Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1 is stuffed with Easter eggs about the DC universe – including a nod to Bludhaven, a significant location from the comics.
James Gunn’s DCU fully kicked off with Superman (after a soft-launch with Creature Commandos), and there’s already been a few teases of the wider world. For example, eagle-eyed viewers spotted a Gotham City sign in Metropolis, hinting at Batman’s eventual arrival.
Peacemaker follows suit, squeezing in Justice Gang cameos, a brief, weeping appearance from White Rabbit, and a reference to Imps, not to mention 30 Seconds to Mars getting a name-drop, hinting at the fate of Jared Leto’s Joker.
One Easter egg is worth interrogating a little more, though: the mention of Bludhaven.
What is Bludhaven in the DC universe?
Bludhaven (or Blüdhaven) is a city in New Jersey, located between Gotham and Atlantic City. It’s broadly seen as a more impoverished and grimier counterpart to Gotham – and, most importantly, it’s where Nightwing traditionally operates.
Multiple people have assumed the Nightwing mantle, but his most famous iteration is Dick Grayson, the original Robin, who used Bludhaven as his base of operations and faced off against criminals like Blockbuster. “Blüdhaven has lost too much. It needs a hero. Blüdhaven needs Nightwing,” Bruce Wayne says in the comics.
According to a post on Bat-lore, there are some key differences between Gotham and Bludhaven. “Blüdhaven feels like a city which never had any past to be proud of,” it reads.
“Blüdhaven feels like what Gotham would’ve have become if Bruce never became Batman. A mafia micro-state… the rogues gallery was fundamentally different too. Not psychotic freaks in Halloween costumes and teeming with madness. More theatrical assassins, self-interested rogues, and misguided thugs.”
How Peacemaker sets up Bludhaven (and Nightwing)
Towards the end of Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1, Chris wanders back into the same alternate dimension from the beginning of the episode, where he has a drink with his brother and father.
“What are you doing out here? I thought you were in Bludhaven?” Keith asks when he first sees him, and his dad also says, “I thought you were in Bludhaven?”
Now, there are two big questions: does Bludhaven also exist in the main DCU, and is Nightwing out and about fighting crime yet?
“I cannot tell you how hard my little DC-loving heart skipped a beat hearing Bludhaven in the #PeacemakerSeason2 premiere. Mr. Gunn, if you invoke the name Nightwing in the DCU, I might pass out,” one user tweeted.
“Is no one talking about how Bludhaven was mentioned tonight on Peacemaker because I yelled… we are a degree away from Dick Grayson,” another wrote. “We got imps, Arkham and Bludhaven mention, Justice Gang, A.R.G.U.S./Flag, Luthor mention, metahuman distrust. I can tell the DCU is gonna be crazy,” a third posted.
Smart speaker Google con Gemini, tanti nuovi dettagli, ma quando arriverà?