Warning: SPOILERS for the Peacemaker episode “Like a Keith in the Night” are ahead!
Peacemaker’s Earth-X storyline is over, but if you’re like me, this horrific world will probably stick in your mind for a while. It was revealed in last week’s episode that this universe where John Cena’s Christopher Smith thought he could make a fresh start was one where the Nazis won World War II. Several Earth-X doppelgängers of important Peacemaker characters were featured, and it turns out that James Gunn, who created the HBO Max subscription-exclusive TV show, had also thought of a fascinating way to include an alternate Clemson Murn.
Although Chukwudi Iwuji’s character was an important protagonist in Peacemaker Season 1, it was eventually revealed that he was actually a Butterfly named Ik Nobe Lok who’s possessed the real Murn’s body. The alien described Murn as “the worst person” he could find, so fittingly, Gunn thought of a way for Earth-X’s Murn to be on the opposite end of the moral spectrum. As he shared on the newest episode of Peacemaker: The Official Podcast with James Gunn:
I did at one point write a big plotline for Murn where he was a Sons of Liberty guy. He was a hero. Whereas Murn on our planet was like the worst guy in the world before he came a Butterfly, Murn on their planet was the sort of kick-ass Harriet Tubman. He was a total action hero.
I understand why Earth-X Murn was left out of Peacemaker Season 2 given how much screen time that world got, but man, this would have been great to see. We never got to truly know the real Murn in the main Earth, only that he was such a despicable human being that Ik Nobe Lok felt he was the best choice for possession, as he didn’t want to kill an innocent. In sharp contrast, Earth-X’s Murn would have been fighting for equality as a leader in the Sons of Liberty. Since Earth-X Adrian was also a member of that group, maybe he’d met him.
Of course, in a place like Earth-X, Murn walking around would have been problematic. I suspected this world had a dark secret back in “Another Rick Up My Sleeve” when I didn’t notice any people of color around. My suspicion was confirmed in “Ignorance is Chris” when an angry mob of Nazi suburbanites, including Keith Smith, chased after Leota Adebayo because she “got out.” Earth-X Vigilante confirmed to his counterpart that the “outsiders” who don’t fit the Nazi vision are “forced to toil away in camps their entire life.”
So Earth-X Clemson Murn would have to be very good at staying hidden, but from the way James Gunn hyped him up, I’m sure he was a pro at doing that. While there wasn’t any way to fit him into Peacemaker Season 2, Gunn did point out that Earth-X wasn’t blown up, so there might be an opportunity to introduce the alternate Murn at a later date. Maybe that can be around the same time that Keith Smith returns as a full-fledged supervillain, which I think will happen in Season 3 if that gets the greenlight.