DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn gave an official explanation about the new Checkmate organization that was introduced in Peacemaker Season 2's finale. Peacemaker's sophomore run brought back the 11th Street Kids, headlined by John Cena's Christopher Smith, folllowing their victory over the Butterflies at the end of Season 1. However, Season 2 began with a change of pace and status quo for the different members, leaving most of them without direction after Amanda Waller's demotion.
Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 8 found an impactful solution for the 11th Street Kids after they used Vigilante's stash of blood money to start a new organization called Checkmate. In a new quote from Gunn, he teased that this new group is expected to play an important part in the DCU, and its ties to DC Comics could shed some light on how crucial their role will be.
Peacemaker Season 2 Finale's Checkmate Reveal Explained by Director James Gunn
Speaking during the official "Peace By Peace: Part Three" featurette attached to the end of Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 8 on HBO Max, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn addressed the big Checkmate reveal in the finale, noting that "the 11th Street Kids are Checkmate, basically, only with a couple of extra members:"
"We go to the happiest montage I've ever shot in my entire life, which is the gang taking all of Vigilante's money and putting it into some new endeavor as Foxy Shazam is on the party boat today, now. And we see them forming Checkmate. Now, anybody who's read the comics knows that Checkmate is an entity in the comics. That's where Sasha Bordeaux is most famously a member of. And now we know in the DCU, the 11th Street Kids are Checkmate, basically, only with a couple of extra members now, of people who we've seen change."
The added members are Sasha Bordeaux (who is originally part of Checkmate from DC Comics), Langston Fleury, and Judomaster. Gunn also said that Checkmate's main goal is "making the world better:"
"And that's Sasha Bordeaux, Langston Fleury, Tim Meadows' character, and Judomaster, who's joined them after bonding with Adebayo on Earth Two. And we see Checkmate making the world better, and we look up, and we see Eagly, who last we saw hiding in a corner, flying happily around the sky."
Checkmate's introduction in Peacemaker Season 2 meant that the 11th Street Kids could finally operate without oversight from the likes of Amanda Waller and Rick Flag Sr. The finale established that the DCU's version of Checkmate will place the public's best interests at heart, seemingly acting as a rival against ARGUS.
However, Checkmate's de facto leader, Christopher Smith, is clearly missing after the wild Peacemaker Season 2 ending involving Salvation, and it seems that the first order of business for the group is to find him and learn about ARGUS and Rick Flag Sr.'s evil plan of trapping him in a distant dimension.
Interestingly, this isn't the first live-action iteration of Checkmate since Smallville introduced a version of the team. In The CW series, Checkmate is under the U.S. Government, and its main goal is to enlist metahumans to defend the world against powerful threats.
What Is Checkmate In DC Comics?
In DC Comics, Checkmate is a covert operations agency created by Paul Kupperberg and Steve Erwin. It first appeared in Action Comics #598 in March 1988 and proceeded to have its own title afterward.
While the 11th Street Kids are the main members of the DCU's Checkmate, several important DC characters from the comics became members of Checkmate, such as Amanda Waller, the Suicide Squad, and even Maxwell Lord (the benefactor of the DCU's Justice Gang). The agency has a unique hierarchy revolving around the pieces in the classic board game, Chess, with Kings and Queens as leaders.
Following the Justice League's formation in DC Comics, Checkmate transitioned into a more international organization under Maxwell Lord. Under the New 52 continuity, Greg Rucka's The OMAC Project in 2005 pushed Checkmate into the forefront as it follows the story of Lord attempting to use the organization as a way to kill all the metahumans on Earth.
The story also involved Brother Eye, an all-seeing artificial intelligence orbiting Earth, which was already hinted at by Sasha Bordeaux's cyborg origins in Peacemaker.
Some of the members of DC Comics' version of Checkmate include Manhunter, Green Arrow, The Question, Steve Trevor, G.I. Robot, and Christopher Smith. At one point, even Lois Lane joined the organization in Checkmate! Vol. 3.
While the DC Comics' Checkmate is more nefarious, it seems that the DCU's version is more on the side of good, and it's a safe bet that the 11th Street Kids will do whatever it takes to protect the organization's best interest.
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