THEY ARE ALL HEROES IN MY WORLD.
It’s been a LONG three years since the first season of Peacemaker hit HBO’s streaming service, proving without a doubt that James Gunn can turn literally any obscure comic book character into a hit—and that John Cena is a real actor with genuine dramatic and comedic range. When Season 2 was announced, fans were excited, even if the wait would prove to be a long one.
The Road to Season 2
A lot has happened between 2022 and 2025. Ezra Miller had an escalating mental health breakdown that tanked most interest in The Flash; Dwayne Johnson’s long-awaited Black Adam flopped, prompting Warner Bros. to reboot the DC cinematic universe yet again and put James Gunn in charge; the remaining four DCEU movies in 2023 fizzled commerically and/or critically; HBO’s streaming service changed its name to Max and then back to HBO Max; and Gunn delivered a new Superman movie that became a critical and commercial success, kickstarting a fresh DCU.
But with the DCEU rebooted into the DCU (Why wasn’t it just called that from the beginning?), almost all the original actors retired from their roles, and any lingering storythreads were thrown into the trash and abandoned, leaving fans wondering: where does Peacemaker fit in? Would the show acknowledge the change, or just move on?
As it turns out, Gunn handled it with a classic comic book retcon, handwaving the continuity shift in the Season 1 recap. With that sorted—how is Peacemaker Season 2 after five episodes?
IT WAS THAT EASY!!!
Spoilers Below!
Season 1 ended with Chris Smith/Peacemaker and his team, the 11th Street Kids, defeating the parasitic aliens known as the Butterflies and saving the world (or potentially dooming it in the long run depending on your point of view). Years later, Chris is still haunted over killing his father, Auggie Smith/White Dragon (Robert Patrick), and just wants respect as a real superhero. Unfortunately, despite saving the world, he’s still a joke outside of his small friend group. Even Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) mock him when they think he can’t hear them. Depressed, Chris falls back into self-destructive habits of drugs and sex.
Meanwhile, the rest of the 11th Street Kids aren’t faring much better. Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) is blacklisted and jobless while hilariously diagnosed with “toxic masculinity.” Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) split with her wife and struggles to start a security business. John Economos (Steve Agee) is forced to secretly monitor Chris for A.R.G.U.S., conflicted between warning his friend and trying to keep his job. In contrast, Adrian Chase/Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) remains weird and upbeat, still working his busboy job.
A Multiverse Twist
The main conflict this season centers on the multiverse. Yes, it’s been done to death, but Gunn finds a fresh angle. Season 1 briefly showed a strange pocket dimension in Auggie Smith’s closet. Season 2 reveals that this pocket dimension, the Quantum Unfolding Chamber, is a gateway to other universes. Season 2 begins with Chris stumbling upon a universe that seems like a dream: in this world, his brother Keith (David Denman) is alive, his father loves him, they live in a mansion, and they’re beloved superheroes. Even Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) is alive, and this universe’s Harcourt reciprocates Chris’s feelings.
Of course, there’s a dark side. Chris accidentally kills this world’s version of himself, and the temptation to stay and take his place grows. The setup gives Cena room to flex his dramatic chops, especially in the emotional scenes between him and his “family” from the second Earth.
New Faces
Season 2 also adds new characters. Frank Grillo joins as Rick Flag Sr., now running A.R.G.U.S. and quietly seeking revenge on Peacemaker for his son’s death. Saturday Night Live veteran Tim Meadows debuts as Agent Langston Fleury, a field operative who likes giving his teammates inappropriate nicknames and suffers from a rare and severe case of “bird blindness,” leading to great bits with Peacemaker’s pet eagle, Eagley. Sol Rodríguez plays Agent Sasha Bordeaux, an ally of Flag Sr. hiding some cybernetic secrets. And finally, Michael Rooker steals scenes as Red St. Wild, an eccentric eagle hunter obsessed with killing Eagley.
Pacing Problems
Taking place after Gunn’s Superman, where a dimensional rift nearly destroyed Metropolis, A.R.G.U.S. has made it a priority to watch for potentially dangerous dimensional disturbances. They want to take Peacemaker’s rift, while Chris clings to it as his only escape to a “perfect” world. But five episodes in, the pacing is slower than Season 1. The character focus is strong, but some fans may find it drags.
Vigilante, a breakout star in Season 1, is sidelined here. He’s out of costume and doesn’t fight, reduced mostly to quirky jokes like weird animal facts. Likewise, Red St. Wild’s subplot feels underdeveloped despite heavy promotion—possibly just a setup for a late payoff or just another one of Gunn’s trademark jokes.
Gunn’s Signature Style
Even with pacing issues, Season 2 screams James Gunn. The episode titles are amusingly groan-worthy puns (“The Ties That Grind,” “A Man Is Only as Good as His Bird,” “Another Rick Up My Sleeve”). The humor is coarse, weird, and character-driven, landing more often than not. Deep-cut references and cameos, like very minor Batman villain White Rabbit, pop in without overwhelming the story. And the show doesn’t shy away from shock value—the season premiere even features a hallucinatory orgy, cementing that the DCU won’t be MCU-lite.
The soundtrack remains a highlight, with killer needle drops and another unskippable dance sequence. Foxy Shazam’s “Oh Lord” may not be as catchy as Wig Wam’s “Do Ya Wanna Taste It,” but the new intro still rules.
I WONDER HOW THEY DECIDED WHO WOULD GO WHERE IN THE PILE. AND WHY DID THEY ALL CHOOSE TO GET ON TOP OF 70 YEAR OLD MICHAEL ROOKER?
Waiting for the Payoff
One lingering concern: the “perfect universe” has barely been explored across the five episodes. It’s obvious the season is building toward a twist—many fans believe the idyllic world is secretly racist, explaining why Chris’s white supremist father is happy and why there seem to be no people of color. Hopefully this theory doesn’t turn out to be false like last time. If true, it would be a sharp thematic payoff, but dragging out the reveal this long feels like padding.
Final Thoughts
Just over halfway through, Peacemaker Season 2 is very good, but in a different way than Season 1. It’s slower, more character-driven, and not as immediately fun, but it lays the groundwork for some big payoffs. Hopefully the final three episodes stick the landing and remind fans why Peacemaker became one of DC’s most surprising breakout hits.
A MAN IS ONLY AS GOOD AS HIS BIRD INDEED.
