DC Fans Spot Surprise Cameo Hidden in Peacemaker, And It Has An Advantage Over Stan Lee’s Marvel Appearances

From the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios paid tribute to one of the main architects of the House of Ideas by finding ways to make sure Stan Lee always got a cameo. Even after the comic creator had passed away, there were still surprise appearances to be found in the MCU. By comparison, the nascent DCU does not appear to have a central figure that will always be showing up in some form as an obvious homage for fans watching. That said, DC fans did find a surprise cameo in Peacemaker Season 2’s finale that could change this.

Though the last episode of Peacemaker‘s second season (and perhaps the entire series) aired a few days ago, fans have only just now discovered there’s a secret lurking in the background. During Foxxy Shazam’s performance of the season’s theme song, John Cena’s Christopher Smith and Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt may be the focus of the camera, but eagle-eyed viewers spotted a very familiar white beard, spikey hair, and black glasses lurking in the background.

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James Gunn’s Cameo in Peacemaker Season 2 Finale Found

The distinct figure of James Gunn can be spotted very briefly in the finale of Peacemaker, and DC fans are having a field day with it. Many joked about how Gunn, who directed the episode, okay’d the shot for the sequence and then quickly ran into the frame to just enjoy the concert, while others said it was “the” cameo Gunn had been teasing for weeks. Others ribbed Gunn for spying on Cena as he shares the screen with his wife, but also, with the blurriness of the photo, some weren’t convinced either. “It could be Wolf Blitzer,” wrote one user in response to the image.

Gunn confirmed on the official Peacemaker podcast that he appears in the episode, noting that he is visible along with other crew members and even the band Nelson (who appeared earlier). The way Gunn tells it, the appearance was unplanned and a spontaneous decision as they were filming Foxxy Shazam’s performance for the episode. This immediately makes it a little more unique; there were no board meetings or discussions about how fun this cameo would be. It was done in the moment.

What makes this appearance both fun for fans and distinctly different from Stan Lee’s appearances in Marvel movies is that no one was expecting it when the episode dropped. Though Gunn would confirm afterward that he does appear, no one hit play on HBO Max, knowing that they were going to hunt for James Gunn ala Where’s Waldo. While Lee was still alive, every new MCU movie drew theorizing about how Stan Lee would fit into the narrative, and every time he did, it drew the same kind of admiration from fans.

By extension, the DCU does not have anything quite like that. That’s not to say there aren’t cameos in Superman; Christopher Reeve’s youngest son, Will Reeve, makes a brief appearance, but no real figures without larger ramifications for the DCU are featured in a major capacity. Superman does have surprise appearances by Peacemaker and Supergirl, but both of them are present to not only expand the scope of the DCU but to tease what comes next in the larger franchise. At this point in the DCU, fans have not been immediately trained to “Go and find James Gunn hidden inside this one,” which makes any similar cameos that may happen later down the line feel a little more special.