Peacemaker season 2 has proven that James Gunn’s DCU may yet avoid the MCU’s biggest issue. Peacemaker season 2 is the next installment in the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters after 2025’s Superman. That said, Creature Commandos was released in December 2024 as an unofficial start, a palette cleanser of sorts, for the franchise.
A few Easter eggs in Peacemaker season 2, episode 4 referenced Creature Commandos, hinting that the DCU will avoid the MCU’s overreliance on interconnectivity.
The MCU’s interconnectivity was one of the franchise’s strengths between 2008 and 2019, allowing some of the MCU’s best movies to follow on from past events. However, in recent years, the MCU has become too reliant on these overarching connective tissues, resulting in audiences having to watch certain projects to understand others.
The DC Universe’s creatives, spearheaded by James Gunn, have been open about their wish to avoid the need for each project in the franchise to have “homework.” As proven by the time of Peacemaker season 2, episode 4’s ending and its aforementioned Creature Commandos Easter egg, the DCU may be avoiding the MCU’s biggest recent drawback.
Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 4 Proves The DCU Is Avoiding The MCU’s Overarching Mistake
The references in question come via Peacemaker season 2’s new cast member, Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag, senior. Flag Sr. appears in a big way in season 2, episode 4, pushing Emilia Harcourt to betray Peacemaker and turn him in to ARGUS.
During this scene, Flag references the fact that he broke his back on a recent mission before mentioning an operation in the fictional DC country of Pokolistan. Both of these references link to the story of Creature Commandos.
Rick Flag Sr. had his back broken in the series by Clayface, a character receiving his own story in an upcoming DC movie. Pokolistan is a broader reference, as the country was the setting for much of Creature Commandos.
Image via Max
What makes these references proof of the DCU’s avoidance, thus far, of the MCU’s overreliance on interconnectivity is that neither is needed to understand Peacemaker season 2. Those who have not seen Creature Commandos will simply take Rick’s comments as references to former missions, as they are, only without having the additional context.
For those who have seen Creature Commandos, this is a neat tie to a former DCU property. The importance here, though, is that they are not essential to Flag’s journey in Peacemaker. The death of his son, featured in 2021’s The Suicide Squad, is, but even that is explained well enough so that audiences who haven’t seen any DC projects can understand the show at hand.
James Gunn’s “No Homework” Rule Will Be Tested By Man Of Tomorrow
This all proves that Gunn’s DCU is avoiding the MCU’s big “homework” problem so far. However, this will be tested by the recently announced Superman sequel: Man of Tomorrow. James Gunn continues to insist that Peacemaker season 2’s story will tie heavily to Man of Tomorrow.
How, exactly, remains to be seen. Regardless, if Peacemaker season 2 is as vital to Man of Tomorrow as Gunn keeps repeating, the latter will have to explain the former’s ties to it effectively and without unnecessary exposition.
This way, people watching Man of Tomorrow will not need to go back and watch Peacemaker, truly proving the DCU can overcome the MCU’s biggest recent hindrance.
