I’ve been loving Season 2 of Peacemaker on the 2025 TV schedule, and in Episode 3, showrunner and writer James Gunn snuck in an easter egg that felt like it was aimed directly at me. You see, Gunn and I have something in common: we both grew up in St. Louis. We also both love music and, like Gunn, who’s only about a decade older than me, I spent a ton of time in record stores when I was a teenager. One of those stores in St. Louis was West End Wax. Gunn paid tribute to the long-closed store with a subtle nod in Peacemaker’s “best dimension ever.”
Peacemaker’s Happy Place
Much of Season 2 of Peacemaker has taken place in another universe, which the titular character, played by John Cena, discovered in his Quantum Unfolding Chamber. It’s a world where his father and brother are still alive, and together they are a team of beloved superheroes. In Episode 3, he reaches out to this universe’s Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), and together they go out to grab lunch.
They grab some hot dogs (with a lot of mustard) and sit down on a bench in a park to talk about how their relationship in the alternate dimension ended. Behind them is a record store with the name clearly visible: West End Wax. I almost jumped off my couch in excitement. West End Wax! I hadn’t thought about the store in years, but I spent a good chunk of my time (and my money) shopping for CDs there as a teenager.
West End Wax Was One Of My Favorite Stores, And Evidently, It Was One Of Gunn’s, Too
I still remember the day I walked into West End Wax in the early ‘90s and discovered Jane’s Addiction’s Nothing Shocking. I was intrigued, to say the least, by the album cover. That was in a time when an album cover was enough to take a risk and spend $12 on a CD. Luckily, when I got home and popped it on, I loved the album. I still love it today. It’s moments like buying a CD on spec that make Gen Xers like me nostalgic for the way things were (though, to be clear, I much prefer streaming these days, I’m no Luddite).
It’s easy to imagine that Gunn, whose music choices in his movies have become legendary, had moments like that in stores across St. Louis, like Euclid Records, Vintage Vinyl, and West End Wax. Those first two are still around, but the third closed a long time ago, so it makes perfect sense that it is the one Gunn would lament when imagining Peacemaker’s happy place. There’s a good chance I would have the same kind of store in my happy place.
So now, as Season 2 of Peacemaker continues, I’ll be watching with my HBO Max subscription, looking out for any other easter eggs from Gunn’s (and my) youth in Peacemaker’s perfect dimension.
