James Gunn explains how Marvel helped with Peacemaker finale cameos

Peacemaker season one finale spoilers follow.

Peacemaker showrunner James Gunn has revealed how he pulled off those massive Worlds of DC cameos in the season one finale with the help of Marvel Studios.

The filmmaker had promised that fans would be shocked by the special cameos he'd lined up for the Suicide Squad spin-off and he certainly delivered with 'It's Cow or Never' on Thursday (February 17).

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After Peacemaker and his ragtag crew managed to survive their final battle with the Butterflies, some surprise guests showed up on the battlefield – the Justice League!

Warner Bros.

While Superman and Wonder Woman were only shown in silhouette, Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller briefly appear on-screen to argue with Peacemaker over whether Aquaman does, in fact, have sex with fish. (Apparently, he doesn't.)

Gunn actually enlisted the help of Marvel Studios to film Ezra Miller's footage on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3 because he was so pressed for time.

Chatting about the massive moment with Variety, Gunn joked that the Justice League weren't actually part of the battle against the Butterflies because he "didn't have the budget for them to show up on time".

"I didn't have a conversation. I just wrote it and gave them the scripts," the filmmaker revealed. "I don't think they really realized what they had agreed to until they saw what I had shot, which was the Justice League there.

Warner Bros.

"And then I think the full weight of it and, you know, what does this mean for the DCU and all of that became huge pieces of conversation up to the very highest levels of Warners. And to their credit, they let me get away with it."

Gunn acknowledged that DC wouldn't allow Batman or Cyborg to appear with the Justice League, adding: "There are reasons for it, but I'm actually uncertain whether I can say what those reasons are. It might have to do with future stuff."

The cameos were coming down the wire, so much so that Ezra Miller shot his brief scene as The Flash while production was ongoing for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3.

Warner Bros.

"I think before we ever shot the show, we talked to Jason about it," he added. "We were like, 'Listen, [Peacemaker] says you f**k fish all the time.' And we were a little afraid he would be upset, but he just laughed. He was cool. So he was pretty much on board from the beginning.

"And, then Ezra, I just found out through some common friends liked my movies a lot. And so I asked if he would come in and shoot this scene, and he kindly agreed to do that. Actually, Marvel shot [Ezra] for us, while we’re shooting Guardians vol 3."

He then revealed: "Marvel owed DC, because the Peacemaker crew shot my screen test for Chukwudi for Guardians vol 3. And then we got Ezra with the Guardians vol 3 crew.

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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.