DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has already confirmed that Earth-X won't factor into Man of Tomorrow; instead, it's Lex Luthor's deal with Rick Flag Sr. that will be key to his Superman follow-up.
As for Chris Smith and the 11th Street Kids, there are plans for them...just not necessarily in Peacemaker season 3.
"You’re gonna find out more in episode 8 because it’s not necessarily that," Gunn told Deadline. "Some of these characters will continue, but also, it’s not exactly Peacemaker 3. I’m not ruling it out. You’ll see [episode] 8 and maybe you’ll find out a little bit more."
With a Superman cameo off the table for the HBO Max series, the hope is that a major DCU superhero will appear in the Peacemaker season 2 finale. What could that be setting up? Well, we'll have to wait and see, especially as projects like Waller and The Authority have run into some issues since being announced at the start of 2023.
"There’s someone who is a really good creator who talked to me the other day," Gunn said of The Authority before being asked whether the movie could become a series. "Who knows. I’m probably not going to do certain movies with characters who [audiences] don’t know; it’s harder to get people in the theater for that kind of thing."
Who knows? It would be somewhat helpful for the co-CEO of the studio to have an idea, especially when The Authority was announced as a key part of the "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters slate." However, with "superhero fatigue" still a real issue, he's not wrong that it's probably not wise to give such obscure characters their own $200 million blockbuster. Marvel Studios learned that lesson the hard way with Eternals.
In a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gunn explained how being in an executive role means he now better relates to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige:
"It’s mostly in the day-to-day thoughtfulness of Kevin Feige and talking to him and seeing him sitting there, thinking. I often see myself doing the same thing with directors or writers. So I understand Kevin more [now], and I’ve learned a lot from him. I always liked Kevin. I never had problems with Kevin in terms of working with him. It was a really, really good partnership. The same with [Marvel Studios co-president] Lou [D’Esposito]. So it was a really good situation."
"I haven’t ever been like, 'Oh, I complained about this thing about Kevin, and now I see where it is with me.' If there’s one thing that I sometimes would complain about, it was the looseness of things. It was where they were going or where they were heading and how they were connected, or what they were doing with my characters and this or that. So I probably have a little bit more compassion for him in that respect because things shift and change all the time. It’s hard."
Keep checking back here for more updates on the DCU and Peacemaker as we have them.