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34 Years Later, the DCU Just Put a Twist on an Iconic Sci-Fi Moment in the Best Way
James Gunn loves a good pop culture reference. The first few minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy feature Star-Lord dancing to Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” and there’s a lot more where that came from. The movie trilogy mentions Kevin Bacon and Footloose so much that Drax and Mantis go and kidnap the actor in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, presenting him as a gift to Peter Quill. However, one thing that Gunn typically doesn’t do is shout out other projects that the actors he’s working with have been in. Nobody mentions that Gamora looks like Uhura, or Groot sounds suspiciously like a certain movie character who is all about family.
As the head of DC Studios, Gunn can probably get away with more now than he could while working under the Disney umbrella. He’s willing to take more chances, such as having his biggest villain kill an innocent man just for offering a hero a helping hand. The DC Universe is also turning up the pop culture meter to 11, allowing one of its actors to live out a dream they’ve probably had for over three decades.
Peacemaker Finally Makes Its Connection to Terminator Obvious
The hype surrounding the final episodes of Peacemaker Season 2 is unlike anything DC TV has seen before. Episode 6, “Ignorance Is Chris,” finally pulls back the curtain on Earth-2, revealing that it’s actually a version of Earth-X, where the Nazis won World War II. At the start of Episode 7, Christopher Smith and Emilia Harcourt are stuck between a rock and a hard place because the entire weight of A.R.G.U.S. is about to crush them. They manage to escape on Peacemaker’s motorcycle, only to be cornered by police officers who aren’t welcoming to visitors. Before the authorities can arrest the duo, though, Blue Dragon and Captain Triumph show up and kill all of the cops. Blue Dragon doesn’t think he has time to explain himself, so all he says is, “The two of you want to live, you come with us now.”
While the line might not mean much to the untrained ear, it’s very similar to something that can be heard in just about every Terminator movie. In James Cameron’s 1984 film, the titular robot attacks Sarah Connor, and Kyle Reese has to save her. The only thing he can think to say after the wild event is, “Come with me if you want to live.” The line returns in Terminator 2: Judgement Day when the T-800 shows up to save Sarah from the much more terrifying T-1000, played by Blue Dragon actor Robert Patrick. The two characters couldn’t be more different, as the T-1000 is a cold and calculating Terminator, while Blue Dragon turns out to be a hero with a heart of gold, but they do have one thing in common.
Blue Dragon and the T-1000 End Up in the Same Place
Patrick’s original DC character, White Dragon, is much more like a Terminator, hating certain groups of people and being willing to go to great lengths to wipe them off the map. While it’s easy to assume that Blue Dragon is the same, that line of thinking turns out to be dead wrong. Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 7, “Like a Keith in the Night,” allows the leader of the Top Trio to explain that he’s not like the Nazis that run the world and only wants to help. The bombshell shocks everyone from Earth-One, but they don’t have time to praise him because his bill comes due.
When Vigilante arrives on the scene, he attacks Blue Dragon without warning, killing him. It certainly isn’t the first time that Patrick has had to deal with one of his characters dying, as the T-1000 melts away at the end of Terminator 2. At least Blue Dragon can hang his head high that he fought for the right thing, unlike his metal doppelganger.
Peacemaker Season 2 is streaming on HBO Max.
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