On the Season 2 finale of Peacemaker, and spoilers past this point, we got a HUGE revelation for fans of DC Comics. In the closing moments of the episode, the 11th Street Kids — the gang of friends and frenemies around Peacemaker (John Cena) — formed a new organization called Checkmate. It’s a spy org direct from the DC Comics, but what is it in the DCU?
No seriously: what is it?
Because, to get this out of the way first, other than a sign that says “Checkmate: Making The World Better” outside the gang’s new office… We don’t know.
What we do know is that in the episode, Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez) gets fed up with A.R.G.U.S., the government organization run by Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo). Flag has teamed up with Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) to turn another dimension/planet called Salvation into a prison for metahumans, and by the end of Peacemaker Season 2, Peacemaker himself has been thrown in there as the first exilee.
Before that, though, Bordeaux reaches out to Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), who tentatively listens to Bordeaux’s explanation about Salvation, and then introduces Bordeaux to Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) in what is supposed to be a big moment. Adebayo has spent all season trying to build up her own solo security firm, to no luck, but we’re told she has big plans and ideas. We don’t hear what those are, they’re montaged over… But as mentioned, by the end of the episode those ideas become Checkmate.
What is Checkmate? It’s Bordeaux, Harcourt, Adebayo, Peacemaker/Chris Smith, John Economos (Steve Agee), Adrian Chase/Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), Langston Fleury (Tim Meadows), and Judomaster (Nhut Le). Eagly, the eagle, is also there. For the most part, the “employees” are all ex-A.R.G.U.S. agents, and/or mass murderers.
Other details we know about Checkmate are that it’s paid for by “blood money” that Vigilante got killing mob bosses. And also, get this: they have an office space and desks and chairs.
But what does Checkmate do? What is the company, other than “making the world better”? Are they a charity organization? Heroes for hire? A law firm that sues anyone who has been injured by A.R.G.U.S.? Nobody knows, because they don’t say anything about it, or even show what they do, other than go see Foxy Shazam play a concert on a party boat. Maybe that’s their business model, they’re seat fillers? I don’t know.
We can certainly intuit some things, like they are being set up as an opposite to the “win at any cost” attitude of A.R.G.U.S. that has existed through The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, Creature Commandos, and Superman. But how does that work in practice? Fans would likely say “wait and see!” as there are other DCU properties coming up, and writer/director James Gunn has promised we’ll be seeing these characters soon.
And from DC Comics, we know that Checkmate is an international spy organization which has a whole chess theme, along with Kings and Queens running the show (Bordeaux is associated with the org in the comics, as is Flag and Amanda Waller, among others). But is this an international spy organization with a chess theme? Other than the logo, probably not, right?
When you’re making a TV show, you can’t just yada yada over these sorts of details. The way Checkmate is presented doesn’t come off as triumphant because… We don’t know what it is, other than “something else.” Sure comic book fans get that dopamine hit of “oh, I know this!” but for anyone else this sort of moment doesn’t provide closure, because there’s no conclusion. The team might as well have opened a company called Flurble that promises “The future, now!” for all we know about Checkmate.
There’s an argument to be made that Gunn is doing what Gunn has been doing all along: aiming for emotional closure. The team has broken from A.R.G.U.S., and are looking to become leaders instead of followers. And that’s all well and good, but pairing that with vagueness about the actual mission undercuts what should be a triumphant moment. Contrast that with the Season 1 finale, which found Adebayo making a speech that took down her own mother, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). She stood up for her principals, we got that emotional payoff, and it had immediate repercussions — as well as more for Season 2.
Here, we didn’t get that specificity… And we need it, to understand why this is a big deal for the characters, and the DCU. Like a lot of this season, though, those answers have been punted down the road to some other show, or movie. It may not be checkmate, but the reveal of a sign is certainly like moving your Queen on the board so it can be taken by a pawn: confusing, at best.
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*
Where To Watch Peacemaker:
Listen to Sons Of A Gunn:
Discover more from Comic Book Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.