James Gunn Confirms Which Major Peacemaker Character Was Supposed To Die In Episode 7

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James Gunn at the New York original series 2 premiere of HBO Max's 'Peacemaker' at AMC Lincoln Square Theatre

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This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 7, "Like a Keith in the Night."

John Cena's Chris Smith bears the weight of mounting guilt in Peacemaker Season 2's penultimate episode. Director James Gunn also confirmed that one cliffhanger scene hinted at the origins of a new DCU supervillain.

Gunn revealed in Peacemaker The Official Podcast that Chris' brother, Keith (played by David Denman), died in the initial script for Season 2, Episode 7, "Like a Keith in the Night." "I will say, in the original draft, [Emilia Harcourt] kills him," Gunn said, referring to Keith a.k.a. Captain Triumph's botched execution.

Adrian (Freddie Stroma) kills Earth-X Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick) toward the end of the episode, and Keith was there to witness his father Auggie's final moments. Emilia (Jennifer Holland) realizes that Keith is now more hell-bent on killing Chris, knowing the latter killed his doppelgänger from the Earth-X dimension. Emilia shoots Keith, but he survives his injuries. His final scene in the episode hints that Captain Triumph is now a full-fledged supervillain.

Captain Triumph Becomes a Supervillain in Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 7

Chris Smith and Alternate Emilia Harcourt walking past the mural of the Top Trio on a wall in Peacemaker Season 2

"I think that you can, in one way, the whole season is Captain Triumph's origin as a supervillain," Gunn confirmed. "And we see at the end, we see that look in his eye, and we're like, 'Oh.' And what a weird supervillain to have as your archenemy, your brother from another dimension who hates you because you killed yourself." Keith's turn is also tragic and ironic, because the episode revealed that Earth-X Auggie is a much better human being than the person who raised "main Earth" Chris.

Chris and Keith will likely face off in the Season 2 finale, because Gunn has hinted that Season 3's prospects are still up in the air, even though some Peacemaker characters will reappear in upcoming DCU projects. "You're gonna find out more in episode 8," he told Deadline. "Some of these characters will continue, but also, it's not exactly Peacemaker [Season] 3. I'm not ruling it out. You'll see [Episode] 8 and maybe you'll find out a little bit more."

Keith's turn in Episode 7 could still be offset by a villain joining Chris's band of misfits, however. Earlier in the episode, Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) finds an unlikely ally in Rip Jagger a.k.a. Judomaster (Nhut Le). That's quite unbecoming of the character, even though his ambivalence has been evident since Season 1; he empathized and helped the Butterflies even though they posed a serious threat to humans. He's still on the fence in Season 2, Episode 7, because he just as quickly turned on Chris and joined A.R.G.U.S.'s side.

"It felt like I sort of betrayed Adebayo, you know?" Le said. "And I look over at Chris and he's telling so much. I felt attached to him and want to save him, but yet the best way to save him was [to turn to Rick Flag Sr.]."

Peacemaker Season 2's finale, "Full Nelson," premieres on Oct. 9 on HBO Max.