James Gunn’s DC Universe (DCU) is about to take another wild turn as Peacemaker Season 2 premieres on August 21, 2025, on HBO Max in the United States, with a UK debut on Sky the following day. After months of speculation and fan anticipation, the return of John Cena’s helmet-wearing antihero is not just a continuation of his story, but a pivotal chapter in the evolving DCU—a universe that’s proving to be as unpredictable as it is ambitious.
According to ComicBookMovie.com, Peacemaker Season 2 initially stunned critics with a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, a rare feat for any superhero property. While that score has since slipped to a still-impressive 97% after 38 reviews, it remains the best-reviewed project in James Gunn’s superhero filmography. For context, other Gunn projects like Creature Commandos (95%), The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (94%), and Peacemaker Season 1 (93%) trail just behind, while even his acclaimed Marvel films such as Guardians of the Galaxy (92%) and The Suicide Squad (90%) fall short of this new high-water mark.
The sole negative review, from Slant Magazine, described the series as “patchy,” but acknowledged that it “admirably connect[s] the dots.” The overwhelming consensus, however, is that Gunn’s latest effort is a win for DC Studios, especially as questions lingered about why Peacemaker got a second season before other DCU projects.
So, what’s drawing all this attention? Gunn himself has been tight-lipped about the specifics, but he’s made it clear that Season 2 is a direct follow-up to the recently released Superman (2025). In an interview with ExtraTV, Gunn teased, “I think you’re going to find out a lot, this season of Peacemaker. This is a direct follow-up to Superman, although it should be said, it’s not for kids, it’s for adults. We kind of see where the DC Universe is going and we find out about where it’s heading from here. By the end of the season, there’s a lot of surprises.”
The surprises are so significant, in fact, that episodes 6 through 8 were left off advance screener copies sent to the media. Gunn hinted in a previous interview that these episodes contain “huge surprises,” and the secrecy has only fueled fan speculation. The story reportedly follows Peacemaker as he stumbles into an alternate world—a multiverse twist—where life is everything he’s ever wanted. But this revelation forces him to confront his traumatic past and wrestle with the future, a narrative turn that promises emotional depth alongside the show’s signature irreverence.
While some fans wondered if they’d need to have seen Superman (2025) to follow the plot, Gunn reassured viewers on Instagram Threads, “We explain everything. Just more fun to also watch Superman!” The film, starring David Corenswet, is now available to buy digitally, making it easier for audiences to catch up. Still, Gunn emphasized that only Peacemaker Season 1 is truly essential viewing, as it lays the groundwork for the new season’s references and character arcs.
The new season brings back familiar faces: John Cena returns as Peacemaker, joined by Danielle Brooks (Leota Adebayo), Freddie Stroma (Vigilante), Jennifer Holland (Emilia Harcourt), Steve Agee (John Economos), and Robert Patrick. New cast members include Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr.—a character who links this series to Superman, Creature Commandos, and future DCU chapters—as well as David Denman, Sol Rodriguez, and Tim Meadows. Michael Rooker steps in as Red St. Wild, a brand-new addition to the universe.
One of the season’s most intriguing elements is the continued expansion of the DCU’s interconnected storylines. Sean Gunn, who plays Maxwell Lord, described the creative process to TheWrap, explaining that the DCU under James Gunn’s stewardship is “storyteller-oriented.” He said, “What I get most excited about is the idea of all of these things living in the same world, but having freedom to be the unique vision of whatever storyteller is telling the story. So, all these different stories live in the same world, but they have different creators and they can be different genres even.”
This approach is already evident: Sean Gunn’s Maxwell Lord, who appeared briefly in Superman and voiced a character in Creature Commandos, continues his arc in Peacemaker as the recruiter for the Justice Gang. “You may have something that’s a little more horror-bent or a little more dramatic-bent, in addition to the action movies and the more superhero kind of fare, and I love that,” Sean Gunn added. “It makes it similar to comics, in that comics have the freedom to have their own unique voice within the series that they’re in, but also those characters have a center that you don’t always want to deviate.”
Gunn’s vision for the DCU is not just about interconnectedness, but also about giving creators room to experiment with genre and tone. This “soft reboot” of the franchise—melding elements of the old DCEU with new characters and stories—has allowed for a more flexible and creator-driven universe. As Sean Gunn put it, “I don’t know that he [James Gunn] always knows the long-term vision. He has bullet points for where things need to go and he keeps his eye on telling a great story, and never deviating from that part of it.”
For those looking to get the most out of Peacemaker Season 2, several DC projects are considered essential viewing. The Suicide Squad (2021) introduced John Cena’s Peacemaker and his conflict with Rick Flag Jr., while Creature Commandos features Rick Flag Sr., now a key player in the new season. Peacemaker Season 1 remains crucial for understanding the current character dynamics, especially after Leota Adebayo’s Season 1-ending press conference exposed Project Butterfly and cleared Peacemaker’s name. And of course, Superman (2025) sets the stage for the events of Season 2, with Peacemaker even making a cameo to criticize the Man of Steel: “Guys like this, they’ve always got a whole bunch of dark, ugly secrets. He thinks he’s better than everybody else.”
James Gunn wrote all eight episodes of the new season and directed three, including the premiere. The show is intended for adults, with Gunn cautioning that this chapter is “not for kids.” As for the future, Gunn playfully referred to the first three projects—The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker Season 1, and Peacemaker Season 2—as the “Tighty-Whities Trilogy.” Asked about the possibility of a fourth installment, he teased, “Are we going to make it a quadrilogy? Probably, we’ll see…”
With all the hype, critical acclaim, and narrative ambition, Peacemaker Season 2 is shaping up to be a defining moment for the DCU. Whether it’s the multiverse twist, the return of beloved characters, or the promise of “really, really, really big” cameos, fans and newcomers alike have plenty of reasons to tune in and see where Gunn’s bold new universe is headed next.
