James Gunn Just Killed Snyder’s Justice League (For Real) In Peacemaker Season 2

The moment Snyder’s Justice League actually died

This caught my attention because Peacemaker’s season 1 finale cameo was one of the rare DCEU moments that felt loose, self-aware, and genuinely fun-a wink that said DC could stop brooding and crack a smile. Now James Gunn has officially scrubbed that scene from canon. In Peacemaker season 2, the Justice League no longer answers the call; the new DCU’s Justice Gang does. That’s not a cosmetic tweak; it’s a stake in the ground that says “the Snyder era is over,” and the DC Universe you’ll be watching (and eventually playing in) is being rebuilt from the studs.

• Key takeaway: Peacemaker S1 remains “valid,” except the Justice League cameo (and Bat-Mite nod) are no longer canon.
• The replacement team is the Justice Gang-Guy Gardner (Green Lantern), Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl), and Michael Holt (Mister Terrific)-first seen in Gunn’s Superman.
• Gunn admits he wanted to “Lucas-ize” S1, but says the budget’s better spent elsewhere (like Supergirl’s VFX).
• Season 2 fully plugs into the unified DCU alongside Superman and Creature Commandos.

Breaking down the retcon

Let’s translate the studio-speak. Gunn says, “Everything is the same as season one — except for the Justice League and Bat-Mite.” He even joked he’d like to “Lucas-ize” the first season—read: edit it after the fact—but chose not to spend cash on a digital do-over. Instead, he’s retelling the continuity: the events stand, the faces change. The Justice Gang formed before any Justice League in this timeline, and when Peacemaker hits that finale beat, it’s no longer Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash stepping out of the shadows. In the official story, they never did.

This is a clean way to keep the character work fans liked while cutting the Snyderverse umbilical cord. And yes, the original cameo remains viewable on HBO Max, but “viewable” isn’t “canon.” If you lived through Star Wars’ Legends purge, you already know this playbook: the scene exists as a curiosity, not as continuity.

Why this matters now (beyond the film nerd drama)

From a fan perspective, canon isn’t just trivia—it’s how you decide where to invest your time. DC has burned us with half-reboots before. The difference here is intent and timing. Gunn is anchoring everything to a common spine—Superman and Creature Commandos—and pulling Peacemaker into that orbit early. He’s also dropping fresh tech and lore, like the QUC (Quantum Unfolding Chamber), a dimensional device that screams “we’re building a sandbox for future crossovers.” That’s not a coincidence; it’s infrastructure.

For gamers, this signals where tie-ins are likely to point. WB has struggled to align games and screen universes—Rocksteady’s Arkhamverse was its own thing, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League tried to pivot and face-planted with fans, and DC mobile titles are a continuity soup. A unified DCU makes it easier for a future game to say, “Yes, this is the Superman, this is the Hawkgirl, this is the Mister Terrific,” without caveats. Think how Marvel’s Spider-Man built its own clean canon and thrived; clarity sells.

Gunn’s bluntness is refreshing—and risky

Gunn’s take is very on-brand: “Normal people don’t care about all this canon stuff so intimately. They just think: ‘Oh, cool, Peacemaker and Superman team up!’” He’s not wrong about the general audience. But the DC faithful do care, because they’ve seen roads that go nowhere. Swapping out the Snyder-era cameos while leaving the episode intact is a tidy fix on paper, but it also creates an odd museum effect—fans will keep stumbling on the old scene and asking which version “counts.”

Still, putting budget into new shows and films instead of retroactive VFX edits is the correct call. If the choice is cleaning up a 2022 gag or making Supergirl’s action sing, pick the thing people will actually show up for. The real test will be whether Peacemaker S2 feels organically DCU, not patched. If Superman and the Justice Gang slide in naturally, great. If it smells like homework—“meet your new faves, kids!”—expect pushback.

The gamer’s perspective: resets can work—if the content does

We’ve seen this pattern across games. Mortal Kombat has rebooted its timeline multiple times and stayed vibrant because each reset delivered awesome characters and sick mechanics. Destiny vaulted content and got roasted because the replacement flow was uneven. DC’s reset will be judged the same way: not by what’s erased, but by what replaces it. If the Justice Gang becomes a squad you actually want to follow—imagine a character-driven action game that lets you bounce between Guy Gardner’s recklessness and Mister Terrific’s gadgetry—I guarantee most fans won’t miss a two-minute cameo.

Bottom line: this is the first practical, on-screen proof that the Snyderverse isn’t just winding down; it’s gone from the official map. Peacemaker season 2 is the bridge, Superman is the destination. Gunn finally has the continuity broom he’s been waving around, and he’s not afraid to use it.

TL;DR

Peacemaker S2 retcons the season 1 Justice League cameo and swaps in the DCU’s Justice Gang, formally ending Snyder’s footprint in this corner of the universe. It’s a savvy, budget-conscious reset that will only stick if the new characters and stories hit harder than the nostalgia they’re replacing.