Warning: SPOILERS for the Peacemaker episode “Ignorance is Chris” are forward! Stream the episode now with an HBO Max subscription.
There was certainly a darkish secret on the middle of Peacemaker’s alternate universe, because it was confirmed in “Ignorance is Chris” that this world is Earth-X, the place the Nazis are answerable for america. Nevertheless, that wasn’t even the craziest a part of the latest Peacemaker episode to be launched on the 2025 TV schedule. That honor belongs to Nicholas Hoult cameoing as Lex Luthor in a scene with Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. James Gunn, the thoughts behind Peacemaker and this summer season’s Superman, defined why Luthor’s look has to occur, and the upcoming DC film Man of Tomorrow factored into the choice.
Rick Flag Sr. visited Lex Luthor at Belle Reve to request his assist with monitoring down Christopher Smith’s Quantum Unfolding Chamber, as Luthor some expertise opening up rifts to different universes. Nevertheless, in an interview with Selection, James Gunn clarified that we received’t see both an Earth-1 or Earth-X model of David Corenswet’s Superman within the remaining two Peacemaker Season 2 episodes, saying:
No. In reality, David was very upset that Nick acquired to be on the present, and he didn’t. It simply didn’t work. I wanted Lex within the present to serve a selected objective. And truly, what Lex and Rick Flag are as much as impacts very a lot what occurs in a side of Man of Tomorrow. So all of that’s linked. However this relationship between Rick Flag and Lex Luthor is a probably detrimental factor for Superman and all meta-humans.
Rick Flag Sr. acquired off to a very good begin with Lex Luthor by agreeing to switch him to a non-metahuman jail in change for his cooperation. Nevertheless, the ominous approach Flag informed Sasha Bordeaux that A.R.G.U.S. was now partnered with Luthor made it sound like there’s extra to this deal that we’re not conscious of but. Whether or not we’ll be taught any specifics earlier than Peacemaker Season 2 is over stays to be seen, however this partnership will affect what occurs within the recently-announced Man of Tomorrow.
That 2027 DC film will see Lex Luthor and Superman becoming a member of forces to battle a shared menace, and James Gunn knew that will be the place Luthor ended up subsequent on the large display as he was writing Peacemaker Season 2. The author/director defined:
Completely, yeah. I didn’t know some issues about it, however I knew what the general story of the DCU was. That was one thing I pitched to [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO] David Zaslav earlier than we even took the job. I’m like, right here’s the story. There’s going to be this film, this present, this film, this present, and people issues all slot in in several methods. Some issues got here, like Clayface, that we didn’t anticipate, and different issues have been a tougher street to journey. However the basic define of that total story is what we’re following via Superman, Peacemaker, Man of Tomorrow and past.
It’s been closely implied, however not confirmed, that Brainiac might be Man of Tomorrow’s foremost antagonist, and James Gunn additionally confirmed we’ll see extra of María Gabriela de Faría’s Engineer. However for now, Lex Luthor has agreed to assist A.R.G.U.S. with this necessary activity, and it was proven in one of many Peacemaker Season 2 previews that it’ll contain bringing in his henchmen Otis and Sydney Happersen. No matter Luthor is getting out of this association, I believe we will all agree it’s not going to be good.
We’ve got simply two weeks to go till Peacemaker Season 2 is over. After that, Lanterns will premiere on HBO someday in early 2026, and Supergirl and Clayface are set for theatrical releases on June 26 and September 11, respectively, on the 2026 motion pictures schedule.