If you’re looking to dig into a deep cut Easter egg in Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 6, “Ignorance Is Chris,” look no further than Van Kull Prison. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference happens later in the episode when — spoilers past this point — Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) reveals to Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez) that none other than Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is being transferred there. But what is Van Kull in DC Comics? And who can we expect Lex to bump into, if anyone?
There’s not a lot to know, in the interest of full disclosure, but let’s get into it.
What Is Van Kull In Peacemaker?
Trying to find out where Peacemaker’s (John Cena) portal to another dimension is being hidden, Flag tracks down an expert in dimensional portals: Lex Luthor, who nearly destroyed Metropolis using them in Superman. As James Gunn explained on the official Peacemaker podcast for the episode, it’s “an important moment not just for Peacemaker, but the entire DCU,” and he further clarified that Flag agrees to “move him from a prison with metahumans to a prison with no metahumans, from Belle Reve to Van Kull, both prisons from the comics.”
So has Van Kull been mentioned or seen before in the DCU? Well… No. But it has been seen on screen before, in another DC Comics-based universe: the Arrowverse on The CW.
Specifically, Van Kull Maximum Security Prison was seen on four episodes of The CW’s Supergirl, starting with the Season 1 episode “Childish Things” — back when the show aired on CBS — through Season 2’s episode titled, interestingly, “Luthors.”
On Supergirl, a number of name DC characters were held there, including Silver Banshee, Livewire, Toyman, Agent Liberty, Metallo, Bloodsport, and Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath). The prison was located in (or on the outskirts of) National City, and it was… A prison. Nothing too special about it.
What Is Van Kull Prison In DC Comics?
Van Kull Maximum Security Prison is a relatively new addition to the DC Comics universe: it first appeared in 2002’s The Power Company: Bork #1 one-shot, written by Kurt Busiek with art by Kieron Dwyer. Since then, it’s only appeared twice more, in Justice League of America #32 and #33, both from 2014.
The major difference between the DC Comics Van Kull and the Arrowverse one is that in the books, it’s in Metropolis, not National City, which is a more likely location for it in Peacemaker, as well. As for famous comic book inmates of Van Kull who might bump into Lex? Well, there’s Carl Bork, of course, who is a guy who becomes a super-strong monster and fights Batman and The Flash. So the answer is “none, really.”
However, an intriguing bit does happen at the end of Justice League of America #33: Lex Luthor is inducted into the Justice League. That would be a crazy deep cut reference and a weird string of ideas to throw into the show — i.e., mentioning Van Kull because it’s leading to Lex joining the Justice Gang — but depending on how Peacemaker Season 2 ends, given our title character started losing out on an audition for the Justice Gang? Lex Luthor getting his spot instead would be one last final kick in the nuts.
Regardless, when it comes to the DCU, there’s not much we can glean from the comics about Van Kull… At this point, we know it’s not a metahuman prison, so really, it’s a blank slate.
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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