Spoilers ahead for Peacemaker: Season 2, Episode 6 (“Ignorance is Chris”).
I interviewed DC Studios co-chief James Gunn today about the latest episode of Peacemaker, which featured a cameo by Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor.
In the episode, which Gunn wrote and directed, A.R.G.U.S. boss Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo), who’s desperate to locate Peacemaker (John Cena) and his interdimensional portal-opening device, strikes a deal for Luthor’s help in exchange for getting him transferred to a better prison.
When pressed for what this deal with the devil means for Gunn’s Superman follow-up Man of Tomorrow, where Luthor and Superman will form an alliance against a greater threat, Gunn said, “What you can expect is that that relationship between Rick Flag and Lex Luthor is consequential to the DCU.”
Read my interview with James Gunn below. (It has been edited for clarity.)
IGN: Nicholas Hoult’s portrayal of Lex here is much colder, darker than his version in Superman and, judging from the reactions online, fans are really liking it. Is Lex like this simply because he’s failed?
James Gunn: So, I think part of it is, yes, I mean he just had his ass handed to him by a super dog, and then he’s sentenced for the rest of his life, no matter what, to prison. And so, he’s in a bad, dark way in that respect.
I was very surprised when we were shooting the scene to see that myself. And part of it is just he’s written a little – Peacemaker’s tonally different from Superman. Superman’s more heightened. Peacemaker is more naturalistic. And part of it is just going from one story to the other.
And in that respect, I really love it because I think that’s what I loved about comic books and seeing different writers and artists create these different stories that were tonally different, but with these connected characters. And I think you can see that even in Peacemaker and Superman. And so, when you talk about getting to other directors, it’s going to be even more pronounced.
IGN: Is that the sort of interpretation and tone of Luthor we can expect in Man of Tomorrow?
James Gunn: No, because I think that, again, Man of Tomorrow will have his own feel to it. So, definitely, he’s defeated, that is true. So, we’re starting from a place where he’s defeated, but what you can expect is that that relationship between Rick Flag and Lex Luthor is consequential to the DCU.
IGN: Lex’s limp and the cane, I assume that’s because Krypto attacked him.
James Gunn: Yeah, remember it’s not that far before that that happened.
IGN: So will he be limping in Man of Tomorrow? Is that why he’ll need power armor?
James Gunn: No, he’ll be better. He’s going to be better by that time.
IGN: You mentioned how the Flag partnership with Lex is consequential. Does that mean, since they’re striking a deal for interdimensional tech in Peacemaker, can we expect the interdimensional dangers to continue with Man of Tomorrow? Is that an overarching thing for the DCU?
James Gunn: Well, I’m going to answer your question as a no, but with an asterisk. And I do think that you’re going to find out more about Lex’s and Rick’s partnership by the end of Peacemaker, you’re going to know more about it.
IGN: What are your thoughts on people online figuring out the twist that there were no people of color on the planet? And how tough, or important, was the level of detail on set to hide things like the Nazi flags or anything that could be coded as white supremacist?
James Gunn: Well, I think that it makes sense that people figured it out because all it takes is one person to go, “Hey, wait a second,” and see all of the background actors in Earth X. Then compare them to the background actors in our Earth or whatever, Earth One, and go, “Wait a second. We know we shoot in Atlanta, Georgia. There’s not exactly a dearth of black background actors and James is known for having a lot of diversity in those things.” So, I think it makes sense.
It’s interesting though, because I showed the whole series to a lot of people before we ever put it on air. I get a final round of notes, watching the whole season. “Is there anything people don’t understand? Is there anything that’s too offensive? How are people going to react? What do I have to expect from an audience?” And it was people of all different ethnicities and not a single person noticed it. Not one person noticed it. So, the fact that they picked it up at the beginning of episode two or whatever, it was like, wow. Okay.
IGN: Those hawk-eyed internet sleuths, man. They miss nothing.
James Gunn: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But once it’s out, it’s out. You’re done.
IGN: So, is this a world where the Allies lost World War II?
James Gunn: You’re going to find all that out next episode. You’re going to find all that out.
IGN: That mystery character that’s teased in the promo for the next episode. Is that a character we’ve seen before? And please tell me it’s a live-action G.I. Robot getting sent to kill Nazis.
James Gunn: It’s not. It’s not. People know who that character is already. They’ve already seen him in previews, so they’re making it very mysterious, but it’s not that mysterious.
IGN: Can you talk about making Spider-Man canon in the DCU? I love the meme joke.
James Gunn: Listen, I made Batman canon in Marvel so I thought I would just return the favor. So, I think now we can know that in the MCU they read plenty of DC Comics and in the DCU, they read plenty of Marvel Comics. It’s contradictory because you think in the DCU, DC Comics would be very popular, but nobody knows about them. They love Marvel Comics. And in the MCU, I think they voraciously read DC Comics.
IGN: I wanted to also ask about the cold open and the melting photo. Is there something more sinister happening there, or is it just…?
James Gunn: Yeah, it’s just tipping the audience off to, “Wait a second. Everything here is not what we fucking expect. Here we have these cute kids and this…” But there’s something darker below the surface.
IGN: I’m loving the show and I can’t wait to see how it pays off.
James Gunn: I’m really so proud of [episode] eight. I can’t wait for people to see it. It’s really… Boy. For the comics nerds too, man. Shit. Great.
For more on James Gunn’s DCU, read our Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 6 review, find out everything we know so far about Man of Tomorrow and why we think Brainiac might be that film’s villain.
