Peacemaker’s season two finale introduced a new wrinkle into the DCU, with the introduction of a planet in another dimension. A world that will become a metahuman prison. Rick Flag gives this planet the name “Salvation,” as he sees it as humanity’s salvation from the metahuman menace. And this plot element will play a big part in Man of Tomorrow, and according to James Gunn, also Lanterns. All of this comes from a 2007 DC series called Salvation Run, which saw Flag and Amanda Waller do the same thing with Earth’s super criminals. But how close will Gunn’s DCU Salvation stick to the comic book by Bill Willingham, Lilah Sturges, and Sean Chen? We asked James Gunn that very question at a recent press event. And here’s what he told us:
I don’t think they should expect that. It really is about the concept. So there’s a very distinct storyline with the Joker versus Lex Luthor, all that, but it’s not that. The part that really spoke to me was the beginning of it, where in that version, Rick Flag Jr and Amanda Waller were like, “F*#% it. Metahumans are a pain in the ass. They keep escaping. Let’s just get rid of them permanently, and they send them to the other place.” And of course, there are a bunch of repercussions about sending a bunch of bad guys to another dimension, and in this case, the sole person there right now is a good guy who has to survive on his own.
DC Comics
So don’t expect that big Lex vs. Joker plot. Especially as the DCU doesn’t even have a Joker in it yet. But Gunn elaborated that he always loved the concept. He added “I really liked the concept. I liked the concept of creating this prison that was absolutely inescapable, but was also a little rash because they think it’s not dangerous from their initial tests. But in the comics it is, and in this world, obviously, there are hints of it being dangerous. But I also like the idea of being able to create this other environment where people considered bad metahumans are going to have to figure out a new way to create a society. And that was what was always interesting about it for me. I really liked the concept of it from the beginning when it first came out.”
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Even though Gunn has confirmed that his version of Salvation won’t carry over plot elements, we wouldn’t be surprised if some things from the comic book transfer over. For example, in the comic series, non-powered antihero criminals like Catwoman, get lumped in with the most evil villains. And we saw that Flag and Waller make no distinction. (Gunn has already mentioned Catwoman as definitely coming to his DCU). We could easily see “good guy” metahumans, maybe even members of the Justice Gang, exiled to Salvation. We’re eager to see how this all plays out in the DCU, starting with Lanterns, and continuing on in Man of Tomorrow.