The DCU’s biggest Peacemaker retcon makes Superman’s cameo much better than it originally was back when Henry Cavill was still playing the Man of Steel. The last time the DCEU’s Justice League ᴀssembled on screen took place in the Peacemaker season 1 finale. Three years later, the League’s cameo stuck out like a sore thumb due to the DCU reboot.

James Gunn found the perfect way to retcon the Justice League’s cameo out of Peacemaker‘s new continuity. Replacing the DCEU’s Justice League with the DCU’s Justice Gang is the most straightforward but also most effective method. Beyond solving a continuity problem, Peacemaker season 2’s cameo retcon also improves Superman’s role in season 1’s ending.

Superman’s Late Arrival To The ʙuттerfly Invasion Makes More Sense In The DCU Than In The DCEU

Originally, the Justice League’s late arrival to the ʙuттerfly invasion in Peacemaker season 1 made the Justice League seem wildly incompetent. After all, they had stopped a Parademon invasion all by themselves just a few years earlier. Since the events of Justice League, the League had been a powerful and dutiful superhero team that defended a world where extraterrestrial attacks happened once every few years.

Meanwhile, the Justice Gang has been depicted as a careless team that doesn’t take their missions seriously. Besides, the DCU’s Earth is constantly in peril and dozens of metahumans are fighting city-destroying threats at any given time. Superman’s late arrival with the Justice Gang is much more reasonable in this universe. He may have been busy fighting other villains and struggled to coordinate with the Justice Gang.

One specific scene in James Gunn’s Superman set up Peacemaker season 2’s Justice League retcon quite clearly in retrospect. While fighting Lex Luthor’s kaiju, the Justice Gang fails to communicate with Superman, who has to pick up their mess. The kaiju is also a distraction from Lex Luthor, whose city-destroying monster is depicted as an ordinary occurrence.

Peacemaker Was Made To Work Within The DCU

Peacemaker season 1 was conceived, produced, and released before the idea of a DCU reboot was devised. And yet, Peacemaker didn’t hesitate to reference several DC characters and pull in top-tier figures like Superman. Since its inception, Peacemaker needed an expansive universe where its over-the-top nature could flow smoothly.

The fact that Warner Bros. rebooted the DC franchise was a blessing for Peacemaker. All things considered, Peacemaker‘s Justice League retcon was nothing compared to every change that happened in the background. With only one team swap in a single scene, Peacemaker season 2 gels much better with James Gunn’s unapologetically fantastical DCU.