James Gunn Explains Why That ‘Superman’ Cameo on ‘Peacemaker’ Wasn’t Who You Hoped

If you watched the latest episode of the HBO Max original and DC Studios series Peacemaker, the question on every Superman fan’s mind has been answered by James Gunn. We finally know who shows up to help Rick Flag Sr. and ARGUS course-correct Peacemaker’s whole portal door to Earth X (Nazi America) ordeal, leading into the show’s finale.

However, if you haven’t watched, a spoiler warning is ahead!

When it came down to who to get help from with finding the 11th Street Kids and where they took the portal, ARGUS director Rick Flag Sr. went to the most powerful villain they have in their pocket (jail cell). And that, of course, is Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), who has a big price to use his tech to track down Peacemaker and friends.

In an interview with Variety, director and DC head James Gunn discussed the cameo that many thought would be David Corenswet as Superman and why it’s not (despite a certain Peacemaker x Supes selfie). Gunn even went as far as squashing our hopes to see an Earth X or Earth-1 Man of Steel, telling the trade, “No,” to the possibility: “In fact, David was very upset that Nick got to be on the show, and he didn’t. It just didn’t work.”

So no Nazi Superman, which in a way is a relief because we don’t want to tarnish the feel-good way Corenswet opened his era as the hero.

Gunn continued to explain why he needed Hoult back: “I needed Lex in the show to serve a specific purpose. And actually, what Lex and Rick Flag are up to affects very much what happens in an aspect of Man of Tomorrow. So all of that is connected. But this relationship between Rick Flag and Lex Luthor is a potentially negative thing for Superman and all meta-humans.”

He also discussed that it has all been in alignment with his plans for DC Studios as part of his universe reset pitch from the get-go. “I didn’t know some things about it, but I knew what the overall story of the DCU was. That was something I pitched to [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO] David Zaslav before we even took the job. I’m like, here’s the story. There’s going to be this movie, this show, this movie, this show, and those things all fit in in different ways. Some things came, like Clayface, that we didn’t expect, and other things have been a harder road to travel. But the general outline of that overall story is what we are following through Superman, Peacemaker, Man of Tomorrow, and beyond.”

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