Ever since James Gunn announced the full cast for Superman, people have been scratching their heads. Sure, we expected that the cast would include Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor–played by David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult, respectively. But as the cast list grew, so did the names of other superheroes. Edi Gathegi and Mister Terrific? Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl? Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner? Is this a Superman movie or a Justice League movie?
Gunn has clarified on social media that Superman focuses on the central triangle of Clark, Lois, and Lex, but also that his movie sees the Man of Steel joining a world already populated with superheroes, superheroes who have lost their way. And in the first teaser for season two of Peacemaker, a show all about those lost superheroes who preceded Superman, we get a sense of what that main team might be.
The Secret Gospel of Maxwell Lord
The teaser begins with an embarrassing moment for Peacemaker a.k.a. Christopher Smith, played by John Cena. He visits a shabby studio to interview for a part in a superhero team. His interviewers include Hawkgirl and Guy Gardner, but they’re flanked by a face familiar to anyone who has seen a James Gunn project, Sean Gunn. Although he’s already appeared in DC projects, voicing G.I. Robot and Weasel in Creature Commandos and cameoing as the Calendar Man in The Suicide Squad, here he’s got a different job, playing Maxwell Lord.
DC movie fans may remember Maxwell Lord as the enterprising businessman that Pedro Pascal played in Wonder Woman: 1984. There, his greed turned him into a villain who almost destroyed the world, only saved when Wonder Woman appealed to his better side at the end of the movie.
However, Gunn’s Lord functions much more like his original comic book counterpart. First introduced in 1987’s Justice League #1, written by J. M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen and penciled by Kevin Maguire, Maxwell Lord was the opportunistic businessman who assembled his own Justice League after the long-running team had disbanded in disgrace. Thanks to his maneuvering and business acumen (and, it must be said, light mind-control powers introduced later in the run), Lord put together an unconventional team that featured longtime mainstays like Batman and Martian Manhunter, but mostly oddballs such as Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, and Fire and Ice.
The DeMatteis/Giffen/Maguire League (known colloquially as Justice League International [JLI], due to the title of the book during its most formative issues) has long been a fan-favorite thanks to its humorous and character-driven approach to mainline superheroics. The JLI would battle huge baddies like the alien conqueror Despero or the mind-controlling Gray Man, but they would also get involved in failed get-rich-quick schemes or devote an entire issue to the crass Guy Gardner going on a date with the demure Ice.
In other words, JLI is exactly the type of book that informs James Gunn’s approach to the DC Universe, in which C- and D-list heroes spend more time bickering than they do saving the day.
I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League
However, the Peacemaker season 2 trailer is the first time we’ve really seen how Gunn plans to integrate the JLI into his version of the cinematic DC Universe. As demonstrated in this clip, Lord is recruiting new members into his team, ultimately serving as the deciding factor. Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl are once again wearing matching outfits, costumes that look quite different than their comic book versions, suggesting that they are all part of the same team.
Given the black and white motif worn even by Guy Gardner, a Green Lantern who usually has more of an emerald look, many have speculated that the team would be a variation of the Terrifics, a group led by Mister Terrific. Some have also speculated that the team would work at the behest of Simon Stagg, another millionaire in the DC Universe, whose building is prominently displayed in the Superman teaser.
While both of these elements may still be integrated into the Superman line-up, the Peacemaker trailer makes it clear that the main team will be a variation of the JLI, complete with Max Lord at the head. And, as demonstrated by the barbs that Lord and co. unwittingly toss at Peacemaker, they’ll be the same unserious group that we initially saw in the comics.
Inspiring the Heroes
What does this mean for Superman? Within the pages of DC Comics, the JLI were unusual, but they were still heroes, and earned the respect of even Batman, who often served alongside them. However, the team largely trusted Maxwell Lord, at least until a retcon in the mid-2000s turned him into a powerful mind controller and maniacal villain, who shot his buddy Blue Beetle in the head.
Superman may very well seek to split the difference between the two depictions. The pseudo-JLI of the movie may have the potential to be great, but that potential has been hampered by cynicism. They can only do good if they have the support of a rich guy like Lord. It would fit with the inspirational tone that Gunn is striking in his Superman marketing materials for Superman to inspire the JLI to become greater heroes.
Will they actually become the Justice League? While that would be fun, one hopes that the League of Gunn’s DC Universe will be more in line with the classic team, with Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman at the core. But there’s always been room for more teams in the DC Universe, especially when they’re being written by James Gunn, a guy who loves his little-known weirdos.
Superman takes flight into theaters on July 11, 2025.
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From https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/peacemaker-season-2-trailer-superman-justice-league/
