James Gunn even reshot some scenes from the Snyder-era of the DCEU to take out some elements and add in the Justice Gang.
There’s no question about Peacemaker’s status in the DCU, as the Season 2 “previously on” makes big changes to the continuity of the series.
This article contains spoilers for the Peacemaker Season 2 premiere.
One of the biggest questions going into HBO Max’s Peacemaker Season 2 was how the show would fit into James Gunn’s new DCU. Previously, the series existed firmly in the Zack Snyder-crafted DCEU, thanks to multiple references to the Justice League, and even a cameo appearance from the team (well, some of it) in the Season 1 finale. Now, thanks to the Season 2 premiere of Peacemaker, ‘The Ties That Grind,’ we’ve got our answer: they edited out Zack Snyder’s Justice League and replaced them with the Justice Gang from Superman.
Don’t worry, Gunn hasn’t Mandela Effected the original Season 1 finale out of existence – as of this writing, it’s still as it previously appeared on HBO Max. So, as a reminder, since it’s been three years since ‘It’s Cow Or Never’ streamed, a little reminder of how it all went down.
The short version is that there was a potential alien invasion of Earth thanks to “butterflies,” a race that was taking over people’s bodies, one by one. They were fed by a massive alien Cow, which ended up getting killed by Peacemaker (John Cena) and his team. With their food supply gone, that was (mostly) it for the butterfly threat, and the team gathered around a fallen Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), carrying her away from the wreckage of their fight with the butterflies and the Cow.
That’s when the Justice League showed up: Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and The Flash (Ezra Miller). “You’re late, you fucking dickheads,” Peacemaker yelled at the shadowy figures. And while Cavill and Gadot weren’t actually there, the episode did feature Momoa and Miller in cameos, discussing whether Aquaman does indeed have sex with fish.
That’s it for the cameos, but they were actually responding to a phone call Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) made earlier in the episode to her mother, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), begging her to call in the Justice League. When that initially didn’t work, the “11th Street Kids,” Peacemaker’s de facto team, headed in, instead.
So what changes in the “previously on” for Peacemaker Season 2? First off, this is sort of a given at this point, but the old animated DC Studios opening credits from Season 1 are replaced by the new DC Studios “Superman breaking out of chains” title card. From there, most of the footage is direct from Season 1, including a scene of Peacemaker answering questions for a school class, and traumatic flashbacks to the time he killed his brother (accidentally). But that’s interrupted by Gunn and company announcing their intentions, loud and clear: “Previously in the DCU,” explains a title card, alongside cheery narration from Cena.
From there, more recap including footage direct from Season 1, including a helpful reminder that Peacemaker’s racist father has a room full of portals to other dimensions… That is, until we loop back to that scene of Adebayo calling her mom. There, we get the same shot as Season 1, with Adebayo pacing back and forth in front of a “Paws a Moment” truck. But the dialogue has not-so-subtly changed: “The whole team has been injured, so I was thinking, like, maybe you could call in the Justice Gang.”
Yep, we’re in the DCU, as Adebayo has mentioned the Justice Gang – the name of Maxwell Lord’s (Sean Gunn) team from Superman – versus the Justice League, the team from the DCEU.
Later in the recap, we got another reedited scene. After John Economos (Steve Agee) almost vomits, in the original episode, Peacemaker retches as well and tells Harcourt he has a “real bad gag reflex.” In the new previously on for Season 2, the line continues, with Peacemaker saying, “I have a real bad gag reflex. Oh shit. You know, one time I puked all over Green Lantern, I was– I got seasick from flying on a green magic carpet. The weird thing is he fucking liked it.”
But the biggest change in the ‘Previously on’ is the arrival of the Justice Gang – instead of the Justice League. Again, it’s reproduced shot-for-shot down to the shadowy arrivals, but this time the team includes Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Superman (David Corenswet), Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Supergirl (Milly Alcock). And in a fun riff on the abbreviated cameos from Season 1, only Merced and Fillion are actually in the scene.
“What a meathead,” says Hawkgirl.
“Screw that guy,” Green Lantern says. “You know he tells people I’m a puke freak?”
That’s it for the retcons to Peacemaker Season 1, and it all allows for an extended sequence later on where Peacemaker auditions for the Justice Gang and gets absolutely ripped to shreds by Lord, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern, thanks to a faulty microphone. It also sets up the main conflict of the season, that Peacemaker doesn’t feel he belongs in this universe – though instead of not feeling like he belongs in the DCEU and heading to the DCU (as some fans speculated pre-season), he instead finds a portal to another universe much like his own, but better.
Regardless, all apologies to Snyderverse fans, but that’s it for the Justice League; they’ve been wiped out of existence, thanks to a few reshot scenes in the “previously on.” Unless, of course, they’re behind one of the other 98 doors in Peacemaker’s portal room.
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