The premiere episode of Peacemaker season 2 is finally here, and it's chock full of DC references, Easter eggs, cameos, and even some retcons that slightly rewrite the ending of the first season.
With so much to absorb, it's easy to miss some of the references and Easter eggs, especially as some of them are lurking in the background. Fortunately, we've gone over Peacemaker season 2 episode 1 with a fine-tooth comb, pulling out everything we could find.
Join us every week as Peacemaker season 2 rolls on as we lay out all the Easter eggs and cameos in each episode, starting right now with the season premiere, which doesn't hesitate to start adding in references right off the bat.
Episode 1: The Ties That Grind
Kite Man: As Peacemaker talks to a room full of students, he references defeating Kite Man, a semi-obscure Batman villain who uses kites as weapons. Viewers of Harley Quinn: The Animated Series know Kite-Man as an important supporting character in that show and as the star of his own spin-off cartoon Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, all of which exists in its own continuity that pre-dates and remains separate from the new DC Universe.
The Justice Gang: The opening of Peacemaker season 2, episode 1 pulls off a retcon of the finale of season 1, replacing the Justice League of Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Henry Cavill's Superman with Justice Gang members Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, David Corenswet's Superman, and Supergirl, though only Guy and Hawkgirl are shown in close-ups. The retcon also involves Peacemaker's jokes about Aquaman being replaced by jokes about Guy Gardner instead.
Top Trio/Terrific Trio: Peacemaker, his dad, and his brother are a team of mega-popular superheroes in an alternate universe, known as the Top Trio. There's no team called the Top Trio in DC lore, but there is a team known as the Terrific Trio who appeared in the future-set animated series Batman Beyond. Judging by the clippings about Gotham City which are later shown in the Top Trio's library, it's possible the Top Trio name takes some influence from the Terrific Trio.
White Rabbit: In comics, White Rabbit is a Gotham City-based villain who is part of the Wonderland Gang alongside such Alice In Wonderland inspired bad guys as the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and the Walrus and the Carpenter.
Krank Toys: Krank Toys, the abandoned storefront where Peacemaker's Justice Gang interview takes place, is another reference to a DC animated series, this time to the 2004 animated series The Batman. In The Batman, Krank Toys is owned by Cosmo Krank, AKA the Toymaker. While Toymaker isn't specifically from comics, he's partially based on the Superman villain the Toyman.
Maxwell Lord: Sean Gunn's Maxwell Lord provides some of Peacemaker's connective tissue to the wider DC Universe, having appeared briefly in Superman as the founder and bankroller of the Justice Gang. In comics, Lord is similarly positioned as the financial backer for the Justice League of the mid-'80s, though he is eventually revealed as a mind-controlling supervillain.
Guy Gardner's gold tooth: Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner has a single gold tooth, and while there's no specific information given about how he got it, it's reminiscent of an important part of his comic history. When Guy first joined the Justice League in comics, his arrogant, loudmouth attitude had him challenging Batman for leadership of the team. However, rather than a knock-down-drag-out fight, Batman fells Guy with a single punch, knocking him so hard he turns into a nice guy.
Rick Flag, Sr.: Frank Grillo's Rick Flag, Sr. is turning out to be an important character in the new DC Universe as the only character to appear in all three official DC Studios releases so far - Creature Commandos, Superman, and now Peacemaker season 2. As the father of the murdered Rick Flag, Jr., he's out for revenge against Peacemaker for taking his son's life.
Sasha Bordeaux: Sasha Bordeaux, played by Sol Rodriguez, is one of the premiere secret agents of a certain era of DC comic book history as one of the main agents of the international spy organization known as Checkmate. A cyborg with powers tied to Brother Eye, a spy satellite built by Batman, she joins Checkmate after its former leader, Maxwell Lord, is killed by Wonder Woman while using his hidden mind control powers to send Superman on a rampage.
Dimensional rift: The agents of ARGUS, in particular Rick Flag, Sr. are concerned about Peacemaker's secret extra-dimensional space causing a dimensional rift between realities that could tear the world apart. Their worry is not unfounded, as the climax of James Gunn's Superman revolves around a dimensional rift created by Lex Luthor that nearly destroys Metropolis.
Rainbow Creature: Another Batman reference, the newspaper clipping about the Top Trio defeating the Rainbow Creature that's seen in the team's library is all about Peacemaker and his family fighting one of the Caped Crusader's weirdest enemies. Dating all the way back to 1960, the Rainbow Creature was birthed from a South American volcano, with seven different powers each related to a different color of the rainbow.
Ultra-Humanite: The Ultra-Humanite is another super-villain defeated by the Top Trio. First introduced all the way back in 1939 as one of Superman's first arch-enemies, predating even Lex Luthor. Though he was originally a human scientist with a megalomaniacal streak, the Ultra-Humanite eventually transfers his mind to the body of a white gorilla. The power of transferring minds to new bodies is one of the character's hallmarks, with the alt-reality story JSA: The Golden Age revolving around the Ultra-Humanite placing the brain of Adolf Hitler in the body of a superhero as a plan for world domination.
Keith: Keith, played by David Denman, is the adult version of Peacemaker's dead brother, who Peacemaker accidentally killed as a child while their abusive father forced them to fist fight. Keith's presence as an adult and a superhero alongside his father and brother is one of the biggest signs that the new reality Peacemaker enters is a kinder, more noble place.
Blüdhaven: Peacemaker season 2 isn't shying away from Batman references, with Peacemaker's alt-reality family saying they thought he was in Blüdhaven, a city not far from Gotham with its own colorful criminal underworld. Nightwing has often operated in Blüdhaven while distancing himself from Batman.
Imps: While we don't get a glimpse of the imps mentioned by the Top Trio, this is the second reference to imps in the new DC Universe, with Superman featuring a scene of the Justice Gang fighting an extra-dimensional imp (shown as a huge energy cloud). In DC lore, there is in fact a race of extra-dimensional imps from the Fifth Dimension, most prominently the bizarrely powerful trickster Mister Mxyzptlk, a classic Superman enemy.
Peacemaker season 2 episode 1 is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes landing every week. While we wait for new episodes, check out our review of the first 5 episodes of Peacemaker season 2, and or guide to all the upcoming DC movies and shows.
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