Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet caught up with Peacemaker’s latest Season 2 episode via HBO Max subscription, so be warned!
More Peacemaker Exclusives From CinemaBlend
Much of the conversation surrounding Peacemaker’s highly celebrated Season 2 return was understandably invested in the “Previously On…” segment retconning the Justice League right out of DCU existence and replacing them with Justice Gang’s Green Lantern and Hawkgirl. It was a fun way to show off James Gunn’s new vision for this universe, or these universes, as it were. Episode 2 continued exploring the ramifications of alt-dimension murder, with Peacemaker employing Vigilante to help chop up and dispose of Chris 2.0’s body.
As the two characters were wrapping up their cover-up scheme within the multiverse hub room, Peacemaker got another quick visit from the as-yet-unexplained alien creature, referred to in the credits as “Kyphotic Alien. The moment resulted in one of the episode’s funniest lines, which I have to believe is also lightly foreshadowing something major happening with the red-eyed non-humanoid. (Those are eyes, right?)
Peacemaker’s A+ Description For His Alien Neighbor
Just after the alien opens his universe’s door, before it can even fully take in what Vigilante and Peacemaker are doing, the latter immediately screams “Fuck off!” causing it to retreat back into its world, odd-looking pet in hand. When Vigilante asks for clarification about what it was, Cena angrily delivers this gem:
It’s just some RUDE MOTHERFUCKER who I say hi to EVERY time, and NEVER says hi back!
On the surface, it’s a hilarious moment that plays up both how stressed out the vigilante hero is, as well as how much he seems to actually care about the behavioral politeness of creatures from completely different existences. Calling an alien a motherfucker plays right into Gunn’s sense of humor, and it’d be easy to brush that moment off as simple brevity because of it. However…
I Think That Moment (And The Opening Dance Number) Are Hinting At Something Major Happening With The Alien
Put most simply, I think we’re dealing with a case of Chekov’s unfamiliar alien here, in the sense that revealing such an oddball figure so early on in the season almost necessarily means that the character will have a noteworthy impact on the narrative at some point down the line. The fact that he shows up two episodes in a row under the same pretenses only helps solidify my belief.
Whether that eventual reveal will have anything to do with the alien’s lack of interesting in greetings, I cannot say.
Another big hint of the alien’s future storyline is that it’s featured as one of the dancing characters in the opening credits. It’s not as if there are tons of past examples to use as precedents, but it stands to reason that Peacemaker wouldn’t have made this costumed actor go through the trouble if the character wasn’t a key factor in some way. Sure, there are some randos that appear for the pile-up at the end, but Mr. Kyphotic (my smooth new nickname for it) shows up earlier than that.
Will The Alien Cause Trouble For Peacemaker, Or Will He Be An Ally?
Considering the timing of the alien’s arrival — yeah, I already gave up on Mr. Kyphotic — it may have seen enough incriminating evidence to make life hell for both of the body-burning heroes, although I’m going to shut down this line of thinking right away, since I can’t imagine how that would even work. If that creature walks through the door to either of the Earthly dimensions, it would very likely get killed and autopsied before any such tattle-telling on Peacemaker could occur. I guess it could rally a posse from its own universe to bring the title character to justice, but let’s still assume not.
I’d rather believe that the extraterrestrial will bring something more positive to the story. Maybe it’s telepathic and has been teling Peacemaker hello every time, not grasping that it wasn’t being understood. Maybe it’ll stop Peacemaker from returning to the alternate dimension at a pivotal moment. Maybe its pet will bond with Eagly in some way.
However things go, I don’t necessarily need the alien to do anything on an epic level for the story, but I can’t imagine James Gunn & Co. just threw this fun-looking entity in the mix just for a pair of oddball gags and a presence in the opening.
First, though, allow me to introduce the idea that this is the DCU’s first look at Batman! But it’s just the one from that particular universe, and not our version. I’m fine with being wrong about that one, though.
Peacemaker Season 2 streams new episodes on HBO Max every Thursday.
