James Gunn Confirms Whether David Corenswet’s Superman Appears in PEACEMAKER Season 2

Fans hoping to see David Corenswet’s Superman swoop into Peacemaker Season 2 are in for some disappointment. James Gunn has confirmed that the Man of Steel won’t be showing up in the series, even as the show barrels toward its big finale and sets the stage for the upcoming Man of Tomorrow.

In Episode 6 of Peacemaker, Nicholas Hoult returned as Lex Luthor, meeting with Rick Flag Sr. in what looks like the start of a dangerous alliance. That development is already pointing toward major consequences in Man of Tomorrow, which Gunn has been carefully building toward.

Before Season 2 hit HBO Max, Gunn teased a “really, really, really big cameo.” While many fans speculated that it meant Superman himself, the filmmaker has now shut down that theory.

Talking to Variety, Gunn said:

“No. In fact, David was very upset that Nick got to be on the show, and he didn’t. It just didn’t work.”

He went on to explain why Lex was essential to the story:

“I needed Lex in the show to serve a specific purpose. And actually, what Lex and Rick Flag are up to affects very much what happens in an aspect of Man of Tomorrow.

“So all of that is connected. But this relationship between Rick Flag and Lex Luthor is a potentially negative thing for Superman and all meta-humans.”

That tease makes it clear that while Superman may not appear in Peacemaker, his shadow looms large over the show. Gunn has often referred to Peacemaker as a prequel to Man of Tomorrow, and Lex’s arc in this season was always meant to feed directly into the bigger story Gunn has planned for the DCU.

He explained that this was part of his original pitch when taking on the role of DC Studios co-CEO:

“Totally, yeah. I didn’t know some things about it, but I knew what the overall story of the DCU was. That was something I pitched to [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO] David Zaslav before we even took the job.

“I’m like, here’s the story. There’s going to be this movie, this show, this movie, this show, and those things all fit in in different ways.”

Gunn added that while surprises have come along the way, like the addition of Clayface, the general direction of the DCU has remained intact:

“Some things came, like Clayface, that we didn’t expect, and other things have been a harder road to travel. But the general outline of that overall story is what we are following through Superman, Peacemaker, Man of Tomorrow and beyond.”

Even without Superman flying in for a cameo, the bigger picture is clear. Gunn is laying down the connective tissue for his 10-year DCU plan, with Peacemaker serving as an important stepping stone toward Man of Tomorrow.

With Brainiac rumored to play a major role in that film and speculation that the Centre could be the villain of Gods and Monsters, the road ahead looks massive.

Six episodes of Peacemaker Season 2 are now streaming on HBO Max, with two more to go before this chapter closes and the next one begins.