Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor has returned in his first project since Superman. Hoult debuted Luthor in the 2025 superhero film, which also acted as the first live-action instalment in DC Studios' new DCU. The superhero cinematic universe is expanding quickly, and the next chapter in the DCU is currently airing on HBO Max with Season 2 of Peacemaker.
Peacemaker is one of the few projects that has been carried over from the old DCEU into the new one, and as such, it is now a canon installment in the new DCU. James Gunn has even described the show as a "direct sequel" to Superman, as so many of the events and characters from the 2025 film impact Peacemaker. This was especially true in Episode 6 of Season 2 of Peacemaker, where Hoult's Lex Luthor appeared in a surprise cameo.
Luthor appears as an inmate at Belle Reve prison, where he was placed after he was convicted of his crimes in Superman. The new Head of ARGUS, Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), visits Luthor in prison and asks him to assist him in finding Peacemaker's pocket dimension closet. Luthor had been using similar interdimensional portal technology in Superman; thus, Flag knows he is one of the few men who can help him with this subject.
After some debate, Luthor agrees to help Flag by providing him with a sensor that will allow him to locate the quantum portal. In exchange, Flag promises to transfer Luthor from Belle Reve to a prison that doesn't hold any metahumans (Luthor's most-hated faction in the DCU).
This scene in Peacemaker establishes Season 2 even further as a continuation of Superman, as Luthor's scene happens in the timeline directly after the events of Gunn's 2025 film. The last audience saw of Luthor in Superman, his portal to the pocket universe had become unstable, causing a rift to split open Metropolis. After Superman and the Justice Gang saved the city, Luthor's crimes, including the fact that he was in league with Boravia to invade Jarhanpur, were exposed to the public and he was left defeated and a convicted criminal, bound for Belle Reve.
James Gunn created and wrote Peacemaker, which stars John Cena as the helmet-wearing hero first introduced in The Suicide Squad. Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, and Freddie Stroma also star in the new season, which began streaming on HBO Max on August 21, 2025.
How Peacemaker Season 2 Sets Up Superman 2
While Hoult only has a small role as Lex Luthor in Peacemaker Season 2, he has a much larger role in the upcoming Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow. Gunn has confirmed that the second Superman film will be just as much Luthor's movie as the Man of Steel's and that this season of Peacemaker is essentially a "prequel" to that upcoming DCU film.
This new scene in Peacemaker Season 2 hints at Luthor's situation since the events of Superman and sets things up for where he may go in Man of Tomorrow. Audiences may not find Luthor in Belle Reve for his next appearance, as Flag Sr. promised to transfer him to Van Kull Maximum Security Prison instead.
The young billionaire mastermind is still serving out a 265-year sentence, so it's unlikely he'll be freed from bars between this and Man of Tomorrow. However, the Superman sequel will be a movie about "Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together," suggesting that David Corenswet's hero may have to reluctantly free his enemy from prison to stop a new threat.
This seeding of information between Superman, Peacemaker, and Man of Tomorrow adds to the coherent continuity of the new DCU. DC Studios' next big release will be 2026's Supergirl, which may also lay further foundations for the Superman sequel.
