Contains spoilers for “Peacemaker,” Season 2, Episode 1 — “The Ties That Grind”

“Peacemaker” Season 2 has finally landed (here’s our review), sparking excitement among fans not only about the show itself but also about the recap of Season 1 that comes before the premiere, “The Ties That Grind.” This recap revisits one of the concluding scenes from the Season 1 finale, showcasing a cameo by Zack Snyder’s Justice League, but with a novel twist: Rather than the DCEU’s Justice League — Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Aquaman — we see the Justice Gang, rearranging the scene to solidify its place in the new DCU and aligning it with the recent “Superman” film release.

The revised scene swaps out the shadows of Henry Cavill’s Superman for David Corenswet’s newly debuted Man of Steel and replaces Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman with Millie Alcock’s Supergirl (who is set to star in her own movie slated for 2026). Also joining them are Edi Gathegi’s Mister Terrific, alongside Nathan Fillion and Isabela Merced as Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl, taking the spots of Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash — with both appearing to have filmed fresh dialogue for this sequence.

In this updated scene, Gardner is given a chance to deliver a witty retort reminiscent of Aquaman’s, offering a snide comment about Peacemaker’s (John Cena) frequent disparagements of him (in this rendition, Peacemaker is seen ridiculing the Green Lantern for enjoying the sight of people vomiting).

The opening recap of “The Ties that Grind” accomplishes more than just highlighting some of the most significant moments from “Peacemaker” Season 1 and altering a pivotal scene. It also potentially provides a look into the future trajectory of the new DC Universe. 

By the conclusion of “Superman,” the Justice Gang is officially comprised of just three members: Green Lantern Guy Gardner, the winged warrior Hawkgirl, and the costumed genius Mister Terrific. The film hints that Metamorpho (portrayed by Anthony Carrigan) could be a new addition, and it teases the possibility of Superman joining them as well. However, in the newly modified scene, Metamorpho is noticeably absent, with the group instead being joined by Supergirl.

In the “Superman” narrative, there’s no indication that Clark Kent’s Kryptonian cousin is a part of the Justice Gang, nor do we get any sense that they’ve even encountered her before. This suggests that “Peacemaker” Season 1 might actually occur post the “Superman” film, which recently premiered in 2025, with both Superman and Supergirl listed on the Gang’s roster. Where this situation leaves characters like Metamorpho, as well as Wonder Woman and Batman, remains an open question.

The rejiggered scene in the Season 1 recap of “Peacemaker” firmly moves the events of that story into the DCU, retconning prior events rather than having the character step into an alternate universe. But it turns out that writer-director — and now DCU architect — James Gunn never really considered using the multiverse to explain how one of DC’s biggest sad boys moved into a new cinematic universe.

Gunn told Rotten Tomatoes, “He was part of this ‘in-between’ universe of DC when there was nobody really making sure that everything was connected and at a time when they were going to rewrite everything with ‘The Flash.'” That 2023 film was originally intended to reshape the DCEU and allow new actors to take on old roles while folding in other characters, which gave Gunn more freedom even when he was just writing and directing Season 1 of “Peacemaker.” 

While Gunn couldn’t easily retain much of the DCEU for his new cinematic universe, “Peacemaker,” was a simple shift because “there’s hardly anything else that you need to change for him, he can slide very easily into the DCU,” Gunn explained, adding, “But maybe we have to retcon a couple of things.” Retcon he did, and now it’s easy to understand why Gunn has repeatedly commented that “Peacemaker” Season 1 would be “mostly” canon.