Despite the growing exasperation surrounding the interconnected nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn has gone balls-deep into a shared narrative in the first year of the all-new, all-different DC Universe.
Before the DCU began in earnest with Creature Commandos, Gunn confusingly canonized a pair of his own pre-DCU projects, Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad. For good measure, the DC boss then retconned the Justice League out of the first season of Peacemaker, replacing them with the Justice Gang + 2 and establishing a timeline for the young universe that places the events of Superman squarely between the first and second seasons of the HBO Max streaming series. And he’s accomplished all that while telling you that you don’t have to watch any one project in order to understand the shared narrative…
While it’s becoming clear that last bit probably won’t hold 100% true, so far it hasn’t presented a problem because through three DC Studios projects, Gunn has not missed and the connectivity has been minimal…until the most recent chapter of Season 2 of Peacemaker.
In what was likely one of the heaviest cameos ever in the superhero genre, “Ignorance is Chris” featured an appearance by Nicholas Hoult‘s Lex Luthor. Fresh off his thrashing at the mouth of Krypto, Luthor, aided by a cane, limped his way to a meeting with Rick Flag Sr. at Belle Reve, where the former finds himself serving a 265-year sentence for all his naughty tricks. In the moment–and especially because Gunn has teased that this season of Peacemaker serves as a prequel to Man of Tomorrow–the cameo felt weighty; however, according to Gunn, it is nothing less than a pivotal moment for the young DCU.
While discussing the cameo–which was filmed during production in Superman–on Peacemaker: The Official Podcast, Gunn called the meeting between Luthor and Flag “a really important moment for ..the entire DCU.”
So, we have a really important moment, for not only Peacemaker but the entire DCU. Rick Flag, the Head of A.R.G.U.S., strikes a deal basically with Lex Luthor in exchange for [him] finding where Peacemaker’s portal might be. He is going to move him from a prison with metahumans to a prison with no metahumans. From Belle Reve, where they are now, to Van Kull, both prisons from the comics.
-James Gunn on Lex Luthor’s appearance in Peacemaker Season 2
And so, in the words of one of the only people in the world with an idea of where the DCU is headed, a cameo made in a streaming series is a fulcrum for what’s to come. Of course, pragmatically speaking, general audiences won’t know the difference between Belle Reve and Van Kull nor will they really remember Flag even appeared in Superman. In that sense, Gunn isn’t really playing with fire and is staying true to his promise not to include cameos for the hell of it. Still, it’s a bold move to include world-altering events in a TV-MA streaming series that’s not supposed to be necessary viewing.
With two episodes left in the current season of Peacemaker, ample time remains for a little more context to be added to just exactly what Flag’s deal with Luthor will mean but it’s hard to imagine Luthor being outmaneuvered by Flag, especially since the latter continued to devolve into a blunt instrument in each episode. Moving Luthor to Van Kull–which is located in Metropolis in DC Comics continuity–brings the evil genius right back to his home turf in time for whatever plans Gunn has for him next.
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