It’s 2021, and James Gunn‘s first DC project, The Suicide Squad, has hit theatres, featuring John Cena as (the largely unknown) villain Peacemaker. Critically, the film marks a new high point for modern comic book movie adaptations, with Cena delivering a hilarious yet emotionally conflicted performance that stands out against a jam-packed ensemble of stars. Audiences are left wanting more, and just one year later, Peacemaker Season 1 successfully recaptures the magic of Gunn’s vulgar and colorful world on the small screen, with an added taste of hair metal.
The launch of Peacemaker on HBO Max was a rare success story, especially for the DC brand. The spin-off series acted more as a direct follow-up to The Suicide Squad, with its own self-contained plot, disregarding most of the ongoing DCEU events of the time. However, we are now in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU, and Peacemaker Season 2 canonically picks up one month after Superman (2025). The first season of the DC show ended with the tight-spandexed anti-hero defeating an invasion of mind-controlling alien butterflies, a slight stylistic deviation from Zack Snyder’s grandiose approach to the franchise.
With James Gunn acting as producer, director, and the sole writer on the second season, all is in good hands regarding narrative and character consistency. But the question still remains: how much will Peacemaker disregard from its previous critically acclaimed season in order to fit neatly into the new DCU?
From the Former DCEU to the Current DCU
Peacemaker Season 2 wastes no time in clarifying the titular character’s position within the DCU. Simultaneously, showrunner James Gunn provides a necessary retelling of how season one actually ended. These simple changes ultimately work. Gunn opts for a subtle yet definitive retelling of the canon, rather than overcomplicating events that would box the character into a narrative corner. This much-needed streamlining of the DC franchise enables Peacemaker Season 2 to sharpen its focus on another unique journey quickly. Opening with Peacemaker auditioning to join the Justice Gang — Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn) — this latest season carries a fun, electric energy that cannot be matched.
Audiences follow Chris Smith/Peacemaker as he continues to grapple with the moral consequences of his unforgivable past, rendering his heroic achievements from the previous season unrecognized. Gunn refreshingly showcases Peacemaker bordering on heroism, but sadly stumbling due to a narcissistic ego that hinders any well-intentioned actions. After being rejected by the Justice Gang, an alternative reality is made available to Chris via dimension-hopping technology from his deceased, evil father, Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick). Chris stumbles upon a utopian timeline that portrays him as a beloved hero, even winning over the heart of his not-so-secret love, Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland).
Chris must fight his inescapable desires to remain on this alternate Earth, or else face universe-shattering consequences. James Gunn infuses the character’s usual undertones of self-doubt, grief, and trauma into this storyline. This time, though, a harrowing discovery upturns Peacemaker’s world, offering a “what could have been” reality that redefines everything he knows to be true.
Peacemaker Season 2 Doesn’t Shy Away From Vulgarity
Peacemaker Season 2 kicks off with instantaneous action, leading into a brief time jump that mellows the pacing while also establishing fresh dynamics within the 11th Street Kids. Early minutes rapidly demonstrate the alternate realities available at Peacemaker’s fingertips. Even though James Gunn leans into the recent trend of the multiverse here, he manages to keep the threat of the season self-contained, preventing any confusion and allowing the story to reap the benefits of its labor.
The scripts this season showcase Gunn’s best side-splitting humor. Viewers are thrown into hilarious A.R.G.U.S. antics, of which new arrivals Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), Langston Fleury (Tim Meadows), and Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodríguez) take into a magnificent stride. Each of these exciting additions to the cast brings something special to Peacemaker Season 2, carving out their own unexpectedly familiar personalities. Plus, John Cena’s performance, alongside Jennifer Holland‘s Emilia Harcourt, Danielle Brooks‘ Leota Adebayo, Freddie Stroma‘s Vigilante, and Steve Agee‘s John Economos, enforces the group’s infectious chemistry and the show’s endless charm.
Gruesome Action Helps Deliver Mature Themes
Inventive action and an emotionally charged commentary on toxic masculinity build upon the heights of the first season, primarily thanks to Jennifer Holland excelling in her dual-personality role as the unruly badass that can’t be tamed. In Chris’ utopian dream reality, Holland seamlessly flips Harcourt’s personality, transforming into a positive, go-get-em version of her antagonistic self. Scenes that couple this alternate-Harcourt and original Peacemaker together highlight James Gunn’s ability to revise romantic tropes, encouraging audiences to resonate with the surprisingly relatable multiversal struggles of love. Admittedly, the pacing of this relationship is discouragingly inconsistent, with the first half of Peacemaker Season 2 being reserved in its exploration of this idealistic society, but the latter teasing richer visions.
Viscerally gruesome fight sequences remind viewers of Peacemaker’s brutality and commitment to violence, a method to the madness behind his infamous quote: “I cherish peace with all my heart. I don’t care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it”. Gunn isn’t afraid to remind you that Chris isn’t a good man. The internal conflict that fans of this show face when indulging in his sheer disregard for life is what makes it so relentlessly fun. It almost draws people into his ethos until they are reminded of his past, a focal point of Rick Flag Sr.’s inclusion this season as he seeks revenge for the murder of his son in The Suicide Squad.
The Avoidable Flaws of Peacemaker Season 2
Unfortunately, the peak of Peacemaker Season 2 arrives relatively early. The character, relatively minor in popularity until John Cena’s portrayal, inherently requires an outlandish energy to match the adventure, thus making the line between ludicrous entertainment and nonsensical stakes dangerously fine. This narrative recession protrudes at the mid-season mark, where a sub-plot focusing upon Eagley (Peacemaker’s pet eagle sidekick) takes a wholly uninteresting claim of runtime, playing out like a Family Guy gag that just won’t stop. Simply, the amount of laughs isn’t worth the effort here. Additionally, Gunn’s writing around admissions of guilt and loss lacks emotional resonance and feels surprisingly basic, given his past storytelling achievements with this DC series.
Despite some questionable exposition and occasionally tonal whiplash, which ironically serves both as a comedic tool and a structural hindrance to Peacemaker, John Cena’s return to the metal helmet is a prevailing success for DC. Free from the shackles of confusing canon, Peacemaker Season 2 thrives when let loose in the Quantum Unfolding Storage Area (aka pocket universe), even if moments of revelation require slightly bolder swings to seriously pack a punch. As the episode count progresses, the uneasy feeling of a twist hungers, one certain to excite fans and invoke a flurry of online theories. Audiences that loved the first season will have no qualms with Peacemaker’s second outing — an equally bad-mouthed, blood-soaked joyride.
Peacemaker Season 2 premieres on HBO Max on August 21!
Premiere Date: August 21, 2025.
Created by James Gunn.
Based on characters from DC Comics.
Showrunner: James Gunn.
Season 2 Directors: James Gunn, Greg Mottola, Alethea Jones, & Peter Sollett.
Executive Producers: James Gunn, Peter Safran, & Matt Miller.
Main Cast: John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, Frank Grillo, Robert Patrick, Sol Rodríguez, Tim Meadows, Michael Rooker, Nhut Le, Isabela Merced, Nathan Fillion, Sean Gunn, David Denman, Anissa Matlock, Taylor St. Clair, Dorian Kingi, & Brandon Stanley.
Composers: Clint Mansell & Kevin Kiner.
Opening theme: “Oh Lord” by Foxy Shazam.
Production Companies: The Safran Company, Troll Court Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, & DC Studios.
Network: HBO Max.
Episode Count: 8 (Season Two).
