The chapter starts with Chris On parole and emotionally adrift, while ARGUS activates the interdimensional portal he himself delivered. Meanwhile, the 11th Street Kids try to rebuild the team, aware that ARGUS and Luthor are making large-scale moves and that nothing that's happening is a coincidence.
WARNING: Contains spoilers for 2×08 de PeacemakerIf you haven't seen the episode yet, you might want to watch it before reading on.
The Salvation Plan
With direct orders and logistical support from Lex Luthor, ARGUS sends patrols through Chris's portal to open door after door in the multiverse. The objective, as revealed Rick Flag, is to locate an empty, habitable world that would function as a permanent prison for metahumans. This search leaves victims along the way, because each reality explored hides unpredictable threats.
Once the destination is identified, Flag names it SalvationThe idea is compelling: deport every individual with powers there to "liberate" the Earth from its risks. The proposal is reminiscent of the miniseries Salvation Run (2007), where governments and agencies dispatched supervillains to a remote planet. Here, Luthor and ARGUS' plan escalates the concept and turns it into a true interdimensional prison infrastructure.
As the expeditions progress, we see how pieces associated with LuthorCorp -technical, operational, and even personal- are integrated into the operation. This approach fuels suspicions that the magnate's agenda goes beyond public safety: control and classify metahumans on a global scale.
What is Checkmate in the DC Universe?
In the face of the drift of CheckmateChris's inner circle breaks ranks and decides to establish its own structure. Checkmate is born, an independent agency formed by Peacemaker, Adebayo, Harcourt, Economos, and Vigilante, joined by Sasha Bordeaux, Langston Fleury, and Judomaster. Its purpose is to operate without political ties and with a clearer ethical compass than that of its former home.
In the comics, Checkmate emerges as a covert branch linked to the Special Force X, organized like a chessboard: King and queen commanding, bishops as advisors, horses at the head of operations, towers in security and pawns as agents. Over time, the “white” team focused on visible tasks and the “black” team on clandestine operations. Names like Maxwell Lord, Mister Terrific or own Sasha Bordeaux have held leadership positions at different stages.
That the series implements Checkmate now is not a simple reference. It is a scaffolding of the future for stories of espionage, covert missions, and moral dilemmas, with room to integrate figures from the broader DCU when the plot requires it.
A closing that points to new series and films
During the promotion, James Gunn insisted that the characters of Peacemaker would return soon and that the outcome served as a direct prelude to their creative map. The introduction of Checkmate and Salvation fits with that idea: they are "core pieces" to cross narratives with projects like Lanterns and especially Superman: Man of Tomorrow.
In parallel, the name of Amanda wallerWith ARGUS eroded by its dealings with Luthor, it wouldn't be surprising if Waller tried to reposition herself against an Adebayo-led Checkmate. This institutional—and familial—tension could fuel the next phase of the DCU without having to repeat the same old formulas.
Chris's fate and the bridge to Superman: Man of Tomorrow
Rick Flag Sr.'s final blow comes when he recaptures Chris and makes him Salvation's first "intern," presenting it as revenge for his son's death. Upon crossing the portal, the protagonist falls into an inhospitable world where sounds of unknown creatures; his survival is in question and the door is closed behind him.
Where does it fit in? Man of Tomorrow in all of this? With ARGUS and Luthor collaborating to capture and deport metahumans, the Man of Steel sequel has an immediate premise: Superman won't be able to look the other way. Gunn has hinted that, in the face of a larger threat, even Superman and Luthor might be forced to coordinate "to some extent," suggesting a clash and partial alliance more complex than usual.
The episode also leaves recognizable winks for those who have followed the latest DCU stories on screen: the mention of legal frameworks on prohibited technology, the presence of operatives linked to LuthorCorp and even a dimension marked by a black hole reminiscent of recent events. Everything points to a continuity woven with multiversal threads.
Open questions
Beyond Chris's cliffhanger, the ending sows future conflicts. The trajectory of Keith Smith -and their resentment across alternate realities- outlines an intimate nemesis with multiverse potential. Checkmate itself must define boundaries: will it be a transparent organization or will it adopt a "black team" for impossible missions?
On the antagonistic front, Luthor is getting closer and closer to ARGUS resources, and his interest in stable infrastructure for interdimensional travel fits with historical desires for control. If Salvation is not uninhabited—as the closure suggests—the playing field could expand to threats of cosmic scale that require coordinated responses.
With Salvation as a prison, Checkmate as a new agency and Luthor pulling the strings, the end of The peacemaker articulates the link with Superman: Man of Tomorrow without losing their identity: a story of redemption and consequences that, with the help of the multiverse, marks the roadmap of the new DCU.
