James Gunn has revealed a new image from Peacemaker Season 2, seemingly teasing a character from DC Comics joining the cast. Peacemaker Season 2 is currently filming and is set to debut on Max in 2025, the same year that Gunn’s Superman reboot will officially kick off the new DCU proper. In addition to Peacemaker, the series already has featured fellow DC characters like Vigilante and Judomaster, with Season 2 bringing in A.R.G.U.S. agent Sasha Bordeaux and Rick Flag Sr. from Creature Commandos. Now, another DC character can be added to that list…but who exactly is still unclear.
Gunn took to the social media site X to share a new photo from Peacemaker Season 2 of a mysterious character. The photo shows someone at a campfire in the evening with the figure’s back facing the camera. The caption of the photo reads, “Who might this be? #Peacemaker”. The character seemingly also has braided hair and is wearing what appears to be a Native-American inspired outfit.
Fan speculation immediately went to the character of Apache Chief, a Native American superhero from the Superfriends animated series. The character has the ability to increase his size, similar to Ant-Man in the MCU. Due to the somewhat dated racial caricature of the character, DC has reimagined him as Long Shadow on Justice League Unlimited and Tye Longshadow on Young Justice. Both characters are inspired by Apache Chief, as they both can increase their size. Long Shadow in Justice League Unlimited is a genetically engineered superhero, while Tye Longshadow keeps the character’s Native American roots but is a teenager.
Who Else Could the Mysterious Character Be?
A version of Apache Chief/Long Shadow certainly seems like a pick Gunn would make, given he was a kid when Super Friends was airing, and him putting prominent roles for John Stewart’s Green Lantern and Hawkgirl in the DCU suggests he could be pulling from the DC Animated Universe like Justice League Unlimited to help inform his Justice League roster. Long Shadow would be a fun addition to the Peacemaker cast and could make for some fun new dynamics. Yet there are a few other DC characters that it could be.
One fan theory that has popped up is it could be the DC hero Warlord. Created by Mike Grell and debuting in 1st Issue Special #8 from 1975, Warlord’s real name is Travis Morgan, a U.S. Air Force pilot who accidentally lands in an underground world known as Skaratis and becomes a freedom fighter for their people. He is a sword and sorcery character and relatively obscure, the exact type of character Gunn likes to adapt. If Warlord returned to Earth after his trips in Skaratis, it would make for some culture shock comedy and also provide a new piece of lore to introduce to Gunn’s DCU, which by the name “Gods and Monsters” seems to imply an exploration into something ancient and otherworldly.
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Going solely off the character’s white hair, this could also be Resurrection Man. Created by Andy Lanning, Dan Abnett, and Jackson Guice and first appeared in Resurrection Man #1 in 1997, the character is not a traditional superhero. As his name implies, every time Mitchell “Mitch” Shelley dies, he comes back to life and gains a new power while a previously held power fades away. Ressurection Man’s creators are famously the duo that revived the Guardians of the Galaxy in 2008 and served as the inspiration for James Gunn’s MCU trilogy. Being created by two of the minds behind Gunn’s most successful franchise and the cult status of Resurrection Man and his unique powerset makes him a prime candidate. Any one of these three characters would be an exciting addition to the DCU, which is filling up quickly with new characters.
