James Gunn’s DCU Just Did What The MCU Took 12 Years To Finally Accomplish

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Just under a year since its launch, James Gunn’s DC Universe has reached a level of success that took Marvel Studios twelve years to achieve. The upcoming Superman movie, set to release in July, is already predicted to be the highest-grossing comic book film of 2025. Meanwhile, Marvel has struggled with three films this year, including Thunderbolts, which is planned as a direct spin-off for Disney+.

Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 6 marked a significant moment for the new DC Universe, as DC Studios began mirroring Marvel’s approach to interconnected storytelling. The episode featured the debut of Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, currently incarcerated at Belle Reve prison, where he shared scenes with Frank Grillo, reprising his role as Rick Flag Sr. – a key character in the developing DCU.

This scene offered a new look at Lex Luthor following the events of Superman. Importantly, it marked the first time a major villain from the DC movie universe had appeared in a live-action DC television show.

It’s impressive when you consider it took Marvel Studios 12 years to achieve a similar feat. The Marvel Cinematic Universe first did this with the introduction of Baron Zemo in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, after Daniel Brühl originally played the villain in Captain America: Civil War.

The first three projects in the new DC Universe – Creature Commandos, Superman, and Season 2 of Peacemaker – have been well-connected, featuring several shared characters. Rick Flag Sr. has been the most noticeable recurring character so far.

Fans excited about a shared DC universe will likely see this as good news, but Lex Luthor’s return could create problems for the franchise down the line.

Marvel Studios’ Failed Disney+ Strategy

Following the disappointing box office results of Thunderbolts, Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, acknowledged that requiring audiences to watch the Disney+ series likely contributed to its poor performance, and also impacted the box office failure of The Marvels in 2023.

With The Marvels, the pattern is evident: both Ms. Marvel, played by Iman Vellani, and Monica Rambeau, played by Teyonah Parris, first appeared in Disney+ shows before struggling to make a strong impact when featured in a big-screen movie.

There are several reasons why The Marvels has become the lowest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Marvel Studios believes audience response to how the series has been building towards the movies is a key factor.

While Thunderbolts primarily introduces its team in the movie, John Walker (played by Wyatt Russell) was first seen in the Disney+ series. It’s also true that to fully understand the backstories of characters like Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), fans had to watch shows like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Hawkeye beforehand.

It’s possible that Captain America: Brave New World didn’t do well in theaters, in part because Sam Wilson’s journey to becoming Captain America was shown on Disney+ first.

Things have become challenging for Marvel, leading them to adjust how they make movies and TV shows. They’re now structuring things more like they did before Disney+, back in the 2010s, with more separation between the film and TV teams.

As a huge movie fan, it’s a little disheartening to see DC Studios seemingly repeating mistakes Marvel made before big events like Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. Marvel stumbled a bit, and now, even though those films are supposed to be a fresh start for the MCU, DC seems to be heading down the same path.

Did DC Learn the Wrong Lessons from Marvel?

Even though it’s designed for mature viewers, Peacemaker Season 2 is a significant part of the developing DC Universe.

The new season of the show started by linking back to the world of Superman with guest appearances from Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced). However, the sixth episode really expanded on those connections and raised the stakes.

I was so excited to see Lex Luthor show up in Season 2 of Peacemaker! It really feels like DCU’s TV shows aren’t just side stories anymore – they’re actually building things for the big screen. Seeing him negotiate with Flag Sr. on the show wasn’t just a fun moment, it definitely felt like they’re laying the groundwork for what he’ll do in a future movie. It’s great to see the universe connecting like this!

The upcoming film, Man of Tomorrow, which continues the story of Superman, will feature Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and David Corenswet as Superman. DC has confirmed that these two characters will join forces to face a bigger danger.

Though Lex Luthor first appeared in Superman stories, many fans see Season 2 of Peacemaker as essential viewing to understand the upcoming Man of Tomorrow project – it’s become known as ‘homework’ among casual Marvel Cinematic Universe viewers.

If Lex keeps his word and helps Flag Sr. locate Peacemaker (John Cena), the villain will probably be moved to a new prison – the same one viewers will see at the beginning of the Man of Tomorrow story.

Most people probably won’t consider this, but Lex Luthor’s situation and whereabouts will be different between the first Superman movie and the next one. Even more significantly, his connection with Flag Senior will likely have grown, potentially becoming a key element in the Man of Tomorrow story, which suggests Lex gets out of prison.

Lex’s first TV appearance might not seem important on its own, but it shows Warner Bros.’ bigger plan to use TV shows to build towards future movies, similar to what Marvel has done.

This is only a small preview of what’s to come, but the real test will be the series Lanterns. This new show from DC Studios and HBO will introduce Aaron Pierre as John Stewart and Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan. The confirmed appearance of Guy Gardner suggests that we can expect frequent crossovers between different DC stories in the new DC Universe.

If John Stewart shows up in the upcoming movie Man of Tomorrow, as hinted by Pierre, it would signal a complete shift to a streaming-focused approach for the DC Universe, especially after Marvel acknowledged some problems with their own strategy.

By starting this approach before Marvel, DC Studios might get audiences used to seeing characters appear in different movies and TV shows. It’s especially important to reassure viewers who aren’t deeply familiar with everything that they won’t be lost or miss out on important details if they haven’t seen every DC project.

James Gunn has stated he wants viewers to be able to enjoy DC Universe projects individually, without needing to have seen everything else. It will be interesting to see how future DC projects connect to each other, keeping that in mind.

Following a solid $615.6 million global earnings for Superman, Supergirl in 2026 will be the next film to gauge audience interest in James Gunn’s developing cinematic universe.

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2025-11-08 11:36