The following article contains spoilers for Peacemaker.
If there's one thing James Gunn loves to do in his movies and shows, it's subverting audiences' expectations. Well, that and get really weird with really obscure characters that approximately 7% of viewers realize are from the actual comics. Funnily enough, one particular moment in the last episode of Peacemaker season 1 featured some surprisingly not-obscure characters, which is certainly one way to subvert expectations. Way to keep things on-brand in the most on-brand way, Gunn.
After a season of John Cena's titular wannabe-hero trashing the iconic members of the Justice League at every turn, many viewers likely expected at least the brief silhouetted shot of them seen at the end of the season as a little joke. What many likely didn't expect was a full-on cameo from 2 of the actual Justice League actors, pulling off what is probably one of the funniest moments in the entire series. To his credit, it looks like not even Gunn himself expected it at first either.
In an interview with Variety, Gunn discussed how he managed to get both Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller to reprise their roles as Aquaman and The Flash, respectively, for a surprise scene at the end of Peacemaker episode 8. "Um, you know, I didn't have a conversation," Gunn said when asked how he negotiated the cameo with DC. "I just wrote it and gave them the scripts. I don't think they really realized what they had agreed to until they saw what I had shot, which was the Justice League there. And then I think the full weight of it and, you know, what does this mean for the DCU and all of that became huge pieces of conversation up to the very highest levels of Warners. And to their credit, they let me get away with it."
Just writing it up and going with it certainly tracks with Gunn's usual modus operandi. But it also turns out that the original plan was just for Momoa to cameo. Miller just joined up because he wanted to. "I think before we ever shot the show, we talked to Jason about it," Gunn continued. "We were like, "Listen, [Peacemaker] says you f*** fish all the time." And we were a little afraid he would be upset, but he just laughed. He was cool. So he was pretty much on board from the beginning. And then Ezra I just found out through some common friends liked my movies a lot. And so I asked if he would come in and shoot this scene, and he kindly agreed to do that. Actually, Marvel shot [Ezra] for us, while we’re shooting [Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3]." This was actually more than he expected, as he really didn't have super ambitious hopes for the scene. "I really thought it was going to be just Jason," Gunn continued, when asked whether he'd planned on including other Justice League actors like Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot. "And Ezra was more like the extra thing because I found that he was interested in doing it."
Think about that for a second. Gunn basically got Marvel and DC to cooperate on something, and all it took was a cameo that addressed Peacemaker's own rumor about Aquaman getting freaky with sea creatures. The thing is, this wasn't just a one-off. It turns out he'd already done something like this, just the other way around. "Marvel owed DC," Gunn continued, "because the Peacemaker crew shot my screen test for Chukwudi [Iwuji] for Guardians Vol. 3. And then we got Ezra with the Guardians Vol. 3 crew." Also, for those curious why Batman and Cyborg aren't present, Gunn had a sort-of-answer for that too, saying "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."
It's not the first time the DCEU version of a Justice League character made an appearance outside their wheelhouse, as seen when Miller did a surprise cameo as part of The CW's massive "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event. But having the team behind a Marvel Studios movie shoot footage for a DC show is certainly more than just an uncommon occurrence. Perhaps this could set a precedent for more ambitious and adventurous ideas in the future of both DC and Marvel.
Peacemaker is currently available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: Variety
