The superhero genre is going through some huge changes, thanks to the newly formed DCU. Coming from the mind of co-CEO James Gunn, the first slate of projects (titled Gods and Monsters) are establishing the new canon. Despite all the world-building that's happening, Peacemaker Season 2 is somehow validating years of watching previous DCEU projects. And I really can't get enough.
When the DCU was being formed, Gunn confirmed a handful of characters from the DCEU were being carried over. Chief among them was John Cena's Chris Smith/ Peacemaker, and Season 2 has been methodically revealing which of the previous DCEU events were being carried through. After the third episode, "Another Rick Up My Sleeve," offered connections to both David Ayer's Suicide Squad and Gunn's The Suicide Squad, I feel so great about spending years watching the DC movies in order.
Peacemaker Is Establishing A New DCU, While Offering Connections To Both Suicide Squad Movies
The second season of Peacemaker (which is streaming with a HBO Max subscription) immediately started clarifying its canon with the "previously in the DCU" segment. In it we saw the DCEU retconned, and the Justice League replaced by the Justice Gang. This was a simple and effective way to deliver this exposition, and reveal what aspects of Season 1 were and were not being carried over.
Since then, the show has continued to offer more of these connections to the DCEU, and Episode 3 was no exception. In a flashback it's revealed that the late Rick Flag Jr. was Emilia Harcourt's only friend, with Joel Kinnaman returning to the role.
Their conversation first offered connections to Ayer's Suicide Squad, revealing that Cara Delevingne's June Moon/Enchantress was still alive and part of the canon of the DCU. The scene was also set shortly before Gunn's The Suicide Squad, where Flag would ultimately be murdered by Peacemaker in Corto Maltese.
While this scene offered some much-needed context for Harcourt's backstory and original disdain for Chris, it also served as a big payoff for longtime DC fans. While the DCU is a reboot, Gunn has found a way to bring in past stories and reward those of us who have stuck around through years of projects and multiple shared universes. Because he's done that so many times in just a few episodes of Peacemaker, it feels like the filmmaker/co-CEO could do the same for just about any figure from the previous DCEU.
This flashback would have been exciting enough for DC fans, but Kinnaman got to have even more scenes thanks to the multiversal storyline happening in Season 2. We got to see an alternate version of Rick Flag Jr., one who is actually dating Harcourt. Kinnaman got to flex his comedic muscles, standing in stark juxtaposition to the jaded Flag we know and love.
I'm so in on Gunn's leadership of the DCU, and the methodical way he's building this world. In two TV shows and a movie there have been a ton of crossovers and connections, and I can't wait to see what's coming next.
Peacemaker airs new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max as part of the 2025 TV schedule. Hopefully we get even more surprise cameos in future episodes.
