One of the big questions bouncing around on the internet (and in the real world, I guess) since James Gunn took over DC Studios is: what is and is not canon? Mucking things up a bit is that Gunn wrote and directed The Suicide Squad, which was itself a halfway point between being canon to 2016’s Suicide Squad, as well as the DCEU (DC Extended Cinematic Universe), as well as the spinoff from that, Peacemaker Season 1. While we got reshot footage to firmly stick Peacemaker Season 2 into the new DCU, along with last month’s theatrical feature Superman, what about the rest of it? Well, thanks to Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 2, we know that The Suicide Squad — or at least a certain scene from it — is canon, as well.
Spoilers for Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 2, “A Man Is Only As Good As His Bird,” past this point.
The episode begins eight months earlier, after the events of Peacemaker Season 1 — and, though it’s not stated, Creature Commandos — with Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) getting removed as head of ARGUS and replaced by Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo), who is sworn in. That leads directly to Flag’s status in Superman, but back to the flashback.
As John Economos (Steve Agee) walks Flag to his office on his first day, his first order as the new acting director of ARGUS is that he wants “to see a full report on my son’s death.” That’s a direct reference to Peacemaker (John Cena) killing Rick Flag, Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) in The Suicide Squad, but it doesn’t stop there.
“Rick Flag, Jr., was killed in Corto Maltese,” Flag Sr. continues. “I tried to get the files immediately after it occurred, but… They said it was classified. As acting director of ARGUS, I’d like to take a look at them now.”
Despite some waffling from Economos, who knows Peacemaker was acting under the orders of Waller and regrets his actions, Flag Sr. does get the files. Looking through them, we see Kinnaman’s character headshot from The Suicide Squad promotional campaign… And then, shocker of shocker, actual footage from The Suicide Squad as Flag Sr. reads through the files.
And in fact, we get to see flashes of the fight between Peacemaker and Flag Jr., all the way through Peacemaker stabbing Flag in the heart, and Flag’s final line: “Peacemaker… What a joke.”
The motivation for showing the scenes is to, well, motivate Flag Sr. He immediately thumps his desk and then tells Sacha Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez) to put a “surveillance unit on Christopher Smith,” the civilian name of Peacemaker, despite him being under the grace of ARGUS after the events of Peacemaker Season 1.
“F**k the Peacemaker,” Flag Sr. says, launching us directly into the opening credits.
Again, none of this is too surprising, and it doesn’t confirm any of the events of The Suicide Squad other than the scene of Peacemaker killing Flag. Maybe Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) is still alive, or Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) doesn’t exist in the DCU yet. Far more likely, anything that doesn’t explicitly contradict DCU canon — which is to say, pretty much everything in The Suicide Squad — is indeed part of the DCU, particularly since they’re all James Gunn’s babies.
As long as Jared Leto being The Joker isn’t canon to the DCU? We’re all good here.
Peacemaker Season 2 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
Peacemaker season 2 premiered on HBO Max on Thursday, August 21. The season will be eight episodes long, with one episode premiering per week.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Peacemaker Season 2, with premiere dates:
- Thursday, August 21, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 1
- Thursday, August 28, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 2
- Thursday, September 4, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 3
- Thursday, September 11, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 4
- Thursday, September 18, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 5
- Thursday, September 25, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 6
- Thursday, October 2, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 7
- Thursday, October 9, 2025: Peacemaker, Season 2, Episode 8 *Season Finale*
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