Peacemaker may be a relatively grounded show when compared to other DC projects (you know, aside from the alien swarm that's taking over people's brains), but its place in Warner Bros.' superhero franchise seems to be more prominent than many initially expected.
James Gunn recently revealed that a Peacemaker character would appear in a future DC film, and following last week's premiere of the show's fourth episode, "The Choad Less Traveled," eagle-eyed fans have discovered yet another tie to the larger DC Universe: A reference to Black Adam, and a possible tease for the antihero's solo movie starring Dwayne Johnson.
In Episode 4, Vigilante is manipulated by Adebayo into killing Peacemaker's father, who's incarcerated. Vigilante goes to an area where police officers are having lunch and throws a trash container at the prison window. As fans on Reddit and Twitter pointed out, one of the officers there is reading a newspaper that features this headline: "Intergang seizes control in nation of Kahndaq."
For those unfamiliar with Black Adam's history, Kahndaq is the fictional country that he rules over (and is willing to kill for). As for Intergang, that's a villainous group created by Jack Kirby, which made its debut in the pages of "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen" #133, from 1970. Intergang's history is a little convoluted, but its first iteration was overseen by Morgan Edge (who was actually a clone of the villain, but that's a story for another time), who tasked the group with finding the Anti-Life Equation for Darkseid.
Intergang has continued to play a part in the DC Universe throughout the years, appearing in the Post-Crisis era and The New 52.
What's worth noting about this blink-and-you'll-miss-it Easter egg is that there may more to it than just being a throwaway reference. In 2021, Sarah Shahi, who's playing Isis in 2022's Black Adam, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that Intergang would be featured in the upcoming film:
"I play a character named Adrianna, and she's a freedom fighter that's leading this big resistance against an evil, malicious group called Intergang."
It's looking like Peacemaker could have teased a bit of the story we're going to get in Black Adam. Having said that, it's important to keep our excitement over the show and film seemingly connecting this way in check, as the newspaper headline could end up being just a fun nod.
Peacemaker is currently available to stream on HBO Max. Black Adam is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 29, 2022.