Since the beginning of Peacemaker Season 2, there’s been one little mystery hiding in the background. It isn’t anything about the multiverse or Lex Luthor or Superman, or the DC Universe as a whole; it’s a short little question that Chris (John Cena) has been asking since the beginning. What happened on the boat between him and Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), and did it matter?
The answer to that question is finally revealed in Peacemaker Episode 8, “Full Nelson,” and in doing so, the title of the episode becomes clear because the coolest cameo in the Peacemaker finale is the rock band Nelson.
Nelson’s Peacemaker Cameo, Explained
In a big flashback to one month prior to the events of Peacemaker Season 2, we learn that Chris and Emilia briefly went on a rock cruise, which featured the duo Nelson.
In case you forgot, Nelson is a pseudo-hair metal rock band consisting of Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, who are twin brothers and the sons of Ricky Nelson and Kristin Nelson. Perhaps most famous for the 1990 hit “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection,” in Peacemaker, Nelson instead plays a 2010 track called “To Get Back to You.”
And, as Nelson plays this song — and it really is Nelson in the scene — Chris and Emilia kiss, which provides us with the reason why Peacemaker was so obsessed with talking about “the boat.”
This was the moment we didn’t see, in which it seemed like Emilia and Chris might actually have a shot at becoming a couple. But, because the end of the episode finds Chris imprisoned in yet another alternate dimension called Sanctuary, it’s unclear if love or rock music can ever bring Harcourt and Peacemaker back together again.
Foxy Shazam in the Peacemaker finale
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‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Opening Theme Song Is a 2010 Glam Rock Banger
Ryan Britt
The meta-rock music cameos didn’t end with Nelson, however. The Peacemaker Season 2 finale also included the glam-rock band Foxy Shazam, who were also playing on this fictional boat cruise in the flashback. Foxy Shazam’s 2010 song, “Oh Lord,” is, obviously, the opening theme music for every episode of Peacemaker Season 2. But by putting Foxy Shazam in the episode, creator James Gunn created a mini-concert at the end of his wild DCU show.
With Superman ending with the underrated Iggy Pop/Teddybear song “Punkrocker,” and Peacemaker busting out Foxy Shazam and Nelson, one thing is clear about the future of the DCU under James Gunn: As this universe expands, the question shouldn’t be which superhero is coming next, but which deep-cut needle-drop will create the soundtrack. Is the DCU basically like James Gunn’s mixtape? Right now, that’s certainly what it sounds like.
Peacemaker streams on HBO Max.