(Spoilers for Peacemaker will be found below.)
Following the climactic battle in the Peacemaker finale, the Justice League make a surprising, yet entirely non-helpful appearance in the final moments of show. The humorous cameo seems to solely exist for Peacemaker to make another joke about Aquaman (Jason Momoa), uh, loving fish, but this time with an assist from The Flash (Ezra Miller). However, the brief moment is jam-packed with all kinds of implication for the DC Extended Universe.
For starters, the cameo continues the official Warner Bros. stance that Joss Whedon’s Justice League is still canon, and not Zack Snyder‘s four-hour extended cut. While there was a time when it seemed like Warner Bros. was abandoning the shared universe it was building, the Justice League cameo confirms previous remarks from Peacemaker creator James Gunn that the studio was no longer shying away from connecting its film universe. This was evident in The Suicide Squad, which proved to be much more of a sequel to David Ayer’s original film than expected.
Of course, Momoa and Miller being the only two actors to appear in the cameo makes sense considering both Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Flash both hit theaters later this year. That’s just good old fashioned cross-promotion right there. As for the other members of the group, that’s where things get interesting. In an interview with Variety on the Peacemaker finale, Gunn revealed that he really only expected to get Momoa after writing the cameo in the script. Miller was a surprise addition, and Gunn never planned on getting Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot, but their Superman and Wonder Woman silhouettes are clearly shown in the cameo. Does this open the door for Cavill to return as the Man of Steel? Quite possibly.
Noticeably absent, though, are Ben Affleck‘s Batman and Ray Fisher‘s Cyborg. While Fisher has been engaged in a tense public feud with Warner Bros., Affleck is reprising his Dark Knight role for The Flash, so it’s odd that he wasn’t included. When asked by Variety why Batman and Cyborg are missing, Gunn said, “There are reasons for it, but I’m actually uncertain whether I can say what those reasons are. It might have to do with future stuff.”
Peacemaker Season 1 is available for streaming on HBO Max.