In a recent podcast appearance, James Gunn confirmed that Peacemaker's Earth 2 is Earth X, which refers to a universe in DC comics where Nazis won World War II. This premise was confirmed at the end of Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 6, but Gunn's comment notes what many fans predicted about the Nazi-ruled universe in the show being Earth X.
In the DC show, Emilia Harcourt quickly notices the same thing some fans did upon first seeing Earth 2: Everyone in the background is white. Other fans also noticed that any American flag visible was strategically placed to block the blue square where the 50 stars should be.
Speaking with Brandon Davis on the Morning After Pod, Gunn says that "Earth 2 is Earth X," clarifying that in his own podcast, he has been "calling it Earth 2 because there's two Earths" in the show.
While many online may have seen the twist coming, as people who did notice that everyone in the Earth 2 scenes was white shared that observation, those whom James Gunn showed the series to ahead of time "had no clue it was coming:"
"We sat there, we watched the whole ... eight episodes, and they didn't- They had no clue it was coming. And it will be interesting because everyone who's online already knows, because once you point out the fact that there are no people of color in the background, it is hard to ignore."
He acknowledged that part of the mature storytelling they were going for demonstrated that not everyone would notice that type of thing. It only took Harcourt "three minutes" to notice something was off; meanwhile, Peacemaker thinks "there's nothing different about this place:"
"Another thing I really like in the episode is when Harcourt is driving around with David Denman — with Keith — and you see her looking around ... and she's there for three minutes, and she's immediately like, 'What is going on?,' you know? And then she notices immediately, but Peacemaker's there the whole time, just like, 'I don't know... There's nothing different about this place.' And it's interesting how different people don't notice it."
He added, too, that being in "a very diverse community" like Atlanta made producing this element "hard" because, as they "cast these extras" without any diversity, people could easily get the wrong message without context:
"We're in Atlanta, Georgia. It's not, you know... This is not an all-white community. It's a very diverse community, that's one of the things I love about living in Atlanta. ... But it was hard, I mean, because we had to, you know, like, cast these extras and be like, 'Oh, yeah. We're only casting white people,' which is weird."
However, the necessity of this choice will become even more evident as the next two episodes of Peacemaker Season 2 are released. With two episodes remaining, the HBO Max series stars John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, and Freddie Stroma.
What Is Earth X In DC Comics?
Like in Peacemaker, Earth X is a universe from the DC multiverse in which the Axis powers won World War II. In that universe, the story goes that President Franklin D. Roosevelt died from a stroke in 1944, before the Nazis developed mind control technology. They use that on everyone around the world, even their own allies, to ensure a complete Nazi victory.
The Freedom Fighters are some of the only people able to fight back even a little against the decades of Nazi rule that followed, a fight many main-universe heroes join during various comic stories that involve this universe. The Sons of Liberty from Peacemaker seem to have been fighting back similarly, but it is unclear how many remain after Peacemaker killed a group of them.
It is worth noting that there are other similar versions of Earth X, sometimes called Earth 10. For instance, Grant Morrison's Multiversity features a version of the Justice League called the New Reichsmen, which exists on Earth-10 of one reboot.
The 52 storyline, leading up to Final Crisis, features the character Overman, a Nazi Superman named Karl Kant, who comes from the JLAxis team of Earth-10.
The key element of Peacemaker's Earth X is that there are no people of color (at least, none visible. The chilling cries of "one got out" at the end of the episode imply that at least some non-white people are known to be alive, with some online speculating they could be in concentration camps, which is less prominent in the primary Earth X in the comics.
This is explored, though, in a similar version of Earth X from 1995's Swamp Thing v2 #153. Until more is revealed about what happened to all the non-white people, though, it is unclear if the show will adapt this universe's plot of everyone being exterminated or go in its own direction.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
