It's an interesting time in the comic book genre, as the DCU is still in its infancy. Created by co-CEO James Gunn, the first slate of projects is titled Gods and Monsters and includes both movie and TV projects. Following Superman's time in theaters, the new season of Peacemaker has begun for those with an HBO Max subscription. Sorry, Henry Cavill fans but the Justice League (and entire DCEU) was retconned in the first episode.
Peacemaker Season 2 is finally here, and the first episode set the internet ablaze. Fans who spent years watching the DC movies in order were surprised by how Gunn decided to tell fans what was canon in the new DCU. That includes the Peacemaker finale's cameos, which featured a brief appearance by the Justice League, including dialogue from Ezra Miller's Flash and Jason Momoa's Aquaman. Instead we saw the Justice Gang from Superman (Kal-El and Milly Alcock's Supergirl). And just like that, it's like the previous shared universe was never there at all.
The scene itself played out almost identically to what went down in Season 1. During the "previously in the DCU" sequence that started the episode (and clarified what was being kept from the DCEU), we once again saw the Justice Gang (not League) arriving after the final battle. They are mostly silhouettes, with the exception being Isabela Merced's Hawkgirl and Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner, who replaced Miller and Momoa. You can check out the group assembled below, this time with figures from the growing DCU.
Seeing this ensemble together, albeit briefly, is pretty exciting. But it might hurt for fans of Cavill and the original cast, who have seemingly ended their tenures as those characters. It's interesting that Supergirl was included as a member of the team, as her Superman cameo made it seem like she was more interested in partying than saving people. Plus Metamorpho was noticeably absent after seemingly joining the group in David Corenswet's movie.
While this is the final nail in the coffin for the DCEU, I thought this was a really effective way for Gunn to clarify what is and isn't canon in this new shared universe. He even shot a scene with Peacemaker and Harcourt to explain his antagonistic relationship with Green Lantern Guy Gardner. As we saw in the Peacemaker Season 2 trailer, both he and Hawkgirl are there during his interview to join the Justice Gang.
There's no telling what surprises and cameos might be coming our way with Season 2 of John Cena's DC series. The first season showed the multiverse being in use, so the sky's the limit here.
New episodes of Peacemaker air Thursdays on HBO Max as part of the 2025 TV premiere list. Although I'm not going to hold out hope that he actually joins the Justice Gang.
