Peacemaker: James Gunn Confirms Surprising Eclipso Easter Egg

We’re just two weeks away from the debut of Peacemaker on HBO Max and eagle-eyed fans are already finding clever — and surprising — Easter eggs in images and footage from the eagerly anticipated series. On Twitter on Wednesday, a fan spotted something on a dart board in an image from Peacemaker and asked series creator James Gunn if it was Eclipso. Turns out, the fan was correct. Gunn confirmed the find, writing “Whoa. Two weeks before the first episodes air and you guys are already finding Easter eggs.” You can check it out for yourself below.

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The Eclipso Easter egg is a fascinating one. In comics, the villain Eclipso is how Peacemaker meets his end — at least in one storyline. In Eclipso #11-13 from 1992, a team called the Shadow Fighters — assembled by former Suicide Squad leader Amanda Waller — is tasked with dealing with Eclipso, who has taken over a nation in South America. It doesn’t go well for the Shadow Fighters — a team comprised of Creeper, Peacemaker, Dr. Midnight II, Major Victory I, Commander Steel, Wildcat II, and Manhunter, among others. They’re all killed, Peacemaker specifically when he crashes a helicopter into a tank controlled by Eclipso,

The Eclipso Easter egg is also interesting for another reason. The villain recently made its live action debut in another DC television series, DC’s Stargirl on The CW. The character was the primary antagonist for Season 2 of that series, but going even beyond that, concept art for the upcoming Black Adam film that was shared during 2020’s DC FanDome seemed to tease the Heart of Darkness, an ancient stone harvested from Apokolips, which was used to destroy the enemies of Darkseid. The diamond was then bonded with Eclipso and allowed his essence to be transferred to the host of Bruce Gordon. It later bonded to Jean Loring during the events of Infinite Crisis before Bruce Gordon reunited with it in the Countdown to Mystery arc. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess if the character will be referenced in some way in that film or not — that film isn’t due out until July 2022.

As for Peacemaker, that series, which stars John Cena as Peacemaker, Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Aggie Smith, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, Freddie Stroma as Vigilante, Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke, Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Turn, Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon, Annie Chang as Sophie Song, Elizabeth Faith Ludlow as Keeya, and Rizwan Manji as Jamil, debuts Thursday, January 13th on HBO Max.

Did you spot the Eclipso Easter egg? Let us know in the comments!