Spider-Man Is Officially Canon In The DC Universe

The DC Universe is still a fledgling superhero franchise, but James Gunn’s latest directorial effort officially establishes the beloved Marvel hero Spider-Man as canon. After Superman launched the DCU to blockbuster success this summer, the franchise has continued to expand with the release of Peacemaker season 2, which sees the titular masked vigilante Christopher Smith (John Cena) exploring an alternate dimension.

In Peacemaker season 2, episode 6, Chris’s friends follow him into the alternate dimension after he abandoned his life to live as his doppelgänger (whom he accidentally killed in an earlier episode). Once the rest of the group arrive in the dimension, though, they immediately split up, with Adrian Chase aka Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) seeking out his own doppelgänger. Though Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) warns him things could go wrong with his alternate self, it turns out to be fine.

Vigilante meeting his alternate dimension self gives Gunn, who wrote and directed the episode, a chance to reference a well-known meme — and make Spider-Man canon as a result.

The DC Universe’s Spider-Man Reference Explained

The scene in which Vigilante meets his alternate universe self is delightful thanks to a double dose of Stroma’s animated and endearing performance as the masked sociopath. It’s also the perfect opportunity for Gunn to include a reference to the Spider-Man pointing meme, which he does to great effect, with two nearly identical versions of Vigilante standing and pointing at each other saying, “We Spider-Man meme’d.”

Of course, this line in Peacemaker confirms that Spider-Man — and likely many more Marvel Comics characters — exist within the DC Universe, even if they’re only fictional superheroes. Further, it establishes that Spider-Man is a popular enough character for the meme to exist, though we don’t know its exact origins in this particular universe, which is different from the main DCU.

In the real world, the Spider-Man pointing meme comes from season 1, episode 19 of the 1967 Spider-Man animated series, titled “Double Identity.” In the episode, a robber named Charles Cameo dresses up as Spider-Man to steal art, but is confronted by the real webslinger and the identically dressed men point at each other.

Three Spider-Man Characters Pointing At Each Other In Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse

Over the last 10 years, the Spider-Man pointing meme has become popular on social media, and has been referenced in official Marvel media, including both Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Universe. Live-action Peter Parker actors Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire also recreated the meme in a photoshoot promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home.

In terms of what the Spider-Man meme means for the DC Universe, it would presumably eliminate the possibility of a DCU and MCU crossover down the line. But then, nothing’s ever truly impossible in the world of superheroes, especially thanks to the multiverse and alternate dimensions. Viewers will just have to wait and see if Marvel and DC can ever pull off the ultimate comic book movie crossover.

Until then, Peacemaker‘s Spider-Man meme reference is likely just a fun confirmation that the webhead exists as a fictional character in the DC Universe.