Superman's historical rival Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) appears in Peacemaker Season 2, starring John Cena in the titular role, much to the excitement of DC Universe (DCU) fans. Superman filmmaker James Gunn recently talked about the importance of Luthor's appearance in the series for DCU, including the next instalment in the franchise Man of Tomorrow. Speaking on Peacemaker: The Official Podcast, the filmmaker and DC Studios' chief stated, "This was one of the first scenes we shot. I think we shot it in the middle of Superman, while we were shooting the pentagon sequences in Superman. It was cool, it was weird because tonally, it instantly felt different from Superman, which is so big and brash. And this show is so grounded and gritty. And then also hearing Nick curse."
He added, "But I felt like even Nick’s performance was different," an opinion to which his spouse Jennifer Holland agreed. Holland said, "It felt a little darker, it was a little different."
Luthor appears in the Peacemaker Season 2 episode titled 'Ignorance Is Chris,' where Frank Grillo's Rick Flag Sr goes to see the former at the Belle Reve prison to seek his assistance in discovering the titular character's portal to the alternate dimension, following the former's apprehension in the recent Superman film as he operated his own mini universe.
Explaining its significance, Gunn stated, "So, we have a really important moment, for not only Peacemaker, but the entire DCU, in that Rick Flag, the head of ARGUS, strikes a deal basically with Lex Luthor. In exchange for Lex Luthor finding where Peacemaker’s portal might be, he is going to move him from a prison with metahumans to a prison with no metahumans."
According to Gunn, Flag's collaboration with Luthor is "scary" for Peacemaker, because the former is a powerful man with an agenda of his own.
