Warning: This article contains some spoilers for the first six episodes of Peacemaker Season 2!
Most DC fans are very familiar with the concept of the multiverse by now. There's not just one Earth protected by heroes like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash, but infinite worlds that each play host to their own heroes and villains. A lot of these worlds are far darker than the DCU we know and love. Case in point - Earth-X, a world ruled by Nazi supervillains.
Lately, there's been a renewed level of interest in Earth-X thanks to Peacemaker Season 2, which introduces its own alternate universe controlled by Nazis. To help you better understand how this terrifying world fits into the larger DC multiverse, here's everything you need to know about Earth-X.
Not every world in the DC multiverse can be as bright and hopeful as the core DC Universe. Earth-X might just be the darkest universe of them all. On this world, history took a very bleak turn after President Roosevelt died sooner than he should. That death set back the Allied war effort and resulted in a stalemate where both sides gained access to atomic weapons simultaneously. That wound up prolonging the war by decades, until finally, in the late '60s, Hitler subdued the rest of the world through the power of mind control and the Nazis became the dominant power on the planet.
Ever since, Earth-X has been ravaged by a never-ending war between the Nazis and small pockets of resistance fighters. The resistance is spearheaded by patriotic super-soldier Uncle Sam and his team, the Freedom Fighters. They work tirelessly to keep the American Dream alive, even in a world where the America of old is effectively gone.
Again, there's been a renewed surge of interest in Earth-X thanks to DCU head honcho James Gunn and Peacemaker Season 2. Season 2 sees John Cena's Christopher Smith venture into his late father's Quantum Unfolding Chamber (which White Dragon used as an interdimensional weapons storage facility) and stumble across an alternate universe that, initially, seems like a much happier and more wholesome place than his own universe. In this world, Chris' father Auggie and his brother Keith are still alive. What's more, they're all members of a beloved superhero team called the Top Trio.
However, it quickly becomes apparent that something is amiss with this universe, with fans almost immediately picking up on the fact that there are no characters of color in this world. And, sure enough, the discovery of a US flag emblazened with a Nazi swastika in Episode 6 confirms that this world is also ruled by Nazis.
Gunn has yet to confirm whether this world is actually meant to be Earth-X. Certainly, it lacks some of the traditional trappings from the comics. But either way, this is indeed a version of the DCU where the Nazis have taken control of America.
Let's also not forget that we've seen a somewhat more traditional version of Earth-X in live action prior to Peacemaker Season 2. The Arrowverse's 2017 crossover "Crisis on Earth-X" also dealt with that particular universe, with heroes like Stephen Amell's Green Arrow and Melissa Benoist's Supergirl battling their evil Nazi doppelgangers.
However, the Arrowverse's Earth-X world also seems to have drawn inspiration from another, more familiar branch of the DC multiverse - Earth-3. In the Arrowverse, Earth-3 is merely another world of heroes and villains not too different from Barry Allen's Earth-1 or Kara Danvers' Earth-38 (which later merged into one world). But in most versions of DC mythology, Earth-3 is a place where good and evil have been reversed. Earth-3 is ruled by the sinister Crime Syndicate (an evil Justice League featuring villains like Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman and Johnny Quick). And rather than being one of the world's worst villains, Alexander Luthor is its greatest hero. Basically, Earth-3 is like Star Trek's Mirror Universe, where heroes become villains and villains heroes.
The Earth-X concept was created by writer Len Wein and artist Dick Dillin in 1973's Justice League of America #107. The universe was introduced during a time when many DC stories were focusing on exploring the multiverse concept and establishing new worlds alongside Earth-1, the traditional DCU, and Earth-2, home of the Golden Age Justice Society. Both teams wound up traveling to Earth-X in this story and helping the Freedom Fighters battle the Nazis.
Earth-X made several more appearances in DC's comics in the years that followed, including New Teen Titans and All-Star Squadron. However, it, along with most of the other alternate universes introduced in the '60s and '70s, was obliterated thanks to the events of 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths. In an attempt to streamline DC lore, Crisis caused the destruction of the multiverse and merged Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-4 (home to the heroes of Charlton Comics) and Earth-S (home to the Captain Marvel family) into one.
Luckily, Earth-X has made something of a comeback in recent years, though in slightly different forms. DC restored the multiverse in a much more limited form with 2006's Infinite Crisis. At that point, there were 52 alternate worlds in the multiverse, and Earth-10 offered a new take on the concept of a DCU ruled by Nazis. In this new universe, Superman's pod crash-landed in Czechoslovakia, resulting in him being raised to become Overman, the ultimate Aryan soldier. Overman reluctantly leads the Nazis and a super-team called the New Reichsmen. He's ashamed of their brutal methods but devoted to bringing about peace through forced unity.
Even more recently, DC returned to the Earth-X setting in 2018's Freedom Fighters series. It seems there will always be new takes on the concept of a DC Universe ruled by Nazis.
For more on Peacemaker, find out which major DCU movie character appeared in Episode 6 and see IGN's ranking of all the live-action DC shows.
Note: This article was originally published on 11/27/2017 and updated on 10/2/2025 with the latest information about Peacemaker.
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