The DC Universe bringing back a ᴅᴇᴀᴅ character from the DCEU looks even more likely than ever. The DCEU’s movie timeline ended in 2023 with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, paving the way for James Gunn’s rebooted DCU. The DCU became official as of Superman‘s ending, with the film outlining the new universe and some of its central characters.
Upcoming DC movies will only continue to flesh out this new universe, with some aspects of the DCEU, somewhat confusingly, remaining canon in the rebooted franchise. Peacemaker season 2’s story, for instance, will link to DCEU projects like The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker season 1, despite being part of the world Superman began.
With these elements in mind, many are curious as to how many more DCEU characters and plot points will bleed over into the DCU. Via one upcoming story, it seems that this will become clear. Moreover, this DCU story in question could bring back a character that was part of the DCEU, despite being killed in their most recent appearance.
Peacemaker Season 2’s Trailer Makes 1 ᴅᴇᴀᴅ DCEU Character Returning Seem More Likely ThanEver
Thanks To A Central Plot Point
The DC Universe project that could bring back a ᴅᴇᴀᴅ DCEU character is Peacemaker season 2, and the character is Rick Flag Jr., played by Joel Kinnaman. Rick Flag Jr. appeared in both 2016’s Suicide Squad and 2021’s The Suicide Squad. Both films are set in the DCEU, with Peacemaker killing Flag in the latter.
Peacemaker season 2 will canonize the most major events of The Suicide Squad, meaning Rick Flag Jr. is still ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in the new DC Universe. Interestingly, though, the most recent trailer for Peacemaker season 2 makes it seem more likely than ever that Rick Flag Jr. could return. The main reason for this is the involvement of his in-universe father, Rick Flag Sr., played by Frank Grillo.
The trailer for Peacemaker season 2 hinges around two major plot points: Rick Flag Sr.’s quest for revenge against Peacemaker for murdering his son, and the тιтular character finding an alternate universe in which characters like him and Emilia Harcourt exist. With the latter plot point, it would be logical for another version of Rick Flag Jr. to exist.
This ties into Rick Flag Sr.’s role, as it would play on his emotional arc to have him come face-to-face with his son after the latter’s death. For Peacemaker, too, who has been consistently shown to be wracked with remorse for killing Flag, meeting another version of him would be a good way to deal with that emotional arc.
Peacemaker Season 2’s Rick Flag Jr. Theory Already Had Evidence To Support It
Flag Jr.’s Return Is Not Completely Unfounded
The Peacemaker season 2 trailer makes Rick Flag Jr.’s return a lot more likely, but this theory has been discussed since before its release. The reason for this stems from an Instagram post, reported via Comicbook.com, by Peacemaker season 2 director Peter Sollett. This post came in July 2024, when Peacemaker season 2 had just started filming.
Sollett took to social media to celebrate this, thanking the cast and crew and tagging several performers. The likes of James Gunn, John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Steve Agee, Tim Meadows, and Frank Grillo were then tagged in the caption. Interestingly, Joel Kinnaman was one of the actors tagged in Sollett’s Instagram post, kickstarting the rumors that Rick Flag would return in a big way.
Sollett later removed Kinnaman’s tag from the Instagram post, adding fuel to the fire that the actor would return as Rick Flag.
A few months later, ScreenRant asked Kinnaman about Peacemaker season 2, with the actor going somewhat overboard with his answer. Kinnaman noted, “That’s ridiculous. I would never. I would never be on a show like that. It’s not what I do. It’s not what I do.”
Given Kinnaman’s involvement in The Suicide Squad, which is incredibly close in tone to Peacemaker, this seems like a somewhat strange answer. Many ᴀssumed Kinnaman’s defensiveness was because he is, in fact, in Peacemaker season 2, and was trying to shut the rumors down as best he could. Overall, the theory of Flag Jr.’s return has more evidence to support it than first thought.
Why Rick Flag Jr. Returning In Peacemaker Season 2 Would Be Huge For The Show
The Story Of Peacemaker Season 2 Could Mᴀssively Benefit From Flag Jr.’s Return
From a story perspective, Rick Flag Jr.’s proper return in Peacemaker season 2 would be huge for the show. As already alluded to, it would benefit two major DCU characters: Peacemaker himself and Rick Flag Sr., the latter of whom has been in every DCU release thus far after Creature Commandos and Superman.
Flag Sr.’s character will only be bolstered by Flag Jr.’s return. So far, Grillo’s character has not had much to do from an emotional standpoint, yet a reunion with a variant of his son would certainly allow for that. When factoring in Peacemaker’s aforementioned guilt, Rick Flag Jr.’s return would only benefit his character, too.
The trailer for Peacemaker season 2 makes it clear that Chris Smith is trying to be a better person, an actual hero, going forward. Coming to terms with his guilt over Flag Jr.’s murder would be one way of doing that.
Above all, Kinnaman was a standout in 2021’s The Suicide Squad. His return would always be welcome and provide another way for the DCU to take on the best elements of the DCEU’s last few films. If Kinnaman does return in Peacemaker season 2 as Rick Flag Jr., the show would benefit in a myriad of ways.
