Warning: Major spoilers for Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 1 below!
The long-awaited second season of Peacemaker wastes no time throwing fans into chaos, with Chris Smith (John Cena) stumbling into a parallel universe where life is far better than the broken reality we know. In this dimension, Peacemaker never killed his brother as a child, his father Auggie (Robert Patrick) is still alive, and together with his big brother Keith (David Denman), they form the world-saving superhero team known as The Top Trio.
Instead of being haunted by grief and trauma, this alternate Chris is beloved, wealthy, and thriving. The twist? Our Chris accidentally kills his variant counterpart and takes over his life, indulging in a dream that was never his to begin with.
Actor David Denman, who plays Keith in this reality, shed light on how a living brother reshaped Chris’s fate. “In that universe, Chris still has his flaws – he parties too hard, doesn’t always take responsibility – but Keith is there to shield him, to call him out, and to be the older brother he desperately needed,” Denman explained. “It’s a total flip from the world we saw in Season 1, where grief and a toxic father defined who Chris became.”
Denman hinted that James Gunn is clearly exploring the eternal debate of nature versus nurture. Would Chris have been less self-destructive if Keith had survived? Could Keith have protected him from their abusive father? The alternate world doesn’t provide answers, but it does show a radical possibility: instead of tragedy, the Smiths are a celebrated family of heroes.
Asked about Keith’s superhero chops, Denman laughed when comparing him to a foe like Brightburn. “No way he could win against laser eyes,” he admitted. “Maybe the helmet has some tricks, but honestly, Keith would probably go out the same way his dad did. Still, it would be one hell of a fight.”
Season 2 is clearly leaning into wild multiverse storytelling while digging deeper into Chris’s pain and what he lost. By confronting a world where his brother lived, fans get a bittersweet glimpse of what could have been – and a cruel reminder of the life Peacemaker will never truly have.
3 comments
bro they spelled Let’s wrong in the title… grammar police incoming 😂
Denman was great in The Office ngl, cool seeing him in this role
multiverse stuff is getting crazy now, but I’m here for it 👀