Warning: This article contains some spoilers for the first six episodes of Peacemaker Season 2!
Most DC fans are very familiar with the concept of the multiverse by now. There's not just one Earth protected by heroes like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash, but infinite worlds that each play host to their own heroes and villains. A lot of these worlds are far darker than the DCU we know and love. Case in point - Earth-X, a world ruled by Nazi supervillains.
Lately, there's been a renewed level of interest in Earth-X thanks to Peacemaker Season 2, which introduces its own alternate universe controlled by Nazis. To help you better understand how this terrifying world fits into the larger DC multiverse, here's everything you need to know about Earth-X.
What Is Earth-X: DC's Nazi Universe?
Not every world in the DC multiverse can be as bright and hopeful as the core DC Universe. Earth-X might just be the darkest universe of them all. On this world, history took a very bleak turn after President Roosevelt died sooner than he should. That death set back the Allied war effort and resulted in a stalemate where both sides gained access to atomic weapons simultaneously. That wound up prolonging the war by decades, until finally, in the late '60s, Hitler subdued the rest of the world through the power of mind control and the Nazis became the dominant power on the planet.
Ever since, Earth-X has been ravaged by a never-ending war between the Nazis and small pockets of resistance fighters. The resistance is spearheaded by patriotic super-soldier Uncle Sam and his team, the Freedom Fighters. They work tirelessly to keep the American Dream alive, even in a world where the America of old is effectively gone.
Earth-X in James Gunn's Peacemaker
Again, there's been a renewed surge of interest in Earth-X thanks to DCU head honcho James Gunn and Peacemaker Season 2. Season 2 sees John Cena's Christopher Smith venture into his late father's Quantum Unfolding Chamber (which White Dragon used as an interdimensional weapons storage facility) and stumble across an alternate universe that, initially, seems like a much happier and more wholesome place than his own universe. In this world, Chris' father Auggie and his brother Keith are still alive. What's more, they're all members of a beloved superhero team called the Top Trio.
However, it quickly becomes apparent that something is amiss with this universe, with fans almost immediately picking up on the fact that there are no characters of color in this world. And, sure enough, the discovery of a US flag emblazened with a Nazi swastika in Episode 6 confirms that this world is also ruled by Nazis.
Gunn has yet to confirm whether this world is actually meant to be Earth-X. Certainly, it lacks some of the traditional trappings from the comics. But either way, this is indeed a version of the DCU where the Nazis have taken control of America.
Let's also not forget that we've seen a somewhat more traditional version of Earth-X in live action prior to Peacemaker Season 2. The Arrowverse's 2017 crossover "Crisis on Earth-X" also dealt with that particular universe, with heroes like Stephen Amell's Green Arrow and Melissa Benoist's Supergirl battling their evil Nazi doppelgangers.
However, the Arrowverse's Earth-X world also seems to have drawn inspiration from another, more familiar branch of the DC multiverse - Earth-3. In the Arrowverse, Earth-3 is merely another world of heroes and villains not too different from Barry Allen's Earth-1 or Kara Danvers' Earth-38 (which later merged into one world). But in most versions of DC mythology, Earth-3 is a place where good and evil have been reversed. Earth-3 is ruled by the sinister Crime Syndicate (an evil Justice League featuring villains like Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman and Johnny Quick). And rather than being one of the world's worst villains, Alexander Luthor is its greatest hero. Basically, Earth-3 is like Star Trek's Mirror Universe, where heroes become villains and villains heroes.
