(which would explain his Justice Gang interview in the trailer for “Peacemaker” season 2). The problem is that it could draw some attention from the wrong people.

Making his first live-action appearance in “Superman” is Rick Flag Sr. (last seen in “Creature Commandos”), who is out for Peacemaker’s blood after he killed his son, Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), at the end of “The Suicide Squad.” It has already been confirmed that the two will face off against each other in season 2 of “Peacemaker,” but the details of how and when this will happen remain unknown. It’s also worth noting that, with such a public display of being very much alive, there’s a chance that Idris Elba’s Bloodsport could come back to finish the job he thought he’d done the last time he and Peacemaker were forced to work together. Smith might well have a face for television, but we can only hope he manages to keep it intact when “Peacemaker” season 2 returns to screens on August 21, 2025.

Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord

In what is perhaps the briefest drive-by out of all the cameos in “Superman,” we see a character that casual viewers might miss entirely but some fans have already met in another iteration. After Clark completes his mission of saving Metropolis and ensuring the world doesn’t get ripped a new one, it’s also made public thanks to the staff at the Daily Planet that the conflict between Boravia and Jahranpur was orchestrated by Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), leading to one competing billionaire to chime in on the revelation.

Appearing in his brother’s big DC outing with Superman, Sean Gunn stars as longtime DC ally-turned-adversary, Maxwell Lord, last seen played by Pedro Pascal in “Wonder Woman 1984.” Gunn’s appearance as the character is fleeting, as he appears briefly on a newscast while getting into a car, but it’s another small building block helping to fortify the world his filmmaking brother is establishing. What it doesn’t highlight too well is that the Justice Gang is, in fact, funded by Lord, just as in the comics. The difference in the comics is that the team is called Justice League International, and eventually, Lord gains powers of his own, putting him onto the path of villainy and even leading him to kill the original Blue Beetle, Ted Kord.

Given his crucial part in the DCU and the fact that his team seemingly gains Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) in the finale of the film, we can only hope that Gunn’s Lord gets a bigger part to play in the future.

Milly Alcock as Supergirl

Perhaps the biggest “Superman” cameo is its last, thanks to the arrival of Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, played this time around by Milly Alcock. She’s only on screen for a few minutes in the film’s closing moments, but manages to make a perfect impression for the kind of Woman of Tomorrow we’re set to meet in her own solo film arriving next year, which will also star Jason Momoa as Lobo.

Stumbling into the Fortress of Solitude like a college girl the morning after a heavy night out, it’s clear that she’s more of a wild card than her cousin, Kal. She can also take a hit just as hard as Superman, after she’s pounced on by Krypto, who playfully tackles her to the ground in a fashion that us mere mortals wouldn’t survive before she takes the dog off his hands.

Kara’s arrival does spark some interesting topics of concern following the fallout of “Superman.” Firstly, if it was originally planned that Kal-El was set to rule Earth, what was it that led Kara to follow in her cousin’s new footsteps and go against the family plan? In the comics, she’s actually sent to protect her then-baby cousin, but a delay sparks a role reversal and Superman grows up ahead of his formerly older relative. Where does that leave her now in James Gunn’s DCU? We can only wait and see if these family matters are addressed when “Supergirl” arrives in theaters on June 26, 2026.

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