Movies

All 5 Cameos in Superman, Ranked by Importance to the DCU’s Future

From Milly Alcock’s Supergirl to Sean Gunn’s Maxwell Lord, here’s every character who had a cameo in Superman, ranked by how likely they are to contribute to the DCU going forward.

By Ben Hathaway

September 21, 2025, 1:30pm

image courtesy of Warner Bros.

The DCU is now in full swing. We have Creature Commandos Season 1, Superman, and Peacemaker Season 2. What’s up next for Chapter One: Gods and Monsters? 2026’s Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface as well as 2027’s recently announced Man of Tomorrow. There are also a few movies and TV series with no set release date. And, when it comes to Superman, quite a few big names have been set up for future DCU appearances. However, we’re relegating things here to cameos, of which the DCU’s big screen debut has quite a few. That means no one who has more of a supporting role than just a mere cameo, e.g. Anthony Carrigan’s Metamorpho, Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner, or Edi Gathegi’s stand-out character Mr. Terrific.

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We also left off vocal cameos, e.g. Pom Klementieff, Michael Rooker, and Alan Tudyk’s Superman Robots. That said, Rooker was in one episode of Creature Commandos and went on to appear in Peacemaker Season 2, albeit as a very different, eagle-hunting character. Tudyk also had a few roles in Creature Commandos, most notably Dr. Phosphorus and Clayface.

5) Jor-El & Lara

Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara’s (Angela Sarafyan) message to Superman is quite different in Gunn’s Superman from the message seen in the Christopher Reeve movies or Man of Steel. In those projects, Jor-El was a kind mentor. In Superman, they’re essentially telling their son to rule Earth with a harem.

And that appears to be the end of them in the DCU. They were an integral part of Superman’s character arc in his debut movie, so they have served their purpose.

4) Maxwell Lord

Like Frank Grillo, Sean Gunn has appeared in all three DCU entries so far. In Creature Commandos he voiced GI Robot, Weasel, and a Pokolistan Guard and, in both Superman and Peacemaker, he had cameos as Maxwell Lord. Thankfully, a far different version of Maxwell Lord than the one seen in Wonder Woman 1984 (all due respect to Pedro Pascal’s work).

It’s hard to say where Lord will go next. He’s the assembler of the Justice Gang, so it’s likely he’ll pop up next when they pop up next. As for Hawkgirl, next up is Man of Tomorrow while Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner will be in Lanterns. It seems fair to expect Lord in one or both of those projects.

3) Rick Flag, Sr.

Thus far, Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag, Sr. has proven to be the main connective tissue between the DCU’s big screen and small screen installments. He was the protagonist of Creature Commandos, has a very small role in Superman, and is hunting down Peacemaker, the man who killed his son, in Peacemaker Season 2.

In Superman, it’s revealed he has replaced Amanda Waller as the Director of A.R.G.U.S., he meets with the Department of Defense and Lex Luthor to discuss the danger posed by Superman, later arrests Superman, then debates the Secretary of Defense regarding metahumans playing a role in political affairs. So, admittedly, Flag hovers between a cameo and a supporting role. However, his role in Peacemaker Season 2 is much more important. The character is also rumored to appear in the show Waller, should that series enter production.

2) Peacemaker

James Gunn likes to work with the same people repeatedly, such as John Cena. Cena (who went uncredited in Superman) is not as of now scheduled to appear in a future DCU project outside Peacemaker Season 2, but it’s very hard to see the sophomore year of that show being the last we see of the character.

It was through Peacemaker that we learned Lex Luthor’s Earth-shattering multiverse plot still has crafted a ripple effect and it was through Peacemaker we entered a parallel dimension. We still have a few episodes to go before Peacemaker Season 2 wraps up, but he still has proved to be a character who can expand the universe. He will most likely continue to do so.

1) Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl

Supergirl (Milly Alcock) in Superman — image courtesy of warner bros.

Cena’s Peacemaker may have his own show, but Supergirl (an uncredited Milly Alcock) is getting her own movie. If there was a cameo that was unconfirmed prior to the film’s release, but was widely expected, it was Alcock’s, and she didn’t disappoint.

Her Supergirl is a party animal, far different from Helen Slater’s version in the 1984 movie or Sasha Calle’s stoic take in The Flash. This is only the beginning for Supergirl, as Alcock is scheduled to appear in not only Supergirl next year, but Man of Tomorrow, as well.