not like the righteous group either. I think that makes this so much more entertaining.
Alfredo Brown:I think this makes it so much more intriguing. What it does is it just grows this sandbox for the DCU. I'm excited for that. Okay. Enough glazing of that.
Alfredo Brown:Let's let's move on to some of these characters and like storylines of what we're seeing here. We get introduced, not introduced, but I guess reintroduced here to Rick Flag Senior. This is now the third time we've seen him. We had Creature Commandos. We had Superman, and now we're seeing him again.
Matthew Kopfhamer:He's head a head of artist.
Jagger May:Baby powder his hair or stuff.
Alfredo Brown:I was gonna bring that up. James Gunn
Matthew Kopfhamer:taught him. He was in another
Alfredo Brown:Okay. So they talked about that.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Just a practical thing because because Frank Grilla was in a different project where he had to have dark hair, so they just didn't have time to color it before he filmed this. They are explaining it in universe by saying that Frank Grillo senior is vain and doesn't now that he's out of the field and he's in charge, he wants people to think he's younger. That's the invert in universe.
Alfredo Brown:We also don't have a timeline of when creature commandos took place.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Oh, it's clearly before this.
Alfredo Brown:That is brought
Matthew Kopfhamer:Because Amanda Waller is
Alfredo Brown:a two part saying if it if it is well, then if it's also before Superman, like, he could have been letting his hair go gray, and then he gets a little vain about it. And, you know, they could they could easily I think this is one of these things like James Gunn is not afraid of explaining shit away. And he also just kind of laughs at us when we get to like, well, actually, his hair was gray in the animated series. And he's just like, guys, fuck off.
Jagger May:It's a show.
Alfredo Brown:Like, we're having fun. I sorry, Jack. So I'm not telling you to fuck off. That was James Gunn.
Matthew Kopfhamer:That was for sure. James Gunn was telling me he
Alfredo Brown:can he can L'Oreal diet. And and, like, we're just like, oh, well, that explains it. And that's it. And maybe we get a reference to that later, and he and he and Economos just, like, start sharing, like Dive tips? Die brand talk throughout the yeah.
Alfredo Brown:Like, it could happen. It's absolutely in there.
Jagger May:Economos is like, who's your guy?
Matthew Kopfhamer:Oh, you know the greatest of peacemaker they get face to face and peacemaker starts calling, like, die like, die head or some shit like that? Like, to to play off season one. It's like die beard and die head. There you go.
Alfredo Brown:We got a little, like, sweaty sweaty die just dripping down, going full Giuliani there.
Matthew Kopfhamer:That'd be great.
Alfredo Brown:Alright. So we get Rick Flag senior who just to to go back to it, Peacemaker killed his son, Rick Flag junior, in the suicide squad. There's some connective tissue there, but once again, everything still remains contained. There's the fear of the metahumans that have been breaking out of Belle Reve, which is something that is discussed in this. Also, there was that kind of throwaway line in Superman where it's like, if you're betting on these metahumans, well, they kind of run things now, especially after, you know, Superman and Justice Gang is out there.
Alfredo Brown:So we've got Rick Flag senior, and Sasha Bordeaux is another character that is being introduced to this DCU for the first time, which A plus casting. Sol Rodriguez, just fantastic. She also auditioned for the engineer in Superman. And after she did not get that, James Gunn was like, I know a role that's gonna be perfect for her and put her over here. So, I I really like both these these characters, these actors in there.
Alfredo Brown:I think we're gonna get some interesting story there where I have a theory. I mentioned this earlier that I would bring up this theory about loss and alternate universe and everything. Rick Flag Senior being a part of this series this season feels so intentional that we are going to get a payoff with Rick Flag Jr. And I've got two things here. One, I think in this alternate universe that our peacemaker has gone to, we see that he used to date Harcourt or it's his ex, and they talk about how she is dating a military man.
Alfredo Brown:Oh, I think that military man is Rick Flag Jr. And I think there's going to be a lot of think about it. This peacemaker, this Chris Smith is going to be surrounded in that universe by the three men that he has killed his brother, his father and Rick Flag Jr, and then getting chased down by Rick Flag senior. And all while he thinks like, Man, this is the life I could have had. My dad loves me.
Alfredo Brown:I'm a hero, a good hero that is beloved. We have this nice home, everything. He's going to be tormented by this nightmare of all the people he has killed. This is going to be a hell of an alternate universe therapy session. And I'm so excited for it.
Alfredo Brown:And I think Rick Flag Senior is also going to chase him down into this alternate universe and come across his son, Rick Flag junior. Well,
Jagger May:do you think Joel Kinnaman's gonna come back after he's just like, I would never come back and do a show like that? Yes. Like, really? You're gonna do Altered Carbon season three? No one watched that fucking show.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Money talks. Money talks. So
Alfredo Brown:There there's James Gunn has not even let his publicist see the final two or three episodes of peacemaker because he said there are massive cameos and massive spoilers that I mean, I would hope that this isn't the massive cameo, but I'm very curious to see what it's going to be. I think there's a lot in store there.
Matthew Kopfhamer:I I like that theory. I think it's and I wonder if that's the direction it goes. Maybe the alternate universe, Frank or I'm sorry. Rick Flag senior is dead. And so now this is a way for this Rick Flag to kind of step into an alternate dimension where his son is alive and kind of suit take that role on.
Matthew Kopfhamer:So I wonder if that may be a direction we go in, and that could be how they resolve. Killed my son. Well, here's a here's a replacement. Go go live happily. Because I think that is that's the red herring, I think, is everyone's gonna expect peacemaker to wanna stay in this alternate universe.
Matthew Kopfhamer:But I think the the overarching theme of this is gonna be him coming to terms like there is no other life for you. Like, you have to There's no happening. You have to deal with the the hands that you're dealt, and you you have to get over that or you're gonna stay stuck in your arrested development. You can't grow unless you get past those traumas and those those demons in your past. And so you can't just replace it.
Matthew Kopfhamer:But I could see
Alfredo Brown:I I I do think that this actually ends with him having to get rid of this alternate universe and that there is no more quantum closet, and we're cutting off all these other timelines. And it really establishes this new DCU where everything has happened is canon going forward. Even though everything is self contained, like, is no undo button. You know? We can't edit, undo, and go to an alternate universe and, like, accidentally show up there.
Matthew Kopfhamer:What's what's the Rick and Morty joke?
Alfredo Brown:Probably end up with some of that with, like, a booster.
Matthew Kopfhamer:When they when Marty's Which one? Fucks with the squirrels, and he's like, we only have three times we could do this, Marty. And they have to go to the alternate universe.
Jagger May:Well
Alfredo Brown:Not not a not a Rick and Morty guy. Sorry there. I am Don't fuck with squirrels is
Jagger May:the One
Matthew Kopfhamer:of the biggest things that
Alfredo Brown:I mean, I I don't already. I didn't need Rick and Morty to tell me that. They're just they're they're hard to catch. Alright. One of the biggest things that was obviously shocking with this episode, but, hey, it's TV MA.
Alfredo Brown:If you were sitting there watching it with your kids, maybe you're just a bad parent.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah.
Alfredo Brown:Yeah. Like, you might have fucks
Matthew Kopfhamer:the job. The question
Alfredo Brown:that I have for you. Right. There's a lot of murder and a lot of violence. And, like, also, John Cena fucked some girl in the first episode of the first season. So it's not like sex isn't there.
Alfredo Brown:A Butterfly. Okay. We get the orgy. We get the crazy orgy, which, what's our actor's name? Age?
Matthew Kopfhamer:What's the name?
Alfredo Brown:Steve Age? Steve, A. G. So I was listening to the Peacemaker podcast with James Gunn, and they were talking about how, like, everyone sort of knew in the script it's supposed to be an orgy. He did not realize that when he walks up to the window to look in, that he was actually going to be seeing all those people doing that.
Alfredo Brown:So many special extras there doing this and like just imagining that like what it was like is wild because seeing it for me, I know, was crazy. This like, this really established that this DC universe is gonna be very different.
Matthew Kopfhamer:I I love how they filmed this. I love how they filmed that scene where you see John Cena is the focus, and he's sitting on the couch and all the activities, like, happening around him. And it just goes to show, like, how
Alfredo Brown:You think the cameraman was wearing a raincoat?
Matthew Kopfhamer:Multiple. What what
Jagger May:kind of raincoat? You mean the literal? Yeah. Literal. Literal.
Alfredo Brown:Like, he was he was out there looking like Paddington.
Jagger May:Oh. Okay. Okay. I got you. But it it just it
Matthew Kopfhamer:really god. It really just goes to show how disconnected from reality this at this point, Peacemaker is. Like, he's trying to disassociate so hard. And and I love how that counteracts against the other characters also doing basically the same thing, but their own version. Right?
Matthew Kopfhamer:Like, Harcourt goes to the bar and gets the shit kicked out of her because she's trying to feel something because she's she's a a bit of a masochist. We have Adebayo who's in just straight denial. Like, her life is falling apart. She's like, no.
Jagger May:It's
Matthew Kopfhamer:fine. Like, I have my own business. It's fine. And then Steve Agee is just like, well, I don't I'm I'm kinda in the same place, but I know there's better things, but I'm still in the same place. I'm still fucked.
Matthew Kopfhamer:And then he got vigilante. He's just doing this. One that's still happening. God. What was
Alfredo Brown:Ask me anything about owl effects.
Matthew Kopfhamer:The cones are tubes. Cones. No. They're tubes. Fuck you.
Matthew Kopfhamer:How?
Jagger May:How would their eyes just fall out?
Matthew Kopfhamer:I fucking love vigilante. But it's just such a great way of showing.
Alfredo Brown:You were the one saying the actor needs an EGOT for for doing both Harry Potter and this.
Jagger May:That's a dude. Yeah. Freddie Straumann, dude. He's like like and I knew this from season one. Literally, the entire cast had no clue who he was, really.
Matthew Kopfhamer:They didn't know he's British.
Alfredo Brown:Shy. Until he showed up to the press junkets.
Jagger May:Yeah. And they didn't know he was British. They're like, what?
Matthew Kopfhamer:The junket was blown away.
Jagger May:He just stayed in character. Yeah. He had to stay in character the whole time to nail it. It's fucking hilarious.
Alfredo Brown:We need him in more stuff, man.
Jagger May:Yeah, exactly, dude. Like, he's just so fucking hilarious. And I think my favorite thing about vigilante is the concept. What if a sociopath tried to be a good person? Like, legitimately, he's just like, well, he's a racist.
Jagger May:We should kill him. Right? Because, like, so like, if you've heard me on this podcast, you've heard me like, I feel like that sometimes. I'm like, man, we should kill that guy. He seems dangerous.
Jagger May:Like,
Alfredo Brown:He's he's he's basically if GI robot, like, was a person that
Jagger May:just kept living and, like, just
Matthew Kopfhamer:sure. Let's kill people. Think I feel bad when I murder somebody for doing graffiti? No. From the film scene.
Matthew Kopfhamer:My god.
Alfredo Brown:He's fucking JD Vance with a sword.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Oh, no.
Alfredo Brown:Those poor guy jokes. For liking him. Dude, the the Harcourt stuff was Good one, Cough. Five points Gryffindor for you, man.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Too bad
Alfredo Brown:I'm sleeping. The Harcourt fight scene was awesome. Like, her kicking ass and getting her ass kicked there in the bar.
Matthew Kopfhamer:That suplex was fucking nuts.
Alfredo Brown:Jen Holland, man. Jen Holland, man. Shout out because she's crushing this. Yeah. She is jacked.
Alfredo Brown:Absolutely jacked. The fight scenes look good, too. Like, it doesn't look like one. You can tell when there is or is not a stunt double, and there is not
Matthew Kopfhamer:a stunt double in a lot
Alfredo Brown:of this stuff. And she's like, the fight scenes look legit. It's not one of these where you can tell that punches are being pulled and stuff like that. I always appreciate that with, like, a little extra quality in there. Her getting diagnosed with toxic masculinity, just man, the comedic beats in this thing are so fucking
Jagger May:weird faces. You're a fucking con. Sexist that you would think only men could have toxic masculine.
Matthew Kopfhamer:England cut me its friend.
Jagger May:Oh,
Matthew Kopfhamer:god. That killed me.
Jagger May:She's me. It's like God. That scene was
Alfredo Brown:so When she called when she called him a cunt, like, I just I legit laughed out loud. Like, it takes a lot for a for anything to make me do that. That was funny.
Jagger May:That was so good.
Matthew Kopfhamer:And what's funny is, like, clearly, that's argued. Like, that's clearly Amanda Waller's still pulling strings and, like, fucking with Harcourt for, you know, messing with her stuff. But it's it's at the same time, it's like, well, technically, they're right because you are clearly exhibiting all of the things you just said. And, like, you're you're not gonna deal with things in a in a in a healthy way. But at the same time, it's like, you kinda want that person on the front lines.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Like, you need that person fighting alien invasions. So why would you Well,
Alfredo Brown:that's what that's what I like about these characters is that, like, none of them yeah. Their lives are shitty, but it's also because, like, they are all kind of shitty people. Like, they are getting what they deserve. Like, it's not like they're all a bunch yes. They saved the world this one time because they got there before the Justice League did or the Justice Gang did.
Alfredo Brown:Like, that doesn't just undo everything else you've done. And also, like, they talk about it. Like, Peacemaker, I think, expected a different life, and he doesn't have that. And so it almost feels like, man, being a hero is still kind of thankless. Right?
Alfredo Brown:And that's like that's the difference between Superman and Justice Gang and then Peacemaker is like Superman's not doing it for people to praise him. Justice Gang is doing it because they get paid. Right? And then Peacemaker is doing it because he just wants to be loved. And it's like all these heroes, like, it goes deeper now.
Alfredo Brown:It's like all these heroes are doing things for different reasons and sometimes just doesn't work out. And emotionally, like, that's that's why. They're they're fucked up.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. Peacemaker wants to
Alfredo Brown:be a hero
Matthew Kopfhamer:themes the boys he got daddy issues. Like, it's it's that simple.
Jagger May:Yeah. Yeah. And, like, it picks up on one of the themes the boys has, but it makes it practical. You know? It's not just like a Disney corporation running these heroes where public perception matters, man.
Jagger May:Like, it's just like, yeah, man. You're really skilled, but, like, didn't you murder people? You know? It's just it's like,
Alfredo Brown:you gotta Oh my gosh. And he's like, yes. But I murdered with good reason.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Most of them.
Alfredo Brown:Most of them were murdered with good reason. And then he asked the great follow-up question of, which ones weren't?
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. Wait. What?
Alfredo Brown:Yeah. Such a good interview question, man. Yeah. Like, who didn't you murder
Jagger May:for good reason? He murders
Matthew Kopfhamer:himself by accident. So there you go. Here's one.
Alfredo Brown:Spoilers. Yeah. Let let's let's get let's get closer to that because we we get into this quantum closet. I I feel like I'm I'm still calling it the wrong thing. But, this quantum closet here where
Jagger May:Pocket dimension. Sure.
Alfredo Brown:Yeah. It's also a pocket dimension. Mhmm. Quantum closet sounds more fun. That's where, that's where Peacemaker has all of his helmets and, like, a billion different doors here and eagerly just wants to go and fly around.
Alfredo Brown:And so what what I I love here is James Gunn has mentioned he likes to take these throwaway aspects from previous movies or shows and make them focal points going forward. And we saw him do that in Guardians three, where sort of the throwaway has always been Rocket Raccoon being something that was taken apart, put back together. And he's always sensitive about being called a raccoon, you know, and even the throwaway from the first Guardians movie was that Peter's dad is not around, you know, and that Yondu picked him up. And now all of a sudden, the second movie is about that. So it's like this is what they're doing here in this show.
Alfredo Brown:I'm I'm really intrigued by this because we get set up with good dad, which is like, it was almost alarming and made me a little uncomfortable to see how nice he was because he's a racist. Character.
Matthew Kopfhamer:He's still racist in that universe. Robert, that's
Jagger May:my biggest question.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Are they racist?
Jagger May:Like, did did losing his son make him racist, or was, like, he I kinda got the vibes that
Matthew Kopfhamer:he's always that. Been racist? Yeah. I wonder if this we're gonna get, like, a dark undertone to this new universe where it's, like, everyone's white, and it's because they had a genocide. I no.
Matthew Kopfhamer:I'm just saying because God. James Gunn is not afraid to do some Cup, you got there a little too quick. I'm just saying. Yeah. I wonder if we're gonna get to if there's gonna be that reveal where it's, he thinks he's going to this idyllic world and it turns out, no.
Matthew Kopfhamer:No. No. No. Baby girl, your dad is just evil in this world. He's just nice to you.
Alfredo Brown:I I think that's very possible. I don't think it's gonna be that I don't I don't know it's gonna be that far. I do think there's there's probably some shit somewhere. Right? Like, we we
Matthew Kopfhamer:can smell the poop.
Alfredo Brown:Like, we just gotta open up the diaper a little bit more, and I think we're going to get there. But, like, dog, that that was
Matthew Kopfhamer:I'm just
Alfredo Brown:saying. The You full 11 yards on that
Matthew Kopfhamer:two people so far, and they're his brother who he didn't kill and his father who seems to be nice to him. But he still has the dragon helmet.
Alfredo Brown:We saw three people.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Who's the third person?
Alfredo Brown:We saw three people.
Jagger May:Oh, AM Peacemaker himself.
Alfredo Brown:Which, by the way, great job showing us full what what Peacemaker at full strength looks like. Like, with all of his gadgets, fighting like a badass. But then, also, they still set it up where you'd understand there are stakes, because even peacemaker at his full potential
Matthew Kopfhamer:Can die.
Alfredo Brown:Can die Mhmm. In the dumbest of ways on
Matthew Kopfhamer:action. Hilarious.
Alfredo Brown:So you're saying, okay.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Considering his conversation with Adebayo earlier in the episode where he's like, yeah, tough people die all the time. Not like me, though, because I'm way tougher.
Alfredo Brown:Oh, that's good. That's a good catch. That's a really good catch. Mhmm. Do you guys also catch they mention Imps?
Alfredo Brown:Yes. Yes. This one?
Jagger May:Imps or Cannon. Yeah.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Chisholm Chisholm Cheerios.
Jagger May:It's a classic embellishment that never happened. I I would love the idea that they're like, would it be peace mite? Like
Matthew Kopfhamer:Oh, yeah. Would be awesome. Great.
Jagger May:Yeah. Shit. Someone who stans peacemaker? Like, actually, that's horrifying. Yeah.
Jagger May:That sounds horrifying.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Murder simp. Yeah.
Alfredo Brown:I this so this is okay. That'd be kinda cool. Not gonna lie. I'm kinda down for that. Like, a peace might.
Alfredo Brown:I I like, it also man, now I kinda I wanna see, like, all these little dudes that might Nixle. Nixle.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Nixle. Cool.
Alfredo Brown:Like, that's that's another one. That's another one. Mhmm. The these would be great. These would be so good.
Alfredo Brown:Okay, so the crime fighting trio of Peacemaker, his brother, his dad, they're called Top Trio and Koff. Let's go over to the Easter egg corner here because you wrote down some awesome Easter eggs, and a lot of it is what we see here in this alternate universe because, like, that's the perfect time to just do. I don't have a better name for this, an egg dump of just being in an alternate universe. And it's like, Here you go. Here's a bunch of cool shit that you really wanna see.
Alfredo Brown:So, take us into the Easter eggs from this.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Sure. So, starting kinda at the top of the episode, we obviously got the the justice gang replacement of the justice league with Hawkgirl and and Guy Gardner and Maxwell Lord. In the interview scene, we also get the quiet the crying white rabbit who Maxwell Lord apparently said that she, you know, mentioned her camel toe, like, 30 times in the interview. So great. She's a Gotham villain that that fights against, like, Batman every once in while.
Alfredo Brown:Listen. At, like, mention number eight, I think I'm probably leaving.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Right. Like, the fuck. I'm out of here. When we get into Peacemaker two's room, we can see some posters around the the room that are slightly different than what we are used to in our universe. So, like, we got the Hanoi Rocks poster with the r o x x.
Matthew Kopfhamer:We got deaf leopards, but it's spelled d e a f and then leopards. And then pour some honey on me instead of pour some sugar on me. Scorpions with a z, the cruel interventions instead of cruel intentions. But then throughout the episode, we also got peppered in with like little references, the cleavest thorn weight or thron weight, however you say his name, the reporter that was in
Alfredo Brown:Thorn weight.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Thorn weight. That was in Superman who had interviewed Lex. And we also got the mention of Belle Reeve and metahumans breaking out. We got mention of some pretty early comic villains that the top trio seem to have defeated in this universe, like the rainbow creature and Which,
Alfredo Brown:by the way Yeah. Sorry. The the the Bell Reef metahuman, like, breakout stuff, I think, also feels like there's some connective tissue to task force m Creature Commandos. And the monsters from creature commandos there. Like, we're just a hop, skip, and jump away from that.
Matthew Kopfhamer:For sure. We also gotta mention a a Blue Haven, I guess, is how they pronounce it in this in this universe. And then Ultra Humanite, which is another like early Superman villain. And even the Evergreen Sentinel was front and center there in the mantle, which is Evergreen is Hal Jordan's home in the comics. So if I missed any Easter eggs, feel free to let us know in the comments.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Let us know
Jagger May:in Yes. The
Alfredo Brown:Yes. Good job, Koff. Good call to action by you, buddy. You're becoming a very good podcaster.
Jagger May:I'm learning.
Alfredo Brown:I like it.
Jagger May:I'd say you're becoming a podcaster.
Alfredo Brown:We'll save the Jax, like, let's the good for later. We're not in that alternate universe yet. Alright. So, here at the end, we obviously have mentioned we get that death of let's just call them alternate peacemaker. From what we see in sort of the teaser going forward is that we're gonna get a lot of this peacemaker in the alternate universe sort of living that life and playing that out because who's going to miss him from his universe?
Alfredo Brown:Like, nobody's really missing him. So he's going to be jumping back and forth, sort of living this life. I don't know about you guys. I think I think we're just we're going to get to the point where Chris Smith, peacemaker, getting to live this life he always wanted is not going to pay off the way he wanted. And there is cough like to what you were saying.
Alfredo Brown:Your theory is that there's going to be something there that kind of makes everything pretty shitty again. Right? Like, and I almost wonder if this. This whole idea of the the trio and everything that looks so good, there could be a front there. There could be a little bit more like how and why are they so wealthy?
Alfredo Brown:Everything seems to be going really, really well for them. I understand. Like, maybe you privatize your superhero stuff, but there could also be something a little more sinister there.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. I mean, there's there's a couple options.
Jagger May:Where'd the racism go?
Matthew Kopfhamer:That's what I'm saying.
Jagger May:That's That's I'm is
Matthew Kopfhamer:there's a couple options like Cops,
Alfredo Brown:who didn't thought that's what we really wanted back for season two. We're like, no. No. No. Bring that back.
Jagger May:Well, it's like cops genocide fantasy aside.
Matthew Kopfhamer:And not fantasy. Theory. Theory. I don't fantasize about that. That no.
Matthew Kopfhamer:No.
Jagger May:No. Well, I mean,
Alfredo Brown:there's there's the there's, like, there's the genocide, theory or or, like, what we see in alternate universe in creature commandos. Like, it's not that crazy to think it.
Matthew Kopfhamer:I'm just saying.
Jagger May:The why
Alfredo Brown:It's weird you got there so fast.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Well, consider considering who his character was in the first season, that's a pretty big part of who Augie Smith was. So it's this alternate dimension doesn't seem too different from the one he's currently in. So that's a big part of Augie Smith. So for him to be completely, you know, wholesome, if you will, I don't know. There's gotta be something.
Matthew Kopfhamer:There's gotta be something somewhere along the way that just yes. Maybe maybe Augie is good to his kids, but to everybody else, he's a he's a fascist. I don't know. Like, there's gotta be something there. Otherwise, what's the
Jagger May:And is his brother judge Dread?
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. It looks like it. David Demond looks good. Like, he looks he looks fucking huge compare like, he I I knew he
Jagger May:was tall. He's always been kinda big.
Matthew Kopfhamer:Yeah. Yeah.
Alfredo Brown:Like, Hey. He's the tight end from the replacements.
Matthew Kopfhamer:But when you
Alfredo Brown:Like, he's always been in shape.
Matthew Kopfhamer:But, like, when you see him as Roy in the office, it's like, oh, he's big he's a big dude, but he's not like he doesn't look like he does as as this Judge Dredd looking guy. So it'll be interesting to see how that all plays because there's gotta be something that's gonna convince Peacemaker to stay in his universe instead of staying in this. If it is idyllic, what's the why would you why would you go back to the shit one? Stay in the idyllic one. Just assume your own identity and then pretend to get a head injury.
Matthew Kopfhamer:So anytime they're like, oh, well, you don't remember this? Head injury.
Alfredo Brown:Well, boys, I'd love to stay in this idyllic alternate universe with you, but I think we've covered everything here from season two episode one. We're gonna be back again. We're doing this every Friday, breaking down every episode of Peacemaker, so make sure you are subscribed to the channel. Comment down below with your thoughts on this episode. Maybe you guys have some theories, some Easter eggs that we missed as well.
Alfredo Brown:And then we are going to be back again on Wednesday talking about alien Earth. We got another episode coming there. Guys, like I mentioned, we've got a whole bunch of stuff coming up. We got Gen V. We've got stranger things, fallout, task, it, welcome to dairy.
Alfredo Brown:There are so many great shows coming up. So, also, let us know in the comments if there's something that you want us to cover that maybe I didn't mention here today. But as always, I wanna thank everybody for watching or listening all the way through for myself, for cough, for jag. We'll see you next time.