Peacemaker Season 2 Cliffhanger Quietly Sets Up Superman’s Next Big Villain

Image: HBO Max

Peacemaker season 2 closed on a dramatic cliffhanger that could reshape the DC Universe’s path forward. While a third season hasn’t been confirmed, showrunner James Gunn has stated the series will tie directly into his upcoming Man of Tomorrow, which he’s writing and directing. One small but significant element from the season finale may reveal a lot about that film’s antagonist.

Curious? Read on.

Full spoilers below for the end of Peacemaker season 2.

How Peacemaker season 2 ends

The finale opens with ARGUS, under Rick Flag’s command (Frank Grillo), investigating the multiversal gateway Chris Smith/Peacemaker (John Cena) revealed earlier. Their search yields a startling discovery: a livable world Flag intends to use as an exile site for Earth’s metahumans. He dubs the world “Salvation” and outlines plans to turn it into an inescapable prison.

In the episode’s final moments, ARGUS abducts Chris and forces him through the portal into Salvation. Flag coldly announces Peacemaker will be the test subject to verify the planet’s habitability — a twisted mercy, if not outright cruelty — and then seals the doorway behind him. Stranded on an alien shore, Chris is left alone as distant, thunderous roars echo across the landscape. Cut to credits.

To grasp the implications, it helps to look at a notable comic-book precedent: Salvation Run.

Salvation Run and the connection to Peacemaker

Originally published across 2007–2008 amid the Final Crisis crossover, Salvation Run was a limited series inspired by an idea from George R.R. Martin and penned by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges, with art contributions from Sean Chen, Walden Wong, Joe Bennett, and Belardino Brabo.

Its premise: Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad round up a sprawling roster of villains and exile them to a remote planet called Salvation. The roster included major names — from Lex Luthor and the Joker to Killer Croc, Bane, Deadshot, Gorilla Grodd, and many more — plus morally ambiguous figures such as Catwoman. The intent was for them to battle one another until only the strongest remained.

However, Salvation wasn’t merely a penal colony; it was a proving ground tied to the New Gods and, crucially, to Apokolips. The planet fell under the influence of Darkseid’s cruel lieutenant, DeSaad, turning what looked like exile into a far darker scheme.

DeSaad and the possible Man of Tomorrow villain

In DC lore, DeSaad is Darkseid’s chief tormentor and architect of unspeakable cruelty — an inventor of psychological and physical torture whose intellect and malice make him particularly sinister. Depending on the incarnation, he wields a range of formidable abilities, from enhanced strength to telepathic or emotional manipulation.

If James Gunn is borrowing from the Salvation Run concept — and the episode’s choice of planet name certainly suggests that — DeSaad becomes a convincing candidate for the primary antagonist in Man of Tomorrow. He’s a threat large enough to force unlikely alliances (imagine Superman and Lex Luthor teaming up against a DeSaad-level menace), and he could naturally pave the way toward a larger Darkseid storyline if Gunn chooses to expand the DCU further.

These connections are speculative, but given the season’s closing beats, DeSaad has plausibly moved up the shortlist of suspects for Gunn’s film. He would also provide a chilling precursor to Darkseid himself, should the studio head in that direction.

Production on Man of Tomorrow is slated to commence in April 2026.

Source: Polygon