Peacemaker Season 2 Almost Had the First DC/Marvel Universe Crossover

This post contains light spoilers for the Peacemaker season 2 finale.

Anyone who went into the finale of Peacemaker‘s second season expecting to see some fun multiverse action from the pages of DC Comics (read: us) may be a little disappointed. Yes, the episode did feature Rick Flag Sr. leading ARGUS agents on a romp through the multiverse, thanks to their acquiring the Quantum Unfolding technology that allowed Chris Smith to visit Earth-X. And, yes, the doors the ARGUS agents opened led to some pretty weird places, including a zombie version of early America and a candy land filled with ravenous imps. But none of those came directly from the comic book page.

However, James Gunn did initially consider including a comic book character in the multiversal adventure. Just not one from DC Comics. “I wanted them to open the door and see Deadpool in a room,” a chuckling Gunn revealed in a press conference following the Peacemaker finale. “And I talked to Ryan Reynolds about it.”

While Gunn’s reveal certainly raises eyebrows, such synergy between Marvel and DC isn’t entirely new. In fact, the two comic book companies are currently publishing a series of crossover one-shots, starting with Deadpool/Batman, in which the Merc With a Mouth comes to Gotham City. This set of crossovers is just the latest in a long line, which includes the strange Amalgam Universe—a story that blended characters from both universes to create Dr. Strangefate, Thanoseid, and the Iron Lantern—and stories in which the Teen Titans and X-Men teamed up. Moreover, the respective universes generally acknowledge the other as existing at least as a pop culture icon, as demonstrated when Aunt May tells Peter Parker that he’s not Superman or when Vigilante did the Spider-Man meme with his Earth-X counterpart.

These overlaps happen for one simple reason: movie and comic book creators don’t have allegiances to a single universe and are often fans of both worlds. That’s particularly true of James Gunn, who made three Guardians of the Galaxy movies (and one holiday special) for Marvel before decamping to DC. Even after taking the top spot at the Distinguished Competition, Gunn has been nothing but complimentary about his old boss Kevin Feige and called him a great role model.

Yet, as friendly as he is with Feige, and as game as Reynolds was for bringing Deadpool to the DC Universe, such decisions were beyond the pay grade of even those three men, powerful as they are. “I think we would have had to go through some pretty big hoops to do that,” Gunn said when asked about what happened, indicating that the idea never went far beyond a few conversations.

But as much as Gunn wants to laugh off the idea, he realizes that fans won’t be so eager to drop it. “God, I should have never brought up Deadpool,” he bemoaned to the press conference attendees. “That’s all anybody’s gonna talk about now, is Deadpool in the other room.” Given the amount of self-awareness Gunn showed with that realization, it’s almost like he’s channelling Deadpool, giving us a crossover in spirit.

Every episode of Peacemaker is now available to stream on HBO Max.