Do ya really, do ya really gotta watch Superman before Peacemaker? DC Studios made James Gunn’s Superman movie available on digital on Aug. 15, just one week before his hit HBO Max series Peacemaker returns for season 2 this Thursday (Aug. 21). “I originally thought Peacemaker was going to be coming out next month,” Gunn explained in a recent interview, adding of the in-home release, “I wanted everyone to be able to see Superman that wanted to, even those people who couldn’t get to a theater before Peacemaker.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
The third installment in Gunn’s new DC Universe following 2024’s Creature Commandos and this summer’s Superman, Peacemaker is “very much connected to Superman and it’s very much connected to what comes after,” the DC Studios co-chief said previously. But for those who haven’t watched Superman, worry not: aside from some cross-pollination of characters, Gunn assured fans there’s no required viewing.
“Yes for sure. We explain everything,” Gunn wrote on Threads in response to a fan’s question asking if Peacemaker stands alone. “Just more fun to also watch Superman!”
What to Know About Superman Before Watching Peacemaker Season 2
Trailers confirmed that the new season of Peacemaker takes place shortly after the events of Superman, which introduced the Justice Gang: the Metropolis-based metahuman team of Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and new recruit Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan). Bankrolled by billionaire tech mogul Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), the Justice Gang interviews prospective member Chris Smith (John Cena), who wants to prove himself as a hero.
As the helmet-wearing mercenary says in the trailer, “I don’t want to be a joke anymore. I want to be a real hero.” Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) called Peacemaker “a joke” before being killed during a Task Force X mission to Corto Maltese in 2021’s The Suicide Squad, and now his father — new A.R.G.U.S. Director Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), returning from Creature Commandos and Superman — is out to bring Peacemaker to justice for killing his son.
However, Flag’s main mission is directly connected to Superman. (Mild spoiler alert.) As revealed in season 1, Peacemaker has access to “some kind of interdimensional portal,” Flag remarks in the red band trailer, referring to the Quantum Unfolding Chamber (or QUC for short).
Peacemaker described his father Auggie’s (Robert Patrick) Quantum Unfolding Storage Area as “a dimensional nodule outside normal space,” but as seen in Superman, use of the technology risks tearing a hole into the fabric of reality. Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) of LuthorCorp replicated the Big Bang with a mega-collider, tearing a hole between the two universal fabrics to create a pocket universe he accessed from the multiple dimensional portals he set up around the globe.
Luthor imprisoned Superman (David Corenswet) and countless others in his private pocket universe, a type of reckless science that — if off by just one picometer — can result in the Earth being swallowed by a black hole. In Superman, this caused a rift between universes that would have destroyed Metropolis and the rest of the world were it not for Superman and the Justice Gang saving the day.
Luthor was sent to Belle Reve (the super-max prison seen in The Suicide Squad and Creature Commandos), while his accomplices Sydney Happerson (Stephen Blackehart) Otis Berg (Terence Rosemore) were arrested. But in Peacemaker, it appears that Luthor’s henchmen are cooperating with A.R.G.U.S. and Flag’s directive to stop Peacemaker from misusing the same interdimensional technology as the Superman villain.
John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, and Robert Patrick return for Peacemaker season 2, joined by new cast members Frank Grillo, David Denman, Sol Rodríguez, and Tim Meadows. Superman is now available to rent or own on digital; Peacemaker returns August 21 on HBO Max.
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of DC Studios -
Image courtesy of Netflix -
Courtesy of Marvel
