James Gunn: Peacemaker’s major cameo is “really important” to the entire DCU

Image: HBO Max/DC Studios

Episode 6 of DC Studios’ Peacemaker season 2 features a pivotal cameo that explicitly ties James Gunn’s 2025 Superman to the franchise’s next installment, Man of Tomorrow (scheduled for 2027). On Peacemaker: The Official Podcast, Gunn described the moment as “a really important moment for not only Peacemaker, but the entire DCU,” noting the scene was filmed while he was still shooting Superman. The brief sequence both revisits a crucial character and lays groundwork for Gunn’s upcoming film.

Ed. note: Major spoilers ahead for Peacemaker season 2, episode 6, “Ignorance is Chris.”

The episode brings back Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, now incarcerated at Belle Reve — the notorious metahuman penitentiary associated with the Suicide Squad. After investigative reporting exposed Luthor’s central role in the Boravia/Jarhanpur conflict and his attempts to discredit Superman, he was publicly disgraced and sentenced to a term he himself describes as 265 years.

Rather than leaving Luthor to rot, Peacemaker positions him for a new trajectory. ARGUS leader Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) offers Luthor a bargain: his scientific expertise in exchange for technology that could help Flag pursue his vendetta against Chris Smith (John Cena). As part of that arrangement, Lex is transferred out of Belle Reve to the Van Kull maximum-security facility — a move that, while minor on the surface, underscores the government’s willingness to leverage Luthor’s mind and signals a path toward his eventual alignment against Superman in Man of Tomorrow.

Gunn explained on the podcast that the sequence was originally planned for episode 7 but was moved up to create a smoother tonal bridge between the episode’s lighter beat — a gag involving Peacemaker’s sidekick Eagly trashing a kitchen — and Chris’s emotionally fraught confrontation with Harcourt (Jennifer Holland).

The hosts also noted a practical difference between mediums: Hoult’s Lex couldn’t use blunt profanity in Superman if the filmmakers wanted to preserve a PG-13 rating, but on Peacemaker he’s unrestricted. That freedom produces a particularly graphic line in which Luthor rants about “the Justice Gang and Superman determining international politics” while describing the violent, noisy antics of a nearby inmate — language that arguably hints at characters like Killer Croc, though the podcast doesn’t spell out which figures are being referenced.

Even with relatively light podcast commentary, Gunn’s intent is clear: Lex’s cameo isn’t mere fan service. It marks the start of his re-emergence — whether back into the public spotlight or into a working relationship with Flag and ARGUS — and helps set the stage for his role as a simmering, Superman-directed antagonist in the next chapter of the DCU.

Source: Polygon