Peacemaker has kicked off its second season on HBO Max with a story involving an alternate universe. Christopher Smith a.k.a. Peacemaker discovers another world in the dimensional pocket his father, Auggie, used as a place for weapon development. In this alternate world, Chris is beloved as a hero, has a loving relationship with his father, and his brother is still alive instead of dead by Chris’s hand.
Yes, the DCU is just starting and multiversal alternate realities are already in play. A lot of folks might groan at that concept thanks to a certain Mickey Marvel doing it poorly, but Peacemaker Season 2 only needed a single episode to show that it already has a better understanding of multiverse stories than the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Two Kinds Of Multiverse Stories
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Let’s get as reductive as possible and boil down multiverse stories to two categories: gimmicky fun and character exploration. Now, there is absolutely nothing inherently wrong about using multiverse stories to have gimmicky fun. I like wacky variations of comic book characters as much as the next loser. However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has leaned far more into the multiverse as a gimmick than something substantive for its characters.
Which is where we get to the second type of multiverse story: a way to examine a specific character through comparison. Peacemaker Season 2 is making that the crux of its multiverse story. Chris gets to see the opportunity for what seems to be a dream life. He has a loving family that fights crime together and is celebrated by the public. It’s a window into a world where he can be everything he always wanted to be.
This is the kind of multiverse story that has real emotional resonance. The only time the Marvel Cinematic Universe has managed this with the multiverse is with the character of Peter Parker/Spider-Man played by Andrew Garfield. Garfield’s character is given a moment of redemption when he saves MJ, a touching bit of redemption for his inability to save Gwen Stacy in his own universe. Other than that? The multiverse in Marvel (not the Spider-Verse movies, those are their own thing) reads as a big corporate maneuver for a reboot rather than a real reason to tell a story.
Which is why the DCU starting things off early with a multiverse story is the right call.
Ahead Of The Curve
The MCU took over a decade before it succumbed to the need for a multiverse story. Now, that facet is becoming the prevailing part of the overarching story for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And frankly, it’s reading as desperation to a lot of folks. It doesn’t actually come across as creatively motivated as much as it does brand motivated.
Whereas Peacemaker Season 2 dives the DCU straight into a multiverse story and uses it to tell an emotionally character-driven narrative. It also means that the idea of alternate universes is not some grandiose, all-important concept in the DCU. James Gunn has done a great job establishing a welcoming weirdness in the DCU where bonkers concepts can be easily integrated into stories because they best serve the characters instead of the plot. I love the scene in Superman where Clark and Lois are having a meaningful conversation while the Justice Gang battles a dimensional imp in the background.
That kind of accepting nature out of the gate towards zany sci-fi concepts like multiverses or dimensional imps is what is helping the DCU feel fresh. It trusts the audience to buy into these concepts without feeling the need to overexplain them. So, I’m thrilled to see where Peacemaker Season 2 goes with its multiverse story because it’s the first time in a while that the concept is being used for its characters instead of being a gimmick.
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