James Gunn’s Superman is a redefinition of the DC Comics universe on the big screen, moving away from Zack Snyder’s portrayal of superheroes as godlike beings and favoring a more zany world where metahumans are commonplace. This includes the Justice Gang, a questionable superhero squad funded by billionaire Maxwell Lord. Their name is mentioned several times throughout the film, and the character (played by Gunn’s brother and frequent collaborator Sean Gunn) gets a cameo where he mocks rival billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).
Mister and the Justice gang also appear in the first trailer for Peacemaker Season 2, where John Cena’s antihero fails to introduce himself as a new member of the group. The character’s presence has major implications for the DCU that could extend beyond this show.
Maxwell Lord has appeared in DC Comics since 1987, when he was introduced playing much the same role as Superman : a businessman helping to found the Justice League. Given that the Justice League is headquartered in a building that resembles the classic Hall of Justice from the Super Friends cartoons of the 1970s and 80s, and the group’s name is repeatedly referred to as a work in progress, it’s likely they will eventually become DC’s most iconic superhero group.
But Lord’s motivations are far from philanthropic. In the comics, he wants the Justice League to be a force he can use to dominate the world with the help of an alien computer. Superman inspiring the Justice League to intervene in a war may play directly into Lord’s hands, making governments fear his power.
Running a superhero team is expensive. Batman is often portrayed as funding the Justice League, but Matt Reeves’ The Batman feels very much like it’s set in a different universe than Gunn’s Superman . Whether or not this version of Maxwell Lord has an alien computer, it’s likely that Gunn’s version of the character is also planning to use the Justice League for his own purposes. Hopefully, they’ll be able to make the most of their seed money before their dark motives are revealed in Peacemaker or a subsequent project.
In some comic book versions, Lord is a spymaster who works with or against the ruthless U.S. government, Amanda Waller. Sometimes, he’s a metahuman with the ability to manipulate people’s minds. It remains to be seen whether either of these qualities will factor into Gunn’s take on the character.
Where else has Maxwell Lord appeared?
Many places! A version of Mister played by Pedro Pascal was the main villain in Wonder Woman 1984, where the businessman granted wishes worldwide with the power of a stolen artifact known as The Dreamstone. A different version (played by Peter Facinelli of Twilight fame) appeared in the first season of the CW’s Supergirl , where he was responsible for creating a bizarre version of Superman’s cousin.
In season 9 of Smallville , Mister (played by Gil Bellows of Chucky and American Gods fame ) is one of the leaders of Amanda Waller’s intelligence agency. He plays a role more similar to his Superman counterpart in Justice League Unlimited (voiced by Tim Matheson of Jonny Quest and The West Wing fame ), where he manages a group of government-backed heroes inspired by characters from Super Friends . They are revealed to have been genetically engineered by Project Cadmus and implanted with false memories used to control them.
