Welcome to the new DCU.
When James Gunn took over as the architect of a revamped DC movie universe, he teased a high level of interconnectivity between projects, spanning film, television and beyond. Now, a massive DC character has made his way onto the small screen through “Peacemaker” Season 2.
Suffice it to say, this article will contain spoilers from “Peacemaker” Season 2, Episode 6. Unless you’ve made your peace with being spoiled, go watch the episode and then come back here.
In the sixth episode of “Peacemaker” Season 2, titled “Ignorance Is Chris,” we watch the aftermath of Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) losing Peacemaker to the alternate universe, which leads him to Belle Reve Prison to ask for some help. There is one leading expert in alternate dimensions in this new DCU — Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).
Lex walks in with the help of a cane after his beat down at the end of “Superman.” He is disgusted being locked up in a metahuman prison. He’s apparently serving a 265-year sentence for what he pulled in “Superman,” but that’s not stopping him from plotting for a way out.
Lex asks if a device that could pinpoint the location of an open portal would be enough to get him out. Flag says there is not a chance. He does however say there is something that might interest Luthor — a chance at redemption.
What that redemption looks like is unclear but given the fact that Gunn has already written a screenplay for “Man of Tomorrow,” a sequel (releasing July 9, 2027) featuring the Last Son of Krypton teaming up with Lex Luthor against a common enemy, it seems likely this favor for Flag could help get the villain closer to being out of prison and into that power suit.
Fans had speculated that Superman would make a cameo appearance during “Peacemaker” Season 2 for a number of reasons. To begin with, “Superman” and “Peacemaker” overlapped in filming, with the Man of Steel’s 2025 outing (written and directed by Gunn) shooting at the same time as part of the HBO Max series. This led to pictures of David Corenswet with “Peacemaker” stars like John Cena and Danielle Brooks making their way onto social media. With Corenswet already present and in the suit, it seemed like an easy feat for him to pop over to the “Peacemaker” set.
It turned out that was a bit of a bait and switch to get Hoult as Lex Luthor into the mix. Though there’s two episode left, so the Man of Steel’s cameo could very well still be in play.
This cameo also marks Hoult returning a favor, in a sense. In “Superman,” Clark returns to his home after a confrontation with Lex Luthor to find negative coverage of himself on a right-wing talk show hosted by Cleavis Thornwaite (Michael Ian Black). Cena then appears as Peacemaker himself on the talk show, stating that he thinks Superman thinks he’s better than everyone else due to his less-violent brand of heroism. It’s one of the biggest cameo appearances in “Superman,” highlighting how a handful of characters from the former DCEU (including the “Peacemaker” crew, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and Xolo Maridueña as Blue Beetle) transitioned into the DCU with their actors intact.
Lex Luthor and Peacemaker aren’t the only characters to hop between film and television in the DCU so far. Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. appeared in the animated show “Creature Commandos,” as well as “Superman” and “Peacemaker” as a top member of A.R.G.U.S. Additionally, Justice Gang members Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) appeared alongside team owner Max Lord (Sean Gunn) in “Peacemaker” after their prominent role in “Superman.” The aforementioned talk show host Cleavis Thornwaite made a brief appearance on “Peacemaker” after his cinematic “Superman” debut. Even a Kaiju fought by Superman and the Justice Gang in the first DCU film is taken down by the parallel Earth’s Top Trio in “Peacemaker” Season 2, Episode 5.
“Peacemaker” Season 2 releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max.
