Looks like we’ve got another DC Comics lore drop on the menu, boys! As this week’s episode of Peacemaker, titled “Another Rick Up My Sleeve,” we’ve got a classic bunch of DC villains in a brand new way. Meet the Sons of Liberty… But who are the Sons of Liberty on Peacemaker? And who are they in DC Comics?
Great questions. Honestly, some of the best questions I’ve ever heard in my life. So let’s not delay any longer and get to it!
Who Are The Sons of Liberty On Peacemaker?
We first meet the radical group of activists while Peacemaker (John Cena) is having a heart-to-heart with Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) in the Evergreen town square. But it’s not our Harcourt, and neither is it the DCU version of Evergreen. Instead, Peacemaker has traveled to an alternate dimension, which we can call DC2, where he’s hailed as a hero, part of a superhero team called the Top Trio.
Back to the conversation, Jerry (John Nania), a member of what we later find out is the Sons of Liberty, trips and falls, activating a bomb in their backpack and blowing Peacemaker and Harcourt backwards. Jerry dies, but there’s more to come as the SoL invade the Evergreen DMV and take multiple people hostage.
“We, the Sons of Liberty, are united in fighting our oppressors,” yells one of the Sons, once they’ve taken control of the DMV. “They have ruled all of us under their corrupt thumb for long enough. That’s why we’re going to continue to destroy one governmental agency a week until our demands are met.”
The Sons then get busy setting up a complicated bomb which Harcourt thinks are cefanalolol explosives. “Cefanalolol?” Peacemaker asks. “Is that a real word?” And no, Peacemaker, it’s not, but we discover the Sons did use it to blow up the Housing and Development office last week.
Peacemaker breaks into the DMV by jumping from the roof of the neighboring building and proceeds to completely and gruesomely kill each of the members of the SoL, Die Hard-style. And not only that, he successfully disarms the cefanalolol explosives, which are still not a real word.
Meanwhile, his brother Keith (David Denman) destroys a helicopter with the escaping members of the Sons, killing them all. It’s a big hero moment for our Peacemaker… But everything might not be quite as it seems, so let’s discuss.
Who Are The Sons of Liberty In DC Comics?
In DC Comics, the Sons of Liberty were first introduced in 1991’s Superman #53 by writer/artist Jerry Ordway. They’ve only appeared a handful of times since, usually tangling with Superman, and each time they’re presented as essentially a homegrown militia that thinks America has lost its way, and will use violent means to get it back on track… Including using a suicide bomber to try and blow up The White House.
They are also often associated with Benjamin Lockwood, aka Agent Liberty, who was created by Dan Jurgens in Superman #60, also in 1991. Agent Liberty doesn’t have any special powers, but he does usually have powered armor and flies — interestingly, very similar to how Captain Triumph, aka Keith (David Denman), is depicted on Peacemaker.
Who Are The Sons Of Liberty In American History?
It’s also worth noting that the Sons of Liberty are an actual organization that existed in real life, and was relatively similar to the one depicted in the comics, albeit without any superheroes or villains involved.
Founded in 1765, the Sons of Liberty were a clandestine organization dedicated to the rights of Americans against strict British taxation. Interestingly, they were not against British rule of America — that came later, with the American Revolution.
Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere were counted among the members of the real Sons of Liberty, and they were responsible for — among other things — the Boston Tea Party.
What Do The Sons Of Liberty Want On Peacemaker Season 2?
It’s pretty pointed that the Sons in the DC2 have an ongoing reign of terror, and say they will keep attacking until their demands are met… But we never find out what their demands are. It’s entirely possible that could mean nothing; they could just want the government to abdicate, or perhaps no taxation without representation. But it’s far more likely there is something that want that will bring them back into conflict with Peacemaker.
The implication can certainly be exactly what it is in the comics: they’re a misguided paramilitary organization that wants to bring down the government, and Peacemaker and the Top Trio will need to bring them down first.
But there’s another idea at play here that ties into a pretty popular theory about this season of Peacemaker: that DC2 is not what it seems, and in fact is essentially Earth-X from the comics. What is Earth-X? It’s a dimension where Hitler won World War II, and everyone is Nazi versions of themselves.
Adding fuel to this fire, with a few possible exceptions, everyone in DC2 we see in this episode is caucasian. Everyone is white. There are 2-3 people who might be people of color in blink and you’ll miss it moments this episode, but it’s hard to tell because they’re usually fuzzy in the background.
So what if the Sons of Liberty aren’t the bad guys… They’re the good guys? They’re actually fighting an oppressive, Nazi government, and Peacemaker unwittingly murdered a ton of them? It’s not too far of a reach to think that Peacemaker, feeling practically giddy about killing all these people and “saving the day,” turns it from “Best. Dimension. Ever.” to “Worst. Dimension. Ever.” in a second, once he realizes that he is part of a beloved white supremacist superhero team?
It’s also not a reach to think he could discover this while taking down the Sons of Liberty, and/or have to team up with them to try and overturn the oppressive government in DC2.
Whatever is going on with the Sons of Liberty? This is likely far from over.
Peacemaker Season 2 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
Peacemaker season 2 premiered on HBO Max on Thursday, August 21. The season will be eight episodes long, with one episode premiering per week.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Peacemaker Season 2, with premiere dates:
- Thursday, August 21, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 1
- Thursday, August 28, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 2
- Thursday, September 4, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 3
- Thursday, September 11, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 4
- Thursday, September 18, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 5
- Thursday, September 25, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 6
- Thursday, October 2, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 7
- Thursday, October 9, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 8 *Season Finale*
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