Peacemaker‘s acclaimed opening dance sequence is changing in its upcoming second season, with series creator James Gunn revealing that the distinctive intro will feature an unexpected new character in addition to the new cast. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly with Gunn and lead star John Cena, the co-head of DC Studios also revealed that the revamped sequence will receive its public debut at Comic-Con this July. Peacemaker‘s opening in the first season helped the series go viral after the first episode. Featuring the entire primary cast, the sequence was set to Wig Wam’s “Do Ya Wanna Taste It,” with actors performing a synchronized robotic dance, all while maintaining impeccably straight faces. This deadpan delivery, combined with the vibrant glam metal anthem, perfectly encapsulated Peacemaker‘s distinctive surreal humor, helping set the tone for the series.

“I’ll give you an exclusive: You get to see Eagly try to dance for the first time,” Gunn stated. “So that’s really something. He is not the best at it, but he tries to really join in the dance sequence at the end. He’s got a little pose this time.” In addition to Peacemaker’s sidekick pet, the new opening sequence will feature the entire new cast for Season 2, as Gunn felt forced to change the opening after the events of Season 1. “We killed everyone in the season, so we kind of had to [shoot a new opening]. Everyone died! Also, we have a lot of new cast members — Tim Meadows is Langston Fleury, Sol Rodriguez is Sasha Bordeaux, and Michael Rooker’s in the cast, Judomaster is a bigger character this time — so I knew that I needed to do a new dance.”

[RELATED: DC Studios Is Headed to Comic-Con & We Already Know One Big Reveal]

“This time around, everybody looked at it through a different lens, knowing how much the audience enjoyed the first one,” Cena added. “[We knew] this is going to be a cornerstone of the show, so let’s dive in. Everyone gave their best in season 1, but I just think people now know the importance of it, and hopefully it shines through in season 2.”

What to Expect When Peacemaker Season 2 Returns

The second season of Peacemaker will find its characters navigating a dramatically changed environment, as Gunn has confirmed a time jump of “a couple of years” will separate the new episodes from the first season’s finale. This multi-year gap is expected to have profoundly reshaped the lives of Christopher Smith nd the 11th Street Kids, particularly after Leota Adebayo’s (Danielle Brooks) public disclosure of Project Butterfly and Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) covert A.R.G.U.S. operations. The ramifications of this global exposé are already influencing the broader state of the new DC Universe, as seen in the animated series Creature Commandos, in which Waller struggles to keep her power. In Season 2 of Peacemaker, Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. will be the new head of A.R.G.U.S., pushing this narrative further.

As the father of Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), killed by Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad, Rick Flag Sr. will become a powerful adversary with both institutional backing and a deeply personal motivation to hunt down Smith in Season 2 of Peacemaker. This vendetta will inevitably endanger the entire returning team, including Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), and John Economos (Steve Agee). The psychological burdens on Peacemaker are also set to continue, with Robert Patrick anticipated to reprise his role as Auggie Smith, Peacemaker’s deceased and virulently racist father.

Season 2 is also primed to introduce new characters. Rooker is slated to appear as Red St. Wild, a character Gunn has described as the “world’s foremost eagle hunter” and a specific antagonist for Eagly. The ensemble will further expand with Sol Rodríguez cast as Sasha Bordeaux and Tim Meadows as an A.R.G.U.S. agent. Finally, the Quantum Unfolding Chamber (QUC) technology, a plot device from the first season that will also feature in the Superman movie, is expected to be central to the new season’s narrative, possibly leading Peacemaker to a bizarre encounter with an alternate version of himself.

Peacemaker Season 2 is scheduled to premiere on Thursday, August 21st, on HBO Max.

Are you excited about Peacemaker‘s Season 2 new dancing number? Let us know in the comments below!

The post These Peacemaker Characters Are Joining the Season 2 Dance Opening (One Is Unbelievable) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

James Gunn has confirmed a significant time jump will occur between the first and second seasons of the hit Max series Peacemaker, clarifying that the narrative will pick up “a couple of years” after the events of the initial season. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn underlined that creating a flexible timeframe echoes DC Studios’s broader strategy for building a cohesive and enduring cinematic universe, aiming to avoid the continuity pitfalls arising from rigidly defined timelines. This revelation comes as anticipation builds for the show’s return, which will see John Cena’s titular character officially integrated into the new DC Universe spearheaded by Gunn and Peter Safran. Peacemaker Season 2 is positioned as a key early installment in this revamped DCU, following the animated series Creature Commandos and Gunn’s own theatrical release, Superman, with those stories influencing Christopher Smith’s world.

“I see how difficult, after all my time at Marvel, it is to make things truly fit together, so it’s an unspecified amount of a couple of years,” Gunn stated. This intentionally inexact gap is a strategic choice informed by the director’s extensive experience with Marvel’s interconnected storytelling. Instead of locking DC into specific dates that could become narrative straitjackets down the line, an “unspecified amount of a couple of years” provides crucial breathing room. This approach allows future DCU projects to develop organically without tripping over rigidly established continuity points, a challenge that long-running universes often face. It grants writers and directors the freedom to tell the best stories without making every single timeline detail meticulously align across multiple productions, sidestepping potential plot holes.

[RELATED: DC Studios Is Headed to Comic-Con & We Already Know One Big Reveal]

The first season of Peacemaker concluded with Christopher Smith and the 11th Street Kids successfully thwarting the global threat posed by the Butterflies. However, Peacemaker himself was left to grapple with the haunting specter of his abusive father and his own violent past. Meanwhile, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) made the shocking decision to expose Project Butterfly and Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) A.R.G.U.S. operations to the world. This act, while righteous, shifted the forces of the DC Universe, as we began to see in Creature Commandos. A couple of years passing suggests significant changes for the characters, both in their personal lives and in how the world perceives them after Adebayo’s revelations.

Everything We Know About Peacemaker Season 2 in the New DCU

While the core narrative of Christopher Smith’s journey from the first season will carry over into Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe, certain elements, like the original Justice League cameo, will be adjusted to align with the fresh continuity. Gunn himself penned all eight episodes of the new season and directed three, including the premiere. The returning main cast includes Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Freddie Stroma as Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, and Nhut Le as Judomaster. Robert Patrick is also set to reprise his role as Auggie Smith, Peacemaker’s deceased father, who is expected to appear in visions or flashbacks that continue to delve into his profound psychological impact on his son.

A formidable new adversary enters the fray in the form of Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr., the father of Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), whom Peacemaker killed during the events of The Suicide Squad. As the new head of A.R.G.U.S., Flag Sr. is positioned as a primary antagonist, leading an operation to capture Peacemaker. His character arc is woven through multiple DCU projects, beginning in the animated series Creature Commandos and continuing with an appearance in Superman before his significant role in Peacemaker. Adding another layer of threat, Michael Rooker joins the cast as Red St. Wild, described by Gunn as the world’s foremost eagle hunter and a specific nemesis for Peacemaker’s beloved animal sidekick, Eagly. The ensemble expands further with Sol Rodríguez portraying Sasha Bordeaux, Brey Noelle as the Batman villain White Rabbit, and veteran comedic actor Tim Meadows as A.R.G.U.S. agent Langston Fleury, alongside David Denman in an as-yet-undisclosed role.

Season 2 will find Peacemaker, post-Butterfly-threat, believing he deserves greater recognition and should be regarded as a true superhero. He even goes as far as interviewing for membership with a superhero group featured in Superman, only to be met with mockery, reinforcing his status as a punchline within the metahuman community. Furthermore, the Quantum Unfolding Chamber (QUC) technology, which played a part in Season 1 and will be further explored in Superman, is teased to be central to the storyline of Peacemaker Season 2, leading him to meet an alternate version of himself.

Peacemaker Season 2 premieres Thursday, August 21st, on HBO Max.

How do you think the time jump will affect Peacemaker and the 11th Street Kids? Share your theories in the comments below!

The post James Gunn Confirms Time Jump Between Peacemaker Seasons 1 & 2 (and How Long) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Michael Rooker takes on a new role in Peacemaker Season 2, and we just got our first look at his outrageous costume. The actor plays Red St. Wild, the world’s foremost eagle hunter, according to James Gunn, and he’s a nemesis not to Peacemaker himself, but to his animal sidekick, Eagly. The new photo was included in Gunn’s interview with Entertainment Weekly, showing Rooker clad as an eccentric hunter adorned with feathers, wielding a cartoonishly large rifle. The actor already played two different characters in The Suicide Squad and Creature Commandos, so it’s not clear if this is the last time we’ll see him take a new role in the DC Universe.

“His name is Red St. Wild, and he’s the world’s foremost eagle hunter who is on a mission to kill Eagly,” Gunn said. “We thought Eagly was probably the most popular character from season 1, and so in season 2, he has his own story with his nemesis, played by none other than the despicable Michael Rooker.”

The photo shows someone who is definitely fascinating enough to become a fan favorite. Red St. Wild wears a bowler cap and a rugged coat, but underneath are an elaborate beaded necklace and a collection of feathers — presumably eagle-hunting trophies. Those, along with the turquoise rings on his fingers and the long braids in his hair, indicate some Native American influence to his design, while the absurdly large gun across his shoulders indicates nefarious intent.

[RELATED: Peacemaker’s Connection to Superman Is Deeper Than DC Fans Thought]

Rooker and Gunn already have a strong track record when it comes to superhero movies. Rooker played Yondu in all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies before making the jump to the DCU. He played Brian Durlin, a.k.a. Savant in The Suicide Squad, but then voiced Sam Fitzgibbon in a single episode of Creature Commandos. Rooker also has a voice-over role in Superman coming this summer — he will play Five, one of the Kryptonian robots that helps Superman construct his Fortress of Solitude.

Creature Commandos was the first official DCU title, though some characters and aspects of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker will carry over into this continuity. That leaves Rooker’s roles in a tenuous place, but he seems to have no shortage of work. The franchise will really pick up steam when Superman hits theaters on July 11th, and its next title after that is Peacemaker Season 2, premiering on Thursday, August 21st on HBO Max.

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James Gunn and John Cena just revealed one of DC Studios’ big previews coming at San Diego Comic Con this summer. The duo sat down for an interview with Entertainment Weekly about Peacemaker Season 2, teasing as much as they could about sequence show ahead of its release on August 21st. They promised that there is a new dance scene to take the place of the opening credits from Season 1, and even said that this is one of the previews fans will see at Comic Con in July. That can only been San Diego Comic Con, which runs from Thursday, July 24th to Sunday, July 27th this year.

Peacemaker Season 1 started each episode with a tightly-choreographed by robotic dance number set to “Do You Wanna Taste It” by Wig Wam. It was enough to hook many viewers who were not already sold on this superhero side-story, and it went viral even outside of the show’s viewers on social media. Gunn assured EW that there’s a new dance scene that they’ll get to see sooner than expected.

“You get to see Eagly try to dance for the first time,” he divulged. “So that’s really something. He is not the best at it, but he tries to really join in the dance sequence at the end. He’s got a little pose this time.”

[RELATED: Peacemaker Season 2 Trailer Features Two Justice League Characters (But Does That Make Sense?)]

“This time around, everybody looked at it through a different lens, knowing how much the audience enjoyed the first one,” Cena added. “[We knew] this is going to be a cornerstone of the show, so let’s dive in. Everyone gave their best in season 1, but I just think people now know the importance of it and hopefully it shines through in season 2.”

Asked why they filmed a new opening credit sequence instead of re-using the fan-favorite one from last season, Gunn joked, “We killed everyone in the season, so we kind of had to. Everyone died! Also, we have a lot of new cast members — Tim Meadows is Langston Fleury, Sol Rodriguez is Sasha Bordeaux, and Michael Rooker’s in the cast, Judomaster is a bigger character this time — so I knew that I needed to do a new dance.”

Gunn confirmed that the new credits will also feature a new song, but admitted that he felt conflicted about it. “I really went back and forth an awful lot,” he said. “And at the end of the day, I decided that we use a new song that’s a little bit more about what the season’s about.”

By the time of SDCC, Superman will be out in theaters and the DCU will be in full swing. We may have a much better idea of what’s coming in Peacemaker Season 2 and what role the new characters will have to play in it. Superman hits theaters on July 11th, while Peacemaker debuts on Max on August 21st.

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According to James Gunn, DC fans are getting a pretty big cameo in Season 2 of Peacemaker. It’s been three years since Peacemaker debuted on Max, but the wait for Season 2 is almost over. Except this time, the John Cena-starring show will be a part of the new DC Universe spearheaded by Gunn. Preceding Peacemaker are the adult-animated series Creature Commandos and the theatrical Superman, so Peacemaker fans can expect several characters from both projects to make appearances. But apparently, Gunn has an even bigger surprise in store when a mystery character makes a cameo in Peacemaker.

Entertainment Weekly spoke to James Gunn about Peacemaker Season 2, with the prolific filmmaker dropping teases and details regarding everything that will go down in the sophomore season. Without giving too much away, Gunn delivered another bombshell when speaking about Superman guest stars.

“You’ve seen what we call the QUC, the Quantum Unfolding Chamber, in the first season of Peacemaker, and we see more about that technology in Superman,“ Gunn told EW. “The QUC is the center of the story in Peacemaker season 2… We see a lot of different characters from Superman in the [season], [including] Isabela [Merced] and Nathan [Fillion], and Sean [Gunn], and then we see a bunch of other characters later on in the season from other parts of the DCU and from Superman. There might even be one really, really, really big cameo near the end of the show.”

[RELATED: 5 DC Characters With Controversial Origin Stories]

Which DC Universe character will cameo in Peacemaker Season 2?

The first name that immediately comes to mind as far as cameos that could garner that type of build-up is David Corenswet’s Superman. The first season of Peacemaker saw Flash (Ezra Miller) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) show up in the season finale, while the rest of the Justice League remained in the shadows. The Justice League arrived just as Peacemaker and the 11th Street Gang had defeated the threat of the Butterflies. With Peacemaker having such a strong connection to Superman, it makes sense for the Man of Steel to cameo and give John Cena a pep talk.

However, there’s also a possibility that Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor may take an interest in Peacemaker. Luthor is always scheming to get the upper hand on Superman, and he could see Peacemaker as a tool to achieve his goals. Peacemaker will be juggling how to deal with not getting the respect he deserves from the metahuman community, and Luthor could feed into those insecurities.

“We come into season 2 with Peacemaker knowing that he saved the world from the Butterflies,” Gunn said. “He thinks he’s a big star now, and he should be a real superhero. And we see at the very beginning of episode 1 that he’s meeting with the group of superheroes from Superman, and he’s basically interviewing for membership in the group. But they just mock him the entire time, so he’s not taken seriously.”

Gunn then elaborated on how Peacemaker will struggle with these feelings throughout the season. “He’s still considered a punchline among all of the other metahumans, so he’s starting the season in a bad place,” he said. “As are all of our heroes, all of the 11th Street kids — well, everybody but Vigilante [Freddie Stroma], who just always seems to be okay with everything.”

Who do you think the big cameo is in Season 2 of Peacemaker? Let us know in the comments below!

The post James Gunn Teases “Really Big” DC Cameo In Peacemaker Season 2 (But Who Could It Be?) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Peacemaker is one of the few titles from the old DCEU franchise adopted into the new DC Universe continuity, and according to James Gunn, it’s tied into the story tightly, naturally, and seamlessly. Gunn was already the showrunner on Peacemaker when he took the job as co-CEO of DC Studios and began spearheading the entire DCU. All these new responsibilities delayed Peacemaker Season 2, but in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn explained that this also allowed Peacemaker to become more connected to the rest of the franchise. The DCU hits the big screen with Superman on July 11th followed closely by Peacemaker Season 2 on August 21st, and Gunn said the two are “very much connected.”

“Once I was done with Peacemaker, I had to do Guardians 3, and then when I was about ready to jump [back] into Peacemaker, I got hired to be the head of DC,” Gunn explained. “As soon as I got that job, I made a couple of calls, and the first one was to [Marvel’s] Kevin Feige telling him that I’m taking the [job as] head of DC. The second one was to John Cena, and I said, ‘I’m getting this gig, and I still want to do Peacemaker, but it’s going to have to wait. We’re going to have to get Superman working first.'”

Gunn is not only an executive for DC Studios, he’s a driving creative force behind this first batch of DCU titles. He’s the writer and director of Superman, the creator of Creature Commandos, and the showrunner of Peacemaker. He joked that in order to get back to Peacemaker, he just had to “get through this other little movie, this little side project first.” However, working on the two projects back to back also allowed him to forge them together.

[RELATED: John Cena Is on the Run in Peacemaker Season 2 Trailer]

“As soon as I was done writing Superman, I was able to write Season 2 of Peacemaker,” Gunn said. “I know it seems like a long time for other people, but for me it all seems awful short because there was so many things I did in between.” The result is that Gunn was perfectly positioned to see how Peacemaker Season 2 could slot into the continuity and establish itself within the DCU.

“I developed it along the way, in conjunction with the other DC projects that we’re doing, so it’s very much connected to Superman and it’s very much connected to what comes after,” he said. “I had a rough idea of what I was going to do, but it was actually quite different than what the show ended up being.”

At the same time, Gunn assured fans that Peacemaker Season 1 is still very much canon, and it will have an impact on the story to come. The series returns on Thursday, August 21st on HBO Max. Season 1 is streaming there now.

The post Peacemaker’s Connection to Superman Is Deeper Than DC Fans Thought appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The teaser trailer for the second season of Peacemaker introduces some guest stars from James Gunn’s Superman movie. John Cena is back as Christopher “Chris” Smith, aka our titular Peacemaker, as he looks to dispense justice to bad guys while striving for peace… at any cost. Peacemaker was one of the only projects to survive the transition from the DC Extended Universe to whatever our new DC Universe is called. That means there are connections between Peacemaker and every future project from DC Studios, which includes Superman. Peacemaker gets to meet some of the Superman cast up close and personal.

Peacemaker‘s teaser trailer begins with Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) dropping Peacemaker off for a secret meeting. The meeting appears to be a job interview for the Justice League, with Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), and Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) asking Peacemaker questions. He refers to himself as the finest marksman in the world, and the comedy really picks up when the trio turn their microphones off, but accidentally leave them on.

Maxwell Lord asks how many more of these meetings they have, showing how he’s already moved past Peacemaker and wants to get on with his day. Hawkgirl is hungry for popcorn and is concerned with her butt getting big. Meanwhile, Guy Gardner lives up to his reputation by saying Peacemaker sucks. Peacemaker interrupts them to let them know that their mics were on the entire time.

[RELATED: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1 Is a Flawed (But Fun) Follow-Up to the Peacemaker TV Show (Review)]

There’s another guest star from Superman in Peacemaker, and that’s Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo). He’s the new Director of A.R.G.U.S., and that’s bad news for Peacemaker. He killed Rick Flag’s son (Joel Kinnaman) in 2021’s The Suicide Squad. Rick Flag Sr. uses his position in A.R.G.U.S. to target Peacemaker and his friends. The trailer for Peacemaker ends with our antihero wearing tidey whitey underwear as he walks through a door and is attacked from behind by another Peacemaker.

The new season of Peacemaker follows Christopher “Chris” Smith, aka Peacemaker, the vigilante Super Hero as he struggles to reconcile his past with his newfound sense of purpose while continuing to kick righteous evil-doer butt in his misguided quest for peace at any cost.

Max released the first look at Peacemaker Season 2 during the NBA Playoffs on TNT earlier this week. John Cena is joined in the cast by the returning Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, and Robert Patrick. New cast members include Frank Grillo, David Denman, Sol Rodriguez, and Tim Meadows. This confirms that Isabela Merced, Nathan Fillion, and Sean Gunn will only be around as cameos.

Season 2 of Peacemaker consists of eight episodes, with the series premiering on Thursday, August 21st at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Max. James Gunn wrote all eight episodes of Peacemaker and directed three, including the first episode. Gunn, Peter Safran, and John Cena serve as executive producers. Greg Mottola, Peter Sollett, and Althea Jones also direct.

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The first official trailer for Peacemaker Season 2 offers a high-octane glimpse into the next chapter of Christopher Smith’s turbulent life, and it looks like John Cena’s titular anti-hero is a man on the run. The footage, released by Max, underlines that Peacemaker will face relentless pursuit by Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) as a direct consequence of his reprehensible past actions. In addition, this first look at the highly anticipated sophomore season promises a blend of the series’ signature irreverent humor, brutal action, and surprising emotional depth, as Peacemaker navigates a world where his particular brand of peace is still controversial. 

As James Gunn previously confirmed, most events of Season 1 of Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad movie will be considered canon in the nascent DCU, which explains the plot of Season 2. Flag Sr. is the father of the late Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), the decorated soldier whom Peacemaker was tragically ordered to kill by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) during the Corto Maltese mission in The Suicide Squad. That sets Flag Sr. on a direct path of vengeance, hunting Christopher Smith for his son’s death. This setup establishes a high-stakes, deeply personal manhunt, promising to push Peacemaker to his limits as he evades a skilled and highly motivated operative with a legitimate grievance. Meanwhile, Christopher needs to come to terms with his violent past while he struggles to become a better man.

[RELATED: If Peacemaker Season 1 Is DCU Canon, So Are These Surprising Characters]

The new Peacemaker Season 2 trailer also features all the surviving members of the 11th Street Kids, Christopher Smith’s begrudging found family from Season 1. Danielle Brooks returns as Leota Adebayo, whose courageous public exposure of Task Force X and her mother, Amanda Waller, at the end of the first season has shifted the DCu geopolitics, as seen in Creature Commandos. After playing a key role in Creature Commandos, Steve Agee is back as John Economos for Season 2 of Peacemaker. He will be joined by fellow A.R.G.U.S. agent Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), who has now fully recovered from her Season 1 injuries. Completing this core group is Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase, aka Vigilante, Peacemaker’s dangerously uninhibited crime-fighting partner. The season is expected to continue exploring Peacemaker’s tortured psyche and the enduring bonds of his found family, including, of course, his majestic eagle sidekick, Eagly.

What to Expect from Peacemaker Season 2?

Peacemaker Season 2 holds a unique position as one of the early series in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe. Gunn, who wrote all episodes of Season 2 and is directing several, has confirmed that this new season will directly continue Peacemaker’s story while transitioning him fully into the new DCU narrative. This means audiences will see Chris Smith grappling with the fallout from defeating the Butterflies, killing his monstrous father Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick), and the lingering trauma and moral ambiguities that define him, all while the wider superhero world begins to reshape around him following the events of the upcoming Superman.

Beyond the core ensemble, Season 2 of Peacemaker also sees the return of Nhut Le as Judomaster and Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith/White Dragon, Peacemaker’s deceased and abusive father, who will likely continue to haunt Chris through visions and flashbacks. Other new additions to the cast include Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux, a character known in the comics for her ties to intelligence organizations, Tim Meadows as A.R.G.U.S. Agent Langston Fleury, and David Denman in an as-yet-undisclosed role. Brey Noelle has also been confirmed to appear as the Batman villain White Rabbit. Adding to the series’ unique charm, a brand new opening dance number has also been confirmed for Season 2.

Season 2 of Peacemaker premieres Thursday, August 21st, on Max, soon after Superman flies into theaters on July 11th.

Did you like the trailer for Season 2 of Peacemaker? Let us know in the comments!

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The first teaser trailer for Peacemaker Season 2 has arrived, confirming John Cena’s Christopher Smith and the 11th Street Kids are hurtling back into action. This electrifying new look immediately showcases the return of the beloved main cast from the hit first season, including Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo and Freddie Stroma as the irrepressible Vigilante. More significantly, the footage establishes a dangerous new adversary in Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr., who is seen spearheading an operation to bring Peacemaker in. Finally, the teaser signals that the upcoming season will see the team facing their continuing struggle for acceptance in a world still skeptical of their heroism, despite their previous world-saving efforts.

Grillo’s character is, of course, the father of Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), the soldier Peacemaker killed during the events of The Suicide Squad, setting the stage for a deeply personal vendetta. James Gunn has already highlighted that these two have “unfinished business,” positioning Flag Sr. as a primary antagonist whose pursuit will undoubtedly push Peacemaker further along his complicated path of redemption. To face this threat, the entire 11th Street Kids roster is back in play, with Adebayo, Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as the no-nonsense Emilia Harcourt, and Steve Agee as the ever-flustered John Economos reunited by fate. Season 2 of Peacemaker will also bring back Nhut Le’s Judomaster, potentially joining the team of misfits.

[RELATED: If Peacemaker Season 1 Is DCU Canon, So Are These Surprising Characters]

While the manhunt led by Flag Sr. promises a season packed with R-rated violence, the teaser also underscores the ongoing thematic core of Peacemaker. Having vanquished the alien Butterfly threat, the 11th Street Kids might have hoped for a change in fortune or at least a grudging respect from the public and authorities. However, the footage strongly suggests their battle for validation is far from won. Each main character has only a quick line in the new footage, but they all express rage or disbelief at still being seen as castaways by society.

Everything We Know About Peacemaker Season 2

While the first season of Peacemaker originated in the prior DCEU, its core narrative threads concerning Christopher Smith’s journey will largely carry over to Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe. However, specific elements, most notably the Justice League cameo from the Season 1 finale, will be retconned to align with the new continuity. The events of Season 2 will follow those depicted in Gunn’s forthcoming Superman film, which will be released in July 2025, indicating that developments in Metropolis will have ripple effects on Peacemaker’s corner of the DC Universe.

Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. is a pivotal figure bridging multiple DCU projects. His character arc began in the animated series Creature Commandos, where he is introduced as a big ARGUS player, and is set to continue with an appearance in the live-action Superman film. This carefully constructed narrative through-line establishes Flag Sr. as a significant and evolving presence in the DCU, with his experiences in Superman presumably further shaping his motivations and methods as he relentlessly hunts down Christopher Smith.

The upcoming season of Peacemaker will also expand its ensemble with fresh faces joining the established crew. Sol Rodríguez is confirmed to portray Sasha Bordeaux, a character with roots in DC Comics lore, Brey Noelle will play Batman villain White Rabbit, and veteran comedic actor Tim Meadows will appear as ARGUS agent Langston Fleury. David Denman has also been cast in an as-yet-undisclosed role. Furthermore, Robert Patrick is set to reprise his role as Auggie Smith, Peacemaker’s abusive father and the White Dragon, despite the character’s death in Season 1. This return will likely be through visions or flashbacks, continuing to explore Auggie’s deep psychological impact on his son. This aligns with Gunn’s statements that the season will offer a deeper dive into Christopher Smith as an individual, exploring his personal life and the evolving relationships between the characters.

Season 2 of Peacemaker premieres Thursday, August 21st, on Max, soon after Superman flies into theaters on July 11th.

Are you ready for Peacemaker and the 11th Street Kids to return? Let us know in the comments!

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After previously teasing Peacemaker‘s Season 2 debut later this year, DC Studios co-president and series creator James Gunn has confirmed when the HBO series will return. DC fans won’t have to wait long as Peacemaker Season 2 is scheduled to arrive at the end of the summer, with Gunn confirming a Thursday, August 21st premiere on Max. Gunn, who wrote all eight episodes of Peacemaker Season 2, returned to direct only some of the episodes for the show’s new season. With production happening on Superman and Peacemaker Season 2 at the same time it was tough for Gunn to stay hands on with both DC productions.

“Counting the days until Peace on Earth,” Gunn wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “I just finished the DI & Mix on the Season Premiere yesterday and wow it’s one of my favorite things ever. DC Studios’ #Peacemaker Season 2 coming soon only on @StreamOnMax August 21.”

John Cena returns to star as Christopher Smith aka Peacemaker in the new season of the Max original series. He’s joined by fellow returning cast members Danielle Brooks (Leota Adebayo), Freddie Stroma (Adrian Chase / Vigilante), Jennifer Holland (Emilia Harcourt), Steve Agee (John Economos), Nhut Le (Judomaster), and Robert Patrick August Smith / White Dragon).

RELATED: If Peacemaker Season 1 Is DCU Canon, So Are These Surprising Characters

“The second season’s much more about the characters and the interconnectivity between the characters and their personal lives,” Gunn previously revealed. “It’s more about Chris Smith than it is about Peacemaker.” 

Peacemaker Season 2 will see some new faces being added to the cast including Sol Rodríguez as Sasha Bordeaux, Brey Noelle as Batman villain White Rabbit, and Tim Meadows. In addition, Frank Grillo is set to appear as Rick Flag Sr., his character first seen in the DCU in last year’s Creature Commandos animated series (Grillo will make his live-action DCU debut in Superman just before Peacemaker’s Season 2 debut).

Peacemaker Makes DCU Canon Complicated

Even before the DCU could really get started in earnest, James Gunn has already made big comments about the aspect of continuity within the new movies and how it connects to other DC projects. Though Superman marks a fresh jumping on point and a brand new universe for a lot of their characters, Gunn’s DCU is cherry picking elements from the DCEU universe that it will retain, namely the events of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Season 1.

As fans may recall, the Season 1 finale of Peacemaker featured a cameo by the Justice League, specifically the version of the team that included Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash (the only two stars from the Zack Snyder movie to appear in the episode). Body doubles were used for other Justice League members, including Cyborg, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, but it’s still implied to be the characters seen in films like Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

With David Corenswet taking on the role of Superman in the DCU, and the other roles likely to be recast later, the appearance of the Zack Snyder’s Justice League in Peacemaker presents a major issue. Gunn has clarified that this particular moment from Season 1 of Peacemaker will no longer be treated as canon.

“Now in Creature Commandos, you’ll hear them talk about things that happened in [The] Suicide Squad or Peacemaker,” Gunn previously told IGN. “Well then, those things automatically become canon….“The truth is almost all of Peacemaker is canon with the exception of Justice League… which we will kind of deal with in the next season of Peacemaker.”

Peacemaker Season 2 is set to premiere on MAX on Thursday, August 21.

The post Peacemaker Season 2 Max Premiere Date Confirmed by James Gunn appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Minecraft fans will finally get to see the incredibly popular video game hit the big screen in A Minecraft Movie next weekend, and there’s actually some DC crossover in the film as well. That’s because the film stars Peacemaker star Danielle Brooks and DC’s future Lobo Jason Momoa, and while we will have to wait and see if Momoa’s Lobo will ever make a jump to Peacemaker, Brooks’ Leota Adebayo is back in the thick of things with season 2. In an interview with ComicBook, the weirdness of both A Minecraft Movie and the Peacemaker universes was brought up, asking Brooks which one was weirder, and it appears that Peacemaker wins that showdown.

Granted, Brooks did say that both are weird, but season 2 of Peacemaker really set the bar. When asked which one was weirder, Brooks said, “Ooooh, both of them. After season 2 of Peacemaker I feel like that one might have it. I think so, yeah. I think so for sure.”

While there’s still a lot of unknowns regarding Peacemaker season 2, James Gunn did shed some light on the anticipated season at the Superman Press Event, including that this season will be less about the persona of Peacemaker and more about the very human man behind it.

“The second season’s much more about the characters and the interconnectivity between the characters and their personal lives,” Gunn said. “It’s more about Chris Smith than it is about Peacemaker.”

[RELATED: Peacemaker’s John Cena Explains Why Fans Had to Wait So Long for Season 2]

That interconnectivity is a running theme in the second season, with Gunn also highlighting the other ties to DC Studios’ first big screen feature in Superman. “There is a lot of connectivity between Superman and Peacemaker, including a few actors,” Gunn said. “You take the character of Rick Flagg, who starts out in Creature Commandos as one character, goes to Superman, continues to evolve and change, and then he starts out as a protagonist of one show and ends up as basically the antagonist of season two of Peacemaker.”

We’ll have to wait and see what level of weirdness we get in season 2, but if season 1 of Peacemaker is anything to go by, we are in for something epic. Peacemaker season 2 is set to debut on Max this August. A Minecraft Movie will open in theaters on April 4th.

What do you hope to see in Peacemaker season 2? Let us know in the comments and you can talk all things TV and Movies with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!

The post Adebayo Actress Promises Peacemaker Season 2 Is Even Weirder Than S1 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

James Gunn has a knack for bringing obscure comic book characters to the mainstream, and it seems like he’s done it again with the upcoming Peacemaker Season 2. On Instagram, actress Brey Noelle shared a post from the account @gunnverse that reveals she has joined the Peacemaker Season 2 cast as Batman villain White Rabbit. The original post from @gunnverse cites that Noelle’s IMDb page has been updated with the information about Peacemaker, stating that she’s slated to appear in one episode of the second season. Rather than opting to stay mum on the subject, Noelle appeared to confirm the casting herself with her response to the @gunnverse post.

On her Instagram story, Noelle wrote “thank you.” The words are sandwiched between the smiling face holding back tears and prayer hands emojis. Check out a screenshot of Noelle’s Instagram post in the space below:

White Rabbit is a relatively new addition to the Batman mythos, making her debut in 2011’s Batman: The Dark Knight #1. Her real name is Jaina Hudson. White Rabbit’s abilities include bio-fission (which allows Jaina to split herself into two separate beings) and super speed. The character has never appeared in a live-action Batman film before; there was a White Rabbit who was on an episode of Gotham, but that wasn’t a direct adaptation of the comics. Despite some similarities, Gotham‘s White Rabbit was a man hypnotized by the Mad Hatter.

[RELATED – James Gunn Denies Zack Snyder Meeting Was About a DC Return for Filmmaker]

To date, Noelle’s acting credits primarily consist of parts in TV movies. Her first role was “Waffle Queen” in a Stranger Things parody video from 2017. She also wrote, produced, and stars in the upcoming feature The Living Tree. Peacemaker would definitely be her highest-profile project at this stage in her young career.

Normally, it’s wise to take IMDb page updates with a grain of salt (any registered user on the site can update pages, so it’s not always official). However, it seems likely there is truth to this one. Actors aren’t shy about debunking rumors concerning their involvement with upcoming projects (see: Vincent D’Onofrio denying he has a role in Spider-Man 4). Noelle’s comment about the post essentially serves as confirmation. If she wasn’t in Peacemaker, she either would have ignored it or provided clarity. Whether she was supposed to reveal her role now is unknown; marketing for Peacemaker Season 2 has yet to begin, and the creative team might have wanted this to be a surprise. Still, this isn’t a major spoiler. It’ll be interesting to see if Gunn weighs in now that the secret appears to be out.

Considering Gunn’s history with comic book adaptations, it isn’t surprising that he’s bringing White Rabbit into the fold. If Noelle’s portrayal is as effective as the performances seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies or The Suicide Squad, White Rabbit could quickly become a household name. How she fits into Peacemaker Season 2 will be fascinating. The character has strong ties to Batman lore, so perhaps there will be some Gotham City elements implemented into Peacemaker, or the show could put its own spin on the character and simply use the comics as a starting point. Since White Rabbit isn’t a figure who comes with decades of baggage and expectations, the showrunners have some leeway with what they do.

The post Peacemaker Season 2 Seemingly Casts an Unexpected Batman Villain appeared first on ComicBook.com.

When news broke that James Gunn was working on The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature, DC fans wondered if the comic book series would be part of DCU canon. The co-head of DC Studios was quick to dismiss this idea, revealing the comic work as a non-canonical sequel that uses the main story beats of the Peacemaker TV show. Nevertheless, as a story consultant, Gunn ensured The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1 feels right at home with his previous DC projects, to the point where the comic book feels like a proper sequel to the series. The only thing preventing the issue from genuinely shining is its double-feature format, which doesn’t give enough space for either of its two stories to develop.

Set after the events of Season 1 of Peacemaker, The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1 tells two interconnected stories. The first is focused on neurodivergent psychopath Vigilante, who goes on a killing spree after finding out Peacemaker might have been captured by a supervillain. The other revolves around Peacemaker and Eagly, who decide to vacation in Alaska to recharge their crime-fighting batteries. Since each story has only 11 pages to introduce its lore-rich context, lay the groundwork for the five-part narrative, and showcase these characters’ penchant for ultraviolence, there’s not much happening beyond what the synopsis already tells you. That’s the biggest flaw of The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1, which would benefit from a double-size first issue to help with the narrative flow.

That said, both stories capture the charm of the live-action versions of Vigilante and Peacemaker crafted by Gunn. Vigilante’s social awkwardness prevents him from understanding the minutia of human communication, which puts him at an obvious disadvantage when investigating the supposed disappearance of Peacemaker and Eagly. As for Peacemaker, it’s hilarious to see Chris trying his best to be friendly and polite, and failing due to the twisted values ingrained into his personality during his toxic upbringing.

[RELATED: If Peacemaker Season 1 Is DCU Canon, So Are These Surprising Characters]

While the two stories do a good job of capturing the essence of these characters, The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1 is less successful in fulfilling its promise to give Eagly his well-deserved time in the spotlight. The vicious bald eagle is there, helping Chris take down a group of Nazi lizards, but this is still a Peacemaker story through and through, with the bird functioning only as a sidekick. The problem is somewhat understandable, considering the amount of background information the issue tries to squeeze into its 22 pages — including quick recaps of the characters’ relationship, their moral alignment, and even significant events of the Peacemaker TV show.

On the art front, Mitch Gerards leans closer to the TV show for the Vigilante story by drawing Adrian Chase just like Freddie Stroma. Flashback scenes inside Vigilante’s mind also reuse the butterfly figures that haunted the antiheroes in the TV show, and even Christopher Smith’s home is a one-to-one copy of the trailer Gunn used in Season 1 of Peacemaker. Matteo Lolli, who tackles the Eagly half of the issue, stirs away from John Cena’s visage but keeps the uniform the actor uses in his life-action appearances. The problem is trying to appease people who followed Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad while giving enough information for newcomers to follow the new story. The artwork does wonders to bridge the gap by using symbols fans will recognize.

Finally, even if Gunn is always careful not to over-glamorize violence and deal with the nefarious consequences of vigilantism, we can’t deny part of the fun with his previous DC projects comes from the well-designed R-rated violence. The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1 stays true to these expectations and spends some solid pages showing both Vigilante and Peacemaker/Eagly mowing through enemies. The blood and guts sprayed over the paper is a spectacle, helping the issue be more entertaining despite its storytelling shortcomings.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Published by: DC

On: March 25, 2025

Written by: Tim Seeley (Vigilante) / Rex Ogle (Eagly)

Art by Mitch Gerards (Vigilante) / Matteo Lolli (Eagly)

Colors by Mitch Gerards (Vigilante) / John Kalisz (Eagly)

Letters by Pat Brosseau

What did you think of The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1? Will you be getting the upcoming issues? Join the discussion in the comments!

The post The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1 Is a Flawed (But Fun) Follow-Up to the Peacemaker TV Show (Review) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

With the conclusion of Season 3, Invincible underlines why the show has cemented its place in superhero history. Creator Robert Kirkman’s adaptation has consistently distinguished itself by refusing to sanitize the consequences of superhuman conflict. Unlike traditional superhero narratives that gloss over collateral damage, Invincible confronts the brutal reality of beings with godlike powers operating in a fundamentally fragile world. Furthermore, Mark Grayson’s (voiced by Steven Yeun) journey from naive young hero to increasingly compromised protagonist mirrors the series’ evolution as a complex exploration of power, legacy, and the psychological toll of heroism. With Invincible‘s fourth season on the horizon and Kirkman hyping an upcoming videogame spinoff, the franchise keeps growing to satiate fans thirsty for gritty and bloody superhero media.

Invincible is one of the TV shows responsible for transforming the contemporary superhero landscape from simplistic good-versus-evil narratives into nuanced tales of trauma and moral ambiguity. Where once caped heroes represented unambiguous paragons of virtue, modern series now dissect the realistic implications of superhuman existence. For fans who appreciate Invincible‘s unflinching examination of heroism’s dark underbelly, these five shows offer the mix of superhero deconstruction and ultraviolence you are looking for.

The Boys

When Garth Ennis’s caustic comic series The Boys was adapted as a TV show on Amazon in 2019, it created a seismic shift in superhero storytelling that parallels Invincible‘s genre-redefining approach. Created by Eric Kripke, the series imagines a world where superheroes are weaponized corporate assets managed by the predatory Vought International. At the center of this twisted universe stands Homelander (Antony Starr), a Superman analog whose sociopathic tendencies make Omni-Man (voiced by J. K. Simmons) look almost sympathetic by comparison.

The Boys‘ genius lies in its meticulous deconstruction of superhero celebrity culture. The Seven, Vought’s premier superhero team, function less as protectors and more as carefully managed brands. Each “Supe” is a crafted persona, complete with merchandise, social media teams, and scheduled public appearances. On the other side of the board, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and his ragtag team of vigilantes serve as the narrative counterpoint, exposing the brutal reality behind the glossy superhero facade. Each season of The Boys peels back another layer of institutional rot, showing how power corrupts not just individuals, but entire systems designed to control and weaponize extraordinary beings.

Peacemaker

Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker, was introduced in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad as a walking joke whose commitment to peace through maximum carnage was primarily played for laughs. However, in the hands of star John Cena, the character gained unexpected dramatic layers that Gunn decided to explore in a spinoff show. Just like that, Peacemaker became a profound exploration of toxic masculinity, generational trauma, and the psychological cost of misguided heroism that rivals Invincible‘s most nuanced character studies.

Peacemaker follows Smith, a jingoistic superhero whose absolute commitment to peace paradoxically manifests through unprecedented violence. Raised by an abusive, white supremacist father, Peacemaker struggles to balance this burning desire to do the right thing and the twisted worldview that was ingrained into him from an early age. The result is a hilarious, blood-soaked adventure that still dares to raise tough questions about the possibilities of true redemption and the emotional scars left by a traumatic childhood. Like Invincible, Peacemaker understands that true heroism isn’t about powers or good intentions but the continuous, painful process of confronting one’s worst impulses.

[RELATED: Here’s Where to Start the Invincible Comics After Season 3 Finale]

One Punch Man

At first glance, One Punch Man might appear as a simple superhero parody. In reality, it’s a profound meditation on heroism, power, and existential ennui. Created by the artist ONE, the series follows Saitama, an average man who trained so intensely that he gained the ability to defeat any opponent with a single punch. While traditional superhero narratives build tension through escalating challenges, One Punch Man lets audiences know Saitama is invincible right from the start, so the series can instead focus on the struggles of a superpowered being to find meaning in life when his power has stripped away any sense of excitement.

In a sense, One Punch Man is the opposite of Invincible: Mark Grayson struggles with overwhelming challenges while Saitama struggles with the lack of them. Still, both series explore the gap between public perception and heroic reality. In addition, One Punch Man balances its absurdist premise with genuine emotional stakes, spectacular animation during fight sequences, and a surprisingly nuanced examination of what motivates people to risk their lives for others, especially when recognition is inconsistent and danger is constant. 

Hit-Monkey

Marvel’s most underrated adult animation offering, Hit-Monkey mixes supernatural vengeance, yakuza crime drama, and razor-sharp comedy in a bloody spectacle worth watching. Centered on a Japanese macaque who witnesses the murder of his entire tribe, the series follows the primate protagonist as he teams up with the ghost of an assassinated hitman (voiced by Jason Sudeikis) to exact revenge on Tokyo’s criminal underworld. This unlikely partnership creates a dynamic that balances crude humor with moments of surprising emotional depth as both characters work through their respective traumas.

What makes Hit-Monkey stand out is its willingness to push boundaries while maintaining emotional authenticity — not unlike Invincible. The show’s violence is as stylized as it is brutal, with action sequences choreographed to highlight the graceful artistry and horrific consequences of close-quarters combat. The series doesn’t shy away from depicting the psychological toll of violence, exploring how vengeance transforms its protagonist into something potentially more monstrous than those he hunts. With stunning animation capturing Tokyo’s neon-lit beauty and seedy underbelly, Hit-Monkey delivers a story about mentorship, revenge, and the possibility of redemption that transcends its outlandish premise.

Watchmen

Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen profoundly reimagines Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel, using the author’s deconstruction of superhero mythology to explore America’s unresolved racial trauma. Set decades after the original comic’s conclusion, the HBO series centers on Detective Angela Abar (Regina King), who operates as the masked vigilante Sister Night in an alternate 2019 Tulsa still grappling with the legacy of the 1921 race massacre. The series uses its superhero framework to examine how power, privilege, and historical injustice shape contemporary conflicts and personal identities.

Like Invincible, Watchmen masterfully balances intimate character studies with world-building that feels both fantastical and disturbingly plausible. From police officers wearing masks to protect their identities to the godlike Dr. Manhattan hiding in plain sight, Watchmen examines the consequences of extraordinary beings existing within ordinary society. Through Angela’s journey to uncover her complicated legacy, the show delivers emotional gut-punches as she discovers that heroism isn’t defined by costumes or powers but by moral choices made in moments of devastating clarity.

What other superhero TV show would you recommend to fans of Invincible? Let us know in the comments!

The post 5 Great Superhero TV Shows to Watch After Invincible appeared first on ComicBook.com.

James Gunn says fans probably shouldn’t read too much about his recent photo with Zack Snyder. Being a DC fan has been pretty hard for the last 15 years or so when it comes to movies. After the incredibly successful, Oscar-winning Dark Knight Trilogy from Christopher Nolan, DC immediately looked to reinvent Superman in the same way it did Batman. Christopher Nolan worked with Zack Snyder to hammer out the launching point for a new universe with Man of Steel. Although the movie was divisive because of its dark story and extreme loss of life, it was successful enough for Warner Bros. to be interested in continuing the universe with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

That movie was even more divisive and led to a lot of panic at WB. However, it was a bit late to course correct as Justice League went into production just weeks after the release of Batman v Superman. Although Zack Snyder intended for the film to generally be lighter than the previous films, Warner Bros. grew concerned over the direction of the series. Snyder eventually had to leave the project during post-production due to a loss in his family, leading to Joss Whedon to take over on reshoots and editing. Ultimately, what we got was not Snyder’s intended vision and it was a pretty big disaster.

This DC franchise eventually imploded after a series of miscalculated duds that were in a universe that couldn’t decide on what it wanted to be. Was it going to continue Snyder’s story? Was it just going to move on, but keep the same actors? No one could really say what the plan was post-Snyder. Eventually, DC hired Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn to come in and try and get a hold of things. He decided to reboot the entire thing from scratch with Superman being the first film in the series. With that said, there are still some fans who long to see Zack Snyder’s vision completed with another Justice League movie or two.

[RELATED: James Gunn Teases His Favorite Upcoming DCU Project No One Knows About]

Zack Snyder Isn’t Making a DC Movie for James Gunn

While that has seemed out of the question for some time now, James Gunn recently posted a picture with Zack Snyder that had DC fans losing their minds. At a recent DC Studios event attended by ComicBook, James Gunn was asked if there was anything significant about that particular meeting. Gunn noted that they were not speaking about a DC project for Snyder, instead, they were just hanging out and thought it would be funny to post a picture together.

“I was just talking to Zack as a friend,” said Gunn. “So, you know, we were just hanging out and then we’re like, ‘Let’s take a picture together.’ We knew full well what we were doing….He thought it was funny. I thought it was funny. And that’s that.”

When asked if Gunn showed Snyder an early cut of Superman, Gunn noted that they only briefly saw each other so he didn’t show him the upcoming DC film.

James Gunn and Zack Snyder have known each other since long before either were in the DC universe. James Gunn wrote the script for Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead film and has seemingly remained friendly over the years. Whether or not Snyder ever returns to the DC universe is a mystery. It’s possible another project will exist for him a decade from now, many thought The Snyder Cut would never happen and it did. However, it does seem like another movie in the actual Snyder universe is unlikely given everyone has moved on and Gunn’s universe is now in full swing rather than an idea on a whiteboard.

Some fans have suggested that Zack Snyder would be a great fit for The Authority, one of the films that is on James Gunn’s DC slate. As of right now, there’s no known director for that movie, but it doesn’t sound like Snyder is in contention for the job at the moment. Zack Snyder is already planning his next movie with Netflix at the moment. Either way, it sounds like James Gunn and Zack Snyder were both teasing and trolling the audience.

What do you think of the filmmaker’s remarks? Let us know in the comments below!

The post James Gunn Denies Zack Snyder Meeting Was About a DC Return for Filmmaker appeared first on ComicBook.com.

During a press event attended by ComicBook, DC Studios CEO James Gunn revealed that he is deep into the editing process of Peacemaker Season 2, working simultaneously on both the series and his upcoming Superman film. This major milestone in the show’s production indicates significant progress toward its August 2025 premiere on Max, with Gunn’s hands-on involvement in post-production suggesting the series is maintaining the unique creative vision that made its first season a breakout success. The concurrent editing of both projects represents an unprecedented level of creative synergy within DC Studios’ new unified approach to storytelling as the company continues to build its interconnected universe under the leadership of Gunn and Peter Safran.

“Peacemaker is all done. I am deep in editing with that at the same time I’m doing Superman,” Gunn announced during the event, expressing enthusiasm about the production’s progress. “It’s been really fun,” Gunn added. The creator-director specifically highlighted the performance growth of John Cena (Christopher Smith/Peacemaker), noting how the actor has built upon his acclaimed work from the first season. “I think he surprised people a lot in the first season with what he was able to do performance-wise. And the guy grew exponentially in season two. And he’s really incredible, as is the whole cast,” Gunn emphasized, suggesting an even more nuanced performance from the wrestling superstar turned actor.

[RELATED: If Peacemaker Season 1 Is DCU Canon, So Are These Surprising Characters]

During the press conference, Gunn also reinforced the interconnected nature of the DCU, through his comments about character crossovers and narrative links between projects. “There is a lot of connectivity between Superman and Peacemaker, including a few actors,” Gunn explained before detailing one of the most significant character arcs spanning multiple properties: Frank Grillo’s Rick Flagg Sr. “You take the character of Rick Flagg, who starts out in Creature Commandos as one character, goes to Superman, continues to evolve and change, and then he starts out as a protagonist of one show and ends up as basically the antagonist of season two of Peacemaker.” This interconnected storytelling represents a bold new direction for DC’s television universe, promising viewers a more cohesive and rewarding viewing experience.

Peacemaker‘s Second Season Gives John Cena a More Personal Journey

As Gunn explained, the second season of Peacemaker marks a significant shift in focus, moving away from the broader superhero elements to explore more intimate character dynamics. “The second season’s much more about the characters and the interconnectivity between the characters and their personal lives,” Gunn revealed. “It’s more about Chris Smith than it is about Peacemaker.” As Gunn suggests, Season 2 of Peacemaker will offer a deeper examination of the man behind the chrome helmet, delving into the complex relationships and personal struggles that define the character beyond his peace-seeking mission.

Even the show’s iconic opening sequence, which became a viral sensation in its first season, is evolving to match this new direction. “I went through a lot of permutations of potential songs that I was going to have it open to, including reusing, doing a different dance to ‘Do You Want to Taste It?'” Gunn explained. However, the creative team ultimately chose a different path that better reflects the season’s themes. Unfortunately, Gunn is not telling which song the team picked for the intro of Peacemaker Season 2, as they are trying to save some surprises for the season premiere. “One of the things is we totally kept that from the public until the first episode aired, and it flipped people out, which was the most fun about it,” Gunn reflected. “Now, people know it’s coming, so it’s not as exciting in that respect.”

Peacemaker Season 2 premieres on Max in August 2025.

Are you excited about the second season of Peacemaker? Let us know in the comments!

The post Peacemaker Season 2 Is Almost Complete, Says James Gunn appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The reimagined DC Studios, led by co-chairmen and co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, will be a major player in the 2025 movie scene. Following years of inconsistency and poorly received DCEU projects such as 2017’s Justice League, 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984, 2022’s Black Adam, and 2023’s The Flash, Warner Bros. appointed the Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker and the executive to bring DC’s interconnected universe back to life. In the new year, DC will release Gunn’s highly anticipated Superman movie on July 11, 2025, Peacemaker Season 2 in August, and The Sandman Season 2 on a currently unspecified date in 2025.

If DC Studios’ 2025 projects perform well in terms of critical reception, TV ratings, and box office figures, they could put the franchise back on the map. After taking a back seat to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the superhero genre for more than almost two decades, DC now has the opportunity to compete with other IPs. Simply put, 2025 is a pivotal year for DC’s present and future.

What DC Studios Has Planned in 2025

Even though DC will put out just three live-action projects in 2025, one of them is the studio’s most important movie in recent memory. The relaunch of Superman after the Henry Cavill-led and Zack Snyder-directed Man of Steel in 2013 represents DC’s embrace of an ambitious new era. David Corenswet will star as Clark Kent, the titular hero, while Rachel Brosnahan will feature alongside him as Lois Lane. The rest of Superman‘s cast incudes Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, and Wendell Pierce as Perry White. The recently released first trailer for Superman has comic book movie fanatics in a frenzy, as the early look at the film’s visuals and the stars in their roles look extremely promising.

Peacemaker provided a rare bright spot for DC in 2022 when the show’s first season aired on Max. The spinoff of 2021’s The Suicide Squad centers on John Cena’s character and is similarly written and directed by Gunn. Peacemaker Season 1 scored 93% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and posted an 89% audience score. Thus, Season 2 is well positioned to further push DC in a positive direction and to spearhead the universe’s TV sector. Additionally, DC’s 2025 projects may actually work well in tandem despite their differing subject material. The release of Superman only one month earlier could give Peacemaker Season 2 a boost of popularity if the movie impresses viewers.

The Sandman‘s first run on Netflix in 2022 was a major hit. Earning an 88% Rotten Tomatoes critic approval rating and 81% audience score, the series starring Tom Sturridge as the personification of dreams carries a ton of potential as its second season nears. Moreover, The Sandman Season 1 recorded encouraging viewership numbers, so it’s possible that Netflix will continue the show beyond a second season if it can repeat its feats.

Why the Performance of DC Studios’ Projects in 2025 Matters So Much

The degree to which Gunn’s Superman succeeds will decide a lot concerning the DC Universe’s future. The film’s critical and financial performances will likely determine which, as well as how many, projects DC Studios greenlight in the coming years. Superman could even prompt Gunn to end Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe and instead bring the Caped Crusader to the DCU, however, there has been no official indication that such a change will take place, and the speculation largely results from The Batman Part II‘s delay to 2027.

Superman‘s success might also offer insight into how Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which hits theaters in 2026, will be received. The upcoming title stars House of the Dragon‘s Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, also known as Supergirl. Matthias Schoenaerts and Eve Ridley have also been cast in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, set to play Krem of the Yellow Hills and Ruthye Marye Knoll, respectively.

The stakes for DC Studios can not be higher in 2025, and time will tell if Gunn, Safran, and co. are up for the challenge of restoring fans’ faith in the franchise.

The post Why DC Studios Is About to Have a Big Year in 2025 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Creature Commandos just premiered on Max, which means that the brand new DC Universe has officially begun. This new franchise, spearheaded by Peter Safran and Creature Commandos creator James Gunn, will connect movies, TV shows, animated fare, and even video games, utilizing the same actors across different mediums. It all kicks off with Creature Commandos, which not only sets the stage for the entire DCU, but also directly addresses a couple of previous DC projects which are being brought into the new franchise from the previous regime.

It should come as no surprise that the two pieces of the old DC franchise that have made the leap to the new DCU are both titles that came from Gunn himself. The events of both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Season 1 have been canonized into the new DCU, thanks to the series premiere of Creature Commandos.

Gunn has addressed that both of those projects would be carrying over elements into the DCU, but it was still nice to see the on-screen franchise address those stories head-on, especially right out of the gate.

Early in the first episode of Creature Commandos, the show talks about the events of The Suicide Squad in a couple of different ways. Weasel, who was revealed to be a survivor of The Suicide Squad in the film’s post-credits scene, is referred to as one of the only surviving members of Project Starfish (the attack on Corto Maltese). Amanda Waller also tells Rick Flag Sr. that she’s sorry about the loss of his son, and we all know that Rick Flag Jr. was killed during the events of The Suicide Squad.

So all that to say, the events of The Suicide Squad happened in the continuity of this new DCU. The same goes for Peacemaker Season 1, which felt like even more of a given due to Peacemaker Season 2 being a part of this new franchise.

[RELATED: Frankenstein Gets a New Origin Story in Creature Commandos]

Creature Commandos addresses the ending of Peacemaker‘s first season towards the beginning of its series premiere, when it’s explained why Waller and Belle Reeve have transitioned to using the monsters instead of previous prisoners. Amanda Waller’s daughter leaked the secrets of her operation to the press. That got Task Force X shut down and Waller was told she couldn’t use human prisoners for her missions anymore. So Waller’s loophole for that rule is to use beings that aren’t considered human, aka the Creature Commandos.

Not every single thing from The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker will be brought into this new DCU (such as the Justice League appearance in Peacemaker‘s Season 1 finale), but this does confirm that at least most of the events of those stories took place in this universe. Almost everything else from the DCEU will be reset for this franchise. The only other exception remaining is Blue Beetle, but we don’t know to what extent that film is being brought into the DCU. Star Xolo Maridueña will continue in his role in the DCU, there just hasn’t been any word as to whether or not the events of the Blue Beetle film will matter for his next story.

The first two episodes of Creature Commandos are now streaming on Max.

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In only two episodes, Creature Commandos has answered many of our questions about the DCU – including what is canon for James Gunn’s revamped cinematic universe. In addition, the first episode already gives us all the information we need to place Creature Commandos at a specific point in the DCU timeline.

As Waller (voiced by Viola Davis) introduces the team of monsters to Rick Flag Sr. (voiced by Frank Grillo), she mentions Project Starfish and how Task Force X was sent to Corto Maltese to retrieve sensitive military information. The name is familiar because it’s the setting of Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Waller also tells Flag that ARGUS is watching her every step to prevent her from putting human inmates at risk ever since her daughter leaked her black ops to the media. That happened in the finale of Peacemaker Season 1 when Leota (Danielle Brooks) chooses her team over her mother’s machinations.

With just a few throwaway lines, Creature Commandos confirms the main events of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker remain canon in the DCU, which already gives us some clues on how to piece together the new timeline. Gunn revealed before The Suicide Squad‘s release that the movie takes place in 2021, the same year it hit theaters. Peacemaker kicks off five months later, after John Cena’s titular vigilante is released from the hospital. That places the first season of Peacemaker likely in 2022. The last piece of the puzzle comes from Creature Commandos. 

Rick Flag tells Princess Illana (voiced by Maria Bakalova) that his son, Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), died about two years before the animated series takes place. Since Waller also mentions that Flag Jr. died during the Corto Maltese mission, we know the DCU is reusing most — if not all — of Gunn’s previous DC adaptations. That means Creature Commandos is taking place – at the earliest – in mid-2023, or early-2024 at the latest. This is critical information, as it hints at how Superman and Peacemaker Season 2 will fit into the timeline.

Creature Commandos Reveals How Superman & Peacemaker S2 Fit Into the DCU Timeline

Gunn has already confirmed that the release dates of Creature Commandos, Superman, and Peacemaker Season 2 define their place in the DCU timeline. So Superman takes place at least two years after the events of The Suicide Squad, if not more. That’s interesting because the leader of the Task Force X operation in Corto Maltese was Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, who was serving time in Belle Reve for shooting the Man of Steel with a Kryptonite bullet. We know Superman will star David Corenswet as a well-established Son of Krypton; however, until now, we had no idea how long Superman would have been active in the DCU before his solo movie. Thanks to Creature Commandos, we know that Superman has to have three or four years of crime fighting under his belt before his solo movie takes place.

Superman had to be active in Metropolis before he became a target for Bloodsport. Bloodsport, in turn, had to spend at least a few months in Belle Reve before The Suicide Squad, as the movie tells us he had already refused a position in Task Force X before being sent to Corto Maltese. Add two more years until Creature Commandos, plus the gap between the animated series and Superman, and we can safely assume that Clark Kent donned his cape for the first time around four years before the upcoming movie. That’s a long time to fill with stories, so we can also presume that a lot has happened behind the scenes in Gunn’s DCU, not only for Superman but for the Justice League as a whole.

The timeline implications for Peacemaker Season 2 are even more interesting. The first footage of Season 2 implies the entire Operation Butterfly team is still in touch after they saved Earth from an alien invasion. It would be safe to assume that Season 2 occurs just a few months after Season 1. However, considering the new Creature Commandos information, there’s a considerable time jump of at least two years. 

Operation Butterfly saved the world about six months after The Suicide Squad. Creature Commandos takes place about two years after the Corto Maltese Operation. So, since Season 2 of Peacemaker happens after Superman, which is set after Creature Commandos, we are looking for a two-year break between the plotlines of Seasons 1 and 2 of Peacemaker. That’s quite a long time!

It will be interesting to see how Season 2 of Peacemaker explains this two-year hiatus and shows what its characters did during that time. Hopefully, there will be a clear explanation, lest the DCU already starts with a flawed and inconsistent timeline.

New episodes of Creature Commandos hit MAX every Thursday until January 9, 2025.

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John Cena and Jennifer Holland have finished filming Peacemaker Season 2. Showrunner James Gunn announced this big step on Saturday via Instagram, along with a photo of each of the actors on set. With the stars’ parts finished, Gunn revealed that there was only one day of filming left for the season as a whole.

“And that’s #Peacemaker Season Two wrap on @johncena & @jenniferlholland, who both turned in wonderful performances this season as Christopher Smith and Emilia Harcourt,” Gunn wrote. “To top it off, shooting yesterday was one of the most fun days of shooting I have EVER had! Thanks to the incredible people of Savannah, Georgia for making the Peacemaker crew’s stay here so special. ONE DAY LEFT!”

The post picked up over 51,000 likes overnight, and a lot of excited comments as well. Fans were overjoyed to see a photo of Cena sitting at a piano once again, even if the casual behind-the-scenes pictures didn’t tease much of what is coming. Peacemaker Season 2 will take place after Gunn’s upcoming Superman film, and will be a part of the new DCU continuity.

Peacemaker debuted in 2022 on Max – then known as HBO Max. It’s a spinoff of Gunn’s 2021 film The Suicide Squad, following Cena’s character Peacemaker as he is assigned to work for a different secret agency, A.R.G.U.S. Holland plays an A.R.G.U.S. agent assigned to work with Peacemaker on “Project Butterfly.” Other stars include Danielle Brooks as A.R.G.U.S. head Leota Adebayo, Fredy Stroma as Adrian Chase – a.k.a. Vigilante, Chukwudi Iwuji as Project Butterfly leader Clemson Murn, Steve Agee as agent John Economos and Robert Patrick as Peacemaker’s father Auggie Smith – a.k.a. White Dragon.

Launching the DCU

A lot has changed for DC Comics adaptations since then, and Peacemaker will be one of the few projects carried over from the DCEU to the DCU. Gunn and Peter Safran were promoted to co-CEOs of DC Studios shortly after Peacemaker Season 2 was announced, and they revealed early on that they would continue this series through their “soft reboot.” However, the DCU continuity will get its grand start with a new Superman movie premiering on July 11, 2025. It will star David Corenswet as Clark Kent.

Peacemaker Season 2 will be the second DCU release, premiering in August of 2025. The exact date has not been released yet, but we know the show will stream exclusively on Max, where Season 1 is available now.

The post Peacemaker Season 2 Gets Exciting Filming Update From James Gunn appeared first on ComicBook.com.

James Gunn’s recent confirmation that Peacemaker‘s first season remains canon in the DCU, excluding one scene, opens up fascinating possibilities for the franchise’s future. The series follows Christopher Smith’s (John Cena) adventures after the events of The Suicide Squad, exploring the antihero adventures in a world filled with metahumans. So, the decision to canonize the show validates the existence of numerous DC characters while providing crucial insight into the universe Gunn and Peter Safran are building.

Peacemaker Main Cast Is Now DCU Canon

The most obvious additions to DCU canon are the show’s main characters. In the show, Christopher Smith/Peacemaker worked alongside Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), John Economos (Steve Agee), Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), and Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) — Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) daughter. Season 1 also featured Judomaster (Nhut Le) as a villain hired to protect the alien species known as Butterflies. However, the Peacemaker character who tells us the most about the state of the DCU is White Dragon (Robert Patrick), Peacemaker’s father.

August “Auggie” Smith, also known as White Dragon, represents one of the DCU’s first confirmed supervillains. As a former vigilante turned white supremacist, his existence suggests a darker history of costumed activity predating the current era. This aligns perfectly with Gunn’s vision of the DCU as a lived-in universe where superhuman activity isn’t a new phenomenon.

Confirmed Justice League Members

Peacemaker’s constant criticism of superheroes reveals several Justice League members are active in the DCU. During his rants about “real heroes,” Smith specifically mentions Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Superman, and The Flash, suggesting these heroes have been operating long enough to become household names.

Gunn’s DCU will start its theatrical run with Superman, starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel. In addition, Wonder Woman’s homeland, Themyscira, is the setting of the upcoming Paradise Lost TV show. However, Aquaman, The Flash, and Green Arrow have not been confirmed as part of a DCU project. But if Peacemaker knows all their names, abilities, and status as renowned heroes, we can expect to see them further down the line.

The Batman Universe Connection

While arguing against Batman’s effectiveness in crimefighting, Peacemaker reveals that the Dark Knight is active and has a well-established rogues’ gallery. When accused of being a murderer, Peacemaker gets angry and says Batman’s no-kill rule is more damaging to society, as villains such as Riddler and Mad Hatter are put behind bars so that they can escape and wreak havoc in Gotham again.

Edward Nigma, aka Riddler, needs no introduction. The psychopath with a penchant for puzzles has been one of Batman’s most recognizable villains since his comic debut in 1948’s Detective Comics #140. Created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang, Riddler often torments the World’s Greatest Detective with cunning riddles, punishing his failure with the death of innocent people. 

As for Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, the villain was created by Bill Finger, Lew Sayre Schwartz, and Bob Kane for 1948’s Batman #49. Using mind-controlling technology, Mad Hatter feeds on his obsession with Alice in Wonderland by performing crimes inspired by the beloved children’s book.

Peacemaker’s throwaway line about Batman’s villains confirms Riddler and Mad Hatter have been active long enough to threaten Gotham more than once. It’s exciting to learn these villains are part of the DCU, but the real revelation is that Batman has been fighting crime for many years. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have built a reputation as someone who allows villains to get out of jail repeatedly.

The DCU D-List

Throughout Peacemaker Season 1, Christopher name-drops several lesser-known heroes, revealing some of the DCU’s weirdest individuals. For starters, we have Darrell Dane, aka Doll Man, who debuted in 1939’s Feature Comics #27 as Quality Comics’ first superhero. Created by Will Eisner, this scientist-turned-superhero can shrink to six inches while maintaining full-sized strength, suggesting size-changing technology has existed in the DCU for years.

Another villain confirmed by Peacemaker is Kite-Man, real name Charles “Chuck” Brown, who first appeared in 1960’s Batman #133 by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang. Despite being widely considered a joke villain, Kite-Man has been spending a lot of time in the spotlight thanks to the Harley Quinn animated series, going as far as getting his spin-off show.

Finally, we have Matter-Eater Lad, a hero with the incredible ability to eat any substance. Born Tenzil Kem on the planet Bismoll, Matter-Eater Lad debuted in 1963’s Adventure Comics #303 by Jerry Siegel and John Forte. In the comic books, Matter-Eater Lad is an alien and a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, elements that can now be incorporated into the DCU.

The Fifth-Dimensional Imp

The show’s most surprising confirmation comes when Peacemaker references Bat-Mite, a fifth-dimensional being who first appeared in 1959’s Detective Comics #267 by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff. This reality-warping imp’s existence validates multiple dimensions within the DCU. Described by Peacemaker as “Batman’s biggest fan from another dimension,” Bat-Mite’s presence suggests the DCU will embrace even its most outlandish concepts, including beings with near-omnipotent powers who meddle in superhero affairs for entertainment.

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The DCU is officially about to start with the release of Creature Commandos, but James Gunn has already confirmed that the first season of Peacemaker will be canon in the new universe. Well, most of it.

In an interview with IGN, Gunn explicitly spoke about the canon status of Peacemaker, confirming that John Cena’s antihero series will still have happened in the DCU’s continuity. That’s not exactly a surprise. 

First of all, Gunn is overseeing the production of Season 2 of Peacemaker as part of the DCU, so the first season had to fit into the universe somehow. Furthermore, the Creature Commandos trailer confirmed that Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is using monsters as soldiers because she’s not allowed to use humans anymore. That’s a likely consequence of Waller’s secret becoming public domain after her daughter, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), talked to the press at the end of Peacemaker Season 1.

Nevertheless, while Gunn’s comments officially brought Peacemaker into DCU canon, he opened a new can of worms. That’s because the DC Studios co-head revealed that the Justice League cameo will be scrapped from the timeline and that Season 2 will directly address the change.

How Can Season 2 of Peacemaker Erase the Justice League Cameo?

After Peacemaker and his team manage to end the Butterflies’ invasion, the Justice League arrives at the scene, too late to help. The joke is that Earth’s mightiest heroes were not called for backup fast enough, giving low-tier vigilantes the time to clean up the alien mess. It makes sense this scene is no longer canon, as Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash are not part of the DCU. This raises the question of how Season 2 can address this incongruity, erase the cameo, and still make sense.

The way we see it, Gunn has three potential paths to follow. The messy one is to introduce a multiversal change in Season 2 of Peacemaker, making its titular character move to a different timeline where everything but that scene happened. That would be problematic, as it can confuse people who don’t care about the change in command that happened when Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios.

Another possibility is that Gunn will reshoot the scene with characters and actors already confirmed as part of the DCU. So, instead of Miller’s Scarlet Speedster, the new version of the cameo could feature David Corenswet’s Superman. Or maybe even some less important heroes, such as Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardner and Anthony Carrigan’s Metamorpho.

The easiest way to deal with it is to have Peacemaker recap the events of Season 1 and have someone else interrupt him and explain that the cameo never happened. It’s just a lie John likes to tell to inflate his ego, as he wants people to believe he stood his moral ground against the mighty Justice League. That’s a simple solution that fits the humorous tone of the show while being enough to retcon a single scene.

More importantly, though, if the rest of Peacemaker is canon, Gunn inadvertently confirms the DCU existence of multiple heroes and villains mentioned during the show. That includes wacky characters such as Bat-Mite, Doll Man, Matter-Eater Lad, and Kite-Man (Hell yeah!). We can’t wait to see how it all comes together.

Creature Commandos will premiere on Max on December 5th. Season 2 of Peacemaker is scheduled for August 2025.

The post James Gunn Says Peacemaker’s Biggest DC Crossover Moment Is No Longer Canon (But How?) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Bringing awesome characters to the screen comes with some great perks. Not only is it creatively satisfying to tell stories to fans around the world, but it also gives you some sweet opportunities as a collector. Just ask James Gunn! The new creative force behind DC Studios brought John Cena’s Peacemaker to life in his acclaimed 2021 film The Suicide Squad, before spinning the character out into his own solo TV series on Max. Between those two projects, Cena’s take on the anti-hero has become one of the most popular characters in recent on-screen DC history, and that popularity has resulted in a phenomenal looking statue from the folks at Sideshow.

Gunn recently took to social media to share a look at a new Peacemaker statue that Sideshow sent to him, and it’s an absolutely beauty. The only problem, as Gunn notes in his post, is that the statue is one of only two like it in existence, meaning that none of us are going to be able to get our hands on one.

The statue depicts Cena’s Peacemaker riding Eagley into battle, tossing up a “rock on” sign with his free hand (reminiscent of the killer rock-and-roll soundtrack that Gunn put together in Peacemaker Season 1). Instead of being in full color, this Peacemaker statue is completely bronze, making it look even cooler — and more expensive.

Gunn notes in his post that the statue is one of only two produced by Sideshow, though he doesn’t say who has possession of the other. Perhaps it’s somewhere in the Sideshow offices. Then again, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn it was sent over to John Cena.

[RELATED: First Peacemaker Season 2 Footage Revealed in Max Sneak Peek]

The second season of Peacemaker is on the way, and this time will be under the umbrella of DC Studios and the new DCU. While many of the recent live-action iterations of DC characters are being recast for a fresh start in this new franchise, the cast of Peacemaker is being carried over into this connected universe. Cena is reprising his role in the DCU, alongside Danielle Brooks (Adebayo), Freddie Stroma (Vigilante), Jennifer Holland (Emilia Harcourt), and Steve Agee (John Economos). More leftovers from Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad could pop up in the DCU moving forward, but there’s no telling exactly who will be joining the franchise.

We also don’t know exactly when Peacemaker Season 2 is going to be released on Max. It is coming at some point in 2025, but fans shouldn’t expect it to arrive until the second half of the year. The show’s events follow what takes place in Gunn’s Superman film, which hits theaters on July 11, 2025. Given that timeline, Gunn has said that Peacemaker will debut sometime after Superman.

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James Gunn is clearing up confusion about the new DC Universe after fans noticed a minor discrepancy between Creature Commandos and Peacemaker. Ahead of the final episode of The Penguin, Max on Sunday debuted a sizzle reel revealing a look at the new Max and HBO shows set to premiere on the service in 2025, including season 2 of the DC Studios series Peacemaker. The footage offered a glimpse at Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr. (father of Joel Kinnaman’s Suicide Squad character Rick Flag Jr.), who will first appear in the adult animated series Creature Commandos before making his live-action debut in the Superman movie written and directed by Gunn.

Asked whether Grillo’s black hair indicates Peacemaker season 2 takes place before Creature Commandos — the animated version of Grillo’s character is silver-haired with matching beard — Gunn clarified that the inconsistency is due to Grillo’s role as Bill Bevilaqua on Tulsa King season 2. Both shows began filming in April 2024 in Georgia.

RELATED: James Gunn Explains the New DCU Canon – And How It References the Old DCEU

“[Peacemaker 2] is after [Superman] which is after [Creature Commandos],” Gunn wrote on Threads. The three projects are set in order of release: Creature Commandos season 1 (Dec. 5 on Max), followed by Superman (July 11, 2025 in theaters) and Peacemaker season 2 (later in 2025 on Max).

In 2023, the DC Studios co-chief announced that actors cast in the DCU would play their characters in animation and live-action. Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. will be the first character to make the jump from animation when he shows up in Superman and then Peacemaker.

“He is a really cool character that Frank has been molding,” Gunn previously told EW of the character linking all three projects. “The character’s also in Superman, and he’s an incredibly important part in Peacemaker.”

“He is one of the primary characters in Peacemaker season 2. So we get to see this character from different angles, and he is not simple,” Gunn noted. “This isn’t just a good guy, not at all. We see all different sides of his character. He is morally a complex human being. Grillo is somebody who I’ve known for a little while, and I’ve wanted to work with him for a long time. He was one of the first people that I talked to when I took over the studio, like ‘we’re going to find something cool for you,’ and now he is everywhere.”

RELATED: Everything James Gunn Revealed About the New DCU at NYCC

As for any continuity concerns, Gunn has assured fans the new DCU canon “won’t be confusing.” While Creature Commandos is the first series set in the new universe, it’s Superman that marks the “true start” of the DCU. While some of the events depicted in The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker season 1 may be canon, the projects themselves are not.

“There are references to things that happened in the past, and those references then become canon in the DCU because we mention them,” Gunn explained at New York Comic Con.

Written and created by Gunn, the seven-episode Creature Commandos follows a secret team of incarcerated monsters recruited for missions deemed too dangerous for humans. In addition to Grillo as Flag Sr., the series features the voices of Zoe Chao (The Afterparty) as Nina Mazursky, David Harbour (Thunderbolts*) as Frankenstein, Indira Varma (Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning) as The Bride, Alan Tudyk (Moana 2) as Dr. Phosphorus, and Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) as Weasel and GI Robot.

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Team Peacemaker is back in action. Ahead of Sunday’s season (or series?) finale of The Penguin, Max premiered a first look at another DC series coming to the streaming service in 2025: Peacemaker season 2. In-between glimpses of the Dune prequel Dune: Prophecy, the IT prequel Welcome to Derry, The Last of Us season 2, and Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is footage from the sophomore season of the James Gunn-created series, which is set in the new DC Universe after the events of Gunn’s Superman movie.

“No matter how far away we are from each other, no one will ever break us apart,” John Cena’s Christopher Smith says over footage of the “11th Street Kids” gang toasting with beers: Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), John Economos (Steve Agee), Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), and Adrian Chase / Vigilante (Freddie Stroma). Watch the just-released sizzle reel below.

RELATED: The New DCU Canon Explained by James Gunn

Sandwiched between shots of a bloody bar fight and Peacemaker knifing someone in the throat is the first look at Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) — the father of former Task Force X leader Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), who was killed by Peacemaker in 2021’s The Suicide Squad. Grillo will first voice Rick Flag Sr. in the Max animated series Creature Commandos before appearing in Superman (set to open in theaters on July 11, 2025), and Peacemaker season 2 (streaming the second half of 2025).

“What you got to understand and keep in mind is I’m the guy who plays Peacemaker,” Cena recently told Variety about the nearly four-year wait between seasons. “So when we come out with a show and it’s the No. 1 show on Max and, finally, we take a character who is supposed to be dead [after The Suicide Squad], bring Peacemaker back to life, and people enjoy the universe and want to see more of it — but then you have a shift in the structure of who is calling the shots over at DC.”

“James and Peter [Safran] actually both called me and said, ‘You know what, we want to take some time to do this right. But it’s just going to take a little time,’” Cena said. “So it was crazy to know we did something people want, they want more of it, let’s do it again. And everybody’s like, ‘No wait, we just got to do a few things first. And we have this whole plan, and it’s all going to work together. So if you just trust us, we’ll be okay.’ And it seems like forever ago, now that we’re filming every day, it seems like it will be just right around the corner that we’re watching season 2.”

RELATED: Everything James Gunn Revealed About Creature Commandos, Peacemaker Season 2 and the New DCU at NYCC

DC Studios’ Creature Commandos debuts on Max Dec. 5. Superman is slated for July 2025 as the first film of the new DCU canon, with Peacemaker season 2 confirmed to release later next year.

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James Gunn is already working on the anticipated second season to Peacemaker, but that’s not the only Peacemaker project he’s working on. Today DC announced that Gunn will be a story consultant on the new five-issue series Peacemaker Presents: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature, which is helmed by the creative teams of Tim Seeley and Mitch Gerads (Vigilante) and Rex Ogle and Matteo Lolli (Eagly). The series ties right into the show as well, as it is set between Peacemaker seasons one and two, giving fans an idea of what is in store when the second season hits Max in 2025, though it also deals with the fallout from season one, including the disappearance of Peacemaker.

In the Vigilante story, Adrian heads to Peacemaker’s house to hang out but finds that Chris and Eagly are gone. He assumes the worst, thinking they’ve been taken, so he suits up and starts with his local criminal community to figure out where they are, and there will likely be quite a bit of bloodshed as he looks to find answers. Making this all the more ironic is that Chris and Eagly are not captured at all, but on vacation in Alaska, with Chris simply forgetting to ask Adrian along.
 
“I’m in my Vigilante era,” said artist Mitch Gerads on the Vigilante (without Peacemaker) half of the double feature. “I have 100 Taylor Swift friendship bracelets to trade—they’re in Vigilante colors and say ‘Vigilante S***.’ Come find me at NYCC and join the fun.”
 
“Awkward. Clueless. Possibly psychotic. Obsessed with destroying furniture. That’s Mitch Gerads,” said writer Tim Seeley. “Oh…wait? You mean you want me to describe Adrian Chase, Vigilante? Oh, sure. He’s the coolest dude ever and he smashes so many chicks. Also, he’s a great friend, and definitely not a serial-killing busboy. Peacemaker is lucky to call him “bro,” and Mitch and I are lucky to continue his horrifically violent adventures at DC Comics.”

On the Eagly side of things, we see things from Chris’ point of view as they vacation in Alaska. Unfortunately, things do go sideways when everyone on their plane is gassed and knocked out. When they wake up they are being hunted for sport by a mysterious group of supervillains, which is not at all what this vacation was supposed to be. Thing is, the villains don’t know what they’ve gotten into either, as none of them expected for Peacemaker to be one of the people they were hunting.
 
“When [DC editor] Katie Kubert asked me to do a short for DC’s Strange Love Adventures, I was stoked to write a Peacemaker story,” said writer Rex Ogle on the Eagly (and Peacemaker) half of the double feature. “So getting to dive back in and play with this iconic antihero again (and in a miniseries this time!) is a total dream. Part of what makes him so great is that at his core, Peacemaker is a hopeless optimist. He wants the world to be a better place, not just for himself, but for others. He doesn’t always go about achieving peace in the right way, but he brings an incredible levity to the violence that is already ever-present in our world. And sometimes we need to laugh at the bad—so we don’t break down and cry.”
 
“Bringing Peacemaker and Eagly to life in a comic is like unleashing chaos and heart on every page,” said artist Matteo Lolli. “Rex was able to both capture their funny bond and make for a perfect mix of action and humor. Drawing Peacemaker is obviously a blast, but capturing a character that doesn’t speak? Not easy. And what if this character happens to be a bird to whom nature gave by default a stern and angry look? That’s a whole other challenge, and I wasn’t sure I could deliver it without the right kind of script. Luckily for me, Rex did a fantastic job with it. It’s pure fun to see their unpredictable dynamic unleashed in this new adventure.”
 
“I write a ton of books and graphic novels for middle grade and young adult readers, which I love,” continued Ogle, “but there’s nothing quite like returning to my comic book roots to work on something where I can unleash my inner creative beast. Writing Christopher Smith lets me do just that—go buck wild—not just with some good ol’ fashioned violence, but with humor and unnecessary nudity. Peacemaker lets me live the dream of writing stories I wanted to read as a kid.”

Peacemaker Presents: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature! features a Vigilante story by writer Tim Seeley, artist Mitch Gerads, and letterer Pat Brosseau, and an Eagly story by writer Rex Ogle, artist Matteo Lolli, colorist John Kalisz, and letterer Pat Brosseau, with story consulting by James Gunn. The first issue will hit stores in March and will carry DC’s Ages 17+ content descriptor for mature readers. It will also have main covers by Gerads.

Are you excited for the new Peacemaker double feature? You can talk all things DC and comics with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!

The post Peacemaker’s James Gunn Working on Vigilante and Eagly Double-Feature at DC appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Filming continues to be underway on the second season of Peacemaker, one of the most-anticipated titles of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe. While we already know a number of new and returning faces who will appear in the show’s latest episodes, a new behind-the-scenes look from Gunn has complicated things in an intriguing way.

On Wednesday, Gunn took to social media to share a photo of a male character, shrouded in silhouette, sitting in front of a campfire on Peacemaker‘s set. Gunn captioned the photo “Who might this be?”, inviting fans to speculate about who the mystery person could be — and whether or not they are an established part of DC canon.

Who Is Peacemaker Season 2’s Mystery Character?

Looking at the lore of DC’s comics, there are plenty of possible contenders for Peacemaker‘s mystery man. Fans have already begun to theorize that the character could be a number of DC’s different Native American protagonists, beginning with Apache Chief, who can grow his body to different sizes and was created by Alex Toth for Hanna-Barbera’s Super Friends animated series. The concept of Apache Chief later inspired characters in other media, including Long Shadow in the Justice League Unlimited animated series, and Manitou Raven in 2002’s JLA comic series. There is also the short-lived Firestorm antagonist Black Bison, who already made his live-action debut on The Flash television show. The lighter hair does throw a wrinkle into those theories, as the mystery man is either older with graying white hair, or is supposed to be younger with blonde hair.

Another possibility, albeit a more eccentric one, is that the man could secretly be Travis Morgan / Warlord. Created by Mike Grell in 1975’s 1st Issue Special #8, Morgan is a former Air Force pilot who is accidentally marooned in Skartaris, a subterranean pocket dimension believed to be hidden in the center of the Earth. During his years of time there, Morgan is embraced as a champion of Skartaris, going on a multitude of adventures as a sword-and-sorcery hero. While the costume in Gunn’s photo is a bit more natural-looking than Warlord’s usual comic-accurate ensemble, that would be an effective way to potentially translate him into live-action (and leave room for an upgrade later on). Given Morgan’s past with the government, it also wouldn’t be out of the question for him to have some sort of tie to the organization Checkmate, which has been heavily rumored to appear in the new DCU.

Who Is in the Cast of Peacemaker Season 2?

Plot details are currently unknown about Peacemaker‘s sophomore season. John Cena will continue to lead the series as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker, with Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase / Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, and Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo.

New cast members for Peacemaker Season 2 will include Sol Rodríguez as Sasha Bordeaux, Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury, and David Denman in a currently-unknown role. Frank Grillo is also confirmed to be reprising his role as Rick Flag, Sr. from the forthcoming Creature Commandos animated series, as well as Gunn’s Superman movie.

Season 2 of Peacemaker is expected to debut on HBO Max at some point in 2025.

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Arrow star Stephen Amell took aim at new DC Studios co-chief James Gunn in a new podcast interview, saying that he felt Arrow was routinely disrespected by the people behind DC’s movies and Gunn’s series Peacemaker. Amell, who played Oliver Queen/Green Arrow from 2012 until 2023 in Arrow and its various spinoffs, has apparently seen Peacemaker now and isn’t too pleased about a joke made at Green Arrow’s expense. In an episode of the series, Peacemaker says to Vigilante that Green Arrow “goes to Brony conventions dressed as the back half of Twilight Sparkle,” with a hold drilled into the back of the costume. 

Peacemaker made a number of such off-color jokes about characters including Wonder Woman and Aquaman, who had brief cameos in the season finale. After initially saying he had not yet seen the episode, Amell now says that he has, and wasn’t a fan.

“That was a little unnecessary,” Amell told Chris Van Vliet on YouTube. “I didn’t f—ing appreciate that at all….Okay. I am just going to come right out and say this. There was just such…between the movies and Peacemaker a little bit, our show was kind of treated like s–t. I get it, we’re on The CW, I get it, it’s TV. But I also get the fact that when people think about the most recent iteration of DC, they don’t think about the Snyder Cut – they think about the Arrowverse. We got crapped on for years, and years, and years, and this just seemed excessive. I’m not actually mad, but I just remember hearing that and just being like, ‘F–k those guys,’ like seriously. I’m up here. I’m working just as hard as anyone else. Do you know how hard it is to play a superhero with no superpowers for 23 episodes a year? It’s really, really, really hard, and I’m not looking for a prize, but, like, maybe don’t s–t on our show.” 

While Amell’s initial response was to take a shot at John Cena for the laughs, he admitted that he isn’t actually upset with the actor, praising Cena and instead saying that if he should be angry with anyone, it’s Gunn, who wrote the line.

“I’ve met John a handful of times, and there couldn’t be a nicer, more genuine person,” Amell said. “If I should be mad at anyone, it should be James Gunn for writing that in the first place. But [John Cena] could not be a nicer guy. It’s not a personal vendetta against [Cena].”

The Arrowverse was the fans’ colloquial name for a shared DC Universe of live-action TV series. Arrow was the first, followed by The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Batwoman. Superman & Lois spun out of the events of 2020’s Crisis on Infinite Earths event series, becoming the final show set in the multiverse of Arrow (although they later relocated the series away from the shared Earth on which the other shows took place).

The relationship between Warner Bros.’ DC movies and the Arrowverse was always an odd one. Arrow launched the year before Man of Steel,  creating two separate live-action DC Universes that were running at the same time. Because the movies were what Warner Bros. prioritized, the studio would periodically disrupt Arrowverse storylines and remove characters, notably members of the Suicide Squad, who had a bigger role planned for Arrow. When Justice League hit theaters in 2017, it coincided with Crisis on Earth-X, the most popular Arrowverse crossover series, and resulted in thousands of fans on social media unfavorably comparing the $300 million movie to the TV  miniseries.

Fans had hoped for characters from the Arrowverse to show up in the movies, especially after Ezra Miller’s Flash appeared in Crisis on Infinite Earths and met Grant Gustin’s Flash. That never happened, though, and the filmmakers behind The Flash have said that bringing Gustin and John Wesley Shipp in was never seriously considered.

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The dance party of Peacemaker is one step closer to being back on our television screens, as the Max series is currently in the middle of filming on its second season. The live-action series, which stars John Cena in the titular role of Christopher Smith / Peacemaker, is expected to shift into James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe, and fans have been eager to see exactly what that entails. While it sounds like Peacemaker‘s second season will not arrive until the latter half of 2025, new comments from Cena hint that it will be more than worth the wait. In a recent interview with Variety, Cena provided an update on how Peacemaker‘s sophomore season is going, and teased that the premiere of these new episodes could be “right around the corner.”

“What you got to understand and keep in mind is I’m the guy who plays Peacemaker,” Cena explained. “So when we come out with a show and it’s the No. 1 show on Max and, finally, we take a character who is supposed to be dead, bring Peacemaker back to life, and people enjoy the universe and want to see more of it — but then you have a shift in the structure of who is calling the shots over at DC. James and Peter actually both called me and said, ‘You know what, we want to take some time to do this right. But it’s just going to take a little time.’ So it was crazy to know we did something people want, they want more of it, let’s do it again. And everybody’s like, ‘No wait, we just got to do a few things first. And we have this whole plan, and it’s all going to work together. So if you just trust us, we’ll be okay.’ And it seems like forever ago, now that we’re filming every day, it seems like it will be just right around the corner that we’re watching Season 2.”

What Is Peacemaker Season 2 About?

Plot details are currently unknown about Peacemaker‘s sophomore season, which is currently filming and is set to debut on Max at a later date. John Cena will continue to lead the series as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker, with Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase / Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, and Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo.

New cast members for Peacemaker Season 2 will include Sol Rodríguez as Sasha Bordeaux, Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury, and David Denman in a currently-unknown role. Frank Grillo is also confirmed to be reprising his role as Rick Flag, Sr. from the forthcoming Creature Commandos animated series.

Is James Gunn Directing Peacemaker Season 2?

Gunn has already confirmed that, thanks to his schedule filming DC Studios’ Superman movie, he will not be able to direct as much of Peacemaker Season 2. He previously helmed the first, second, third, sixth, and eighth episodes of Peacemaker‘s first season.

“Yes, we’ll be shooting Superman & #Peacemaker simultaneously; yes, I’ve written all the episodes; but, no, in the interest of getting the show out there I won’t be able to direct them all (only some),” Gunn previously confirmed on social media.

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If ya really wanna taste of Peacemaker season 2, you’ll have to wait for James Gunn’s Superman. After confirming that the second season of The Suicide Squad spinoff series will be grandfathered into the DC Universe canon — which will kick off with the Max animated series Creature Commandos in December, before Superman officially launches the new DCU — the DC Studios co-chief revealed that John Cena’s chrome-helmeted anti-hero won’t return until after the Man of Steel reboot takes flight in July 2025.

Season 2 of Peacemaker will air in “2025 after Superman,” Gunn announced on Threads. The new season “follows the events” of the first DC Studios film, which tells the story of a younger Kal-El (Twisters‘ David Corenswet, taking over from Henry Cavill) and “Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonianheritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas,” according to the official synopsis. 

Plot details remain locked away in Belle Reve, but announced cast members include the return of Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, daughter of Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller; Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase / Vigilante; Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee as A.R.G.U.S. Agents Emilia Harcourt and John Economos; and new cast members Sol Rodríguez (Star Trek: Picard), Tim Meadows (Saturday Night Live), and David Denman (Brightburn), with Frank Grillo reprising his role from Creature Commandos and Superman as Rick Flag Sr. 

In July, Gunn announced the DCU order is as follows: Creature Commandos (December 2024), Superman (July 2025), and Peacemaker season 2 (TBA 2025). “All of these initial projects are happening in the order they’re released,” Gunn said of the DC Studios slate, which includes the undated Max series Waller, HBO’s Green Lantern series, the comedy series Booster Gold, the Game of Thrones-inspired Wonder Woman spinoff Paradise Lost, andthe upcoming feature films Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (dated for June 26th, 2026), The Authority, Batman reboot The Brave and the Bold, Swamp Thing, and Teen Titans.

“Nothing is ‘in production’ unless it’s been greenlit. Right nowthat’s Superman, Supergirl, Penguin, Peacemaker, Lanterns, and a handfulof animated projects,” Gunn shared on Threads, adding that announced and unannounced projects will only go into production “once we have a script or scripts we think are great and readyto shoot, never before.” 

Peacemaker season 1 is streaming now on Max (formerly HBO Max).

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Production continues on Peacemaker season 2 and a fresh look at John Cena’s new gear has arrived from a surprise set photo. James Gunn, DC Studios CO-CEO and creator of the Peacemaker TV Series, today continued his trend of paying tribute to the origins of the big screen characters in the pages of comics. Today marked the anniversary of the first appearance of Peacemaker, who made hits debut in Fightin’ 5 #40. Gunn took to social media to pay tribute to the character’s debut issue and to hype up the next season of the TV series with a tease of a new helmet for Cena’s Peacemaker. 

“On this day, #Peacemaker aka Christopher Smith made his first comic appearance in Fightin’ 5 #40, in 1966, created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette,” Gunn wrote. “It’s the role @JohnCena was born to play, and I can’t wait to show you all what we’re cooking up now for @Peacemaker Season 2!”

Fightin’ 5, where Peacemaker made his comic book debut, was originally published by Charlton Comics. When the longtime publisher eventually faded away in the 1980s, many of its characters (including Peacemaker) were purchased by DC Comics. That deal also included Captain Atom, Judo Master, The Question, and Blue Beetle; characters that would go on to become major pillars of DC’s publishing in the decades that followed. So far only one of those other characters has appeared in the Peacemaker TV series, with Nhut Le playing Judomaster in season 1, but the Jaime Reyes incarnation of Blue Beetle did star in his own solo movie (which included a tease of Charlton’s Ted Kord).

Peacemaker season 2 actually started filming as James Gunn’s Superman movie was already in the middle of production. Gunn confirmed that this meant he would not be directing the majority of the second batch of episodes, but did confirm that he would still direct “some” of Peacemaker season 2’s episodes. Additional episodes in Peacemaker season 2 will be directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad) and Peter Sollett (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist). 

Peacemaker season 2 has not yet confirmed and plot details about what DC fans can expect, but we do know that. John Cena will return once again as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker, with Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase / Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, and Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo. In a surprise move, Robert Patrick seemingly revealed he would return as Christopher Smith’s father Auggie in the new episodes. In addition, one director appeared to confirm that Joel Kinnaman will reprise his Rick Flag role in Season 2. Fans will no doubt remember that Peacemaker actually killed Rick Flag during the events of The Suicide Squad. 

The new season of Peacemaker will introduce some new cast members including Sol Rodríguez as Sasha Bordeaux, Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury, and David Denman in a currently-unknown role.  In a major peace of connectivity to James Gunn’s larger DCU, Peacemaker season 2 will include reprising his role as Rick Flag, Sr. from the upcoming Creature Commandos animated show.

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Robert Patrick will reportedly return to reprise his role as Christopher Smith’s father Auggie in the upcoming, second season of Peacemaker. That’s something that might surprise some fans who remember his character being very dead by the time the first season ended (spoilers, sorry!), but it’s actually in line with some of the lore around Peacemaker in the comics. While that lore might not line up perfectly with the TV show — Peacemaker’s dad wasn’t a supervillain but rather an Army officer and later a politician, who taught Chris some of his earliest skills.

After Auggie’s death in Peacemaker‘s first season, the character showed up again in the season finale as a ghost, telling Christopher what a terrible person he is and essentially haunting him. That “haunting” is in line with a dynamic longtime fans of the Peacemaker comics will remember from his first DC series in the 1980s.

“I was with John [Cena] on Friday. We’re filming season 2,” Patrick said (as reported by PopVerse). He later added, “I was just working with James Gunn on Friday. James is amazing. He’s one of the most talented people I’ve met in my life. Incredible mind and just a wonderful human being. I love him and his wife Jennifer Holland. We were doing a big scene for the second season of Peacemaker on Friday right before I came here.”

While Peacemaker’s core concept as a pacifist who will get peace at any cost — even if he has to kill for it — was always his MO going back to his original creation for Charlton Comics (remember — this is the guy on whom The Comedian was based in Watchmen), the inherent conflict of that, and the way it would tear him apart and make him a little unstable, was not explored until Paul Kupperberg brought the character into the fold at DC (who bought Charlton’s assets in the 1980s). 

In Kupperberg, Tod Smith and Pablo Marcos’s 1988 Peacemaker miniseries, audiences learned that not only was Christopher frequently talking (usually arguing) with the ghost of his father, but that father had been a Nazi who died by suicide after his past and crimes came to light. That aspect of the character is one that other writers have returned to over the years, so while it might be jarring for fans of the TV show, it’s likely unsurprising to longtime readers that Patrick is back in for season two.

Peacemaker is now in production for a likely 2025 release.

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James Gunn’s Superman movie may have recently wrapped production, but that doesn’t mean the filmmaker gets a break. On Thursday, Gunn took to Threads and replied to a fan asking if he was taking a short break following wrapping on Superman or if he’d be moving on to another project right away. In his response, Gunn explained that there’s plenty of post-production work on Superman to be done and it’s something that he’ll be working on while shooting the second season of Peacemaker.

“Post production — editing, sound, VFX, etc. — is still a full-time job, especially on a movie as gargantuan as Superman,” Gunn wrote. “I’ll be doing that while shooting some Peacemaker episodes.”

Earlier this week, Gunn shared on Instagram that production on Superman had wrapped, sharing a photo of the film’s Norway set fearing himself along with Peter Safran, David Corenswet, and members of the film’s cast and crew. The film is set to open in theaters next July.

“And that’s a wrap,” Gunn’s post reads. “God bless our cast and crew whose commitment, creativity, and hard work have brought this project to life. I set out to make a movie about a good man in a world that isn’t always so much. And the goodness and kindness and love I’ve encountered on a daily basis on the set has inspired me and thrust me forward when I felt too spent to move on my own. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It has been an honor. The destination has been Superman, but the journey has been the toil and the laughter and the emotions and ideas and magic we’ve shared together on set – and for that I am forever grateful. ❤️ (Photo from our first week of shooting in Svalbard Norway.)”

What is Superman About?

Per DC Studios, Superman tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and a better tomorrow, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.

Superman will also star Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Terence Rosemore as Otis, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica / The Engineer, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt / Mr. Terrific, Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason / Metamorpho, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, and Christopher McDonald as Ron Troupe.

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Peacemaker Season 2 got a surprising update from new director Peter Sollett this morning. In addition to that reveal, Joel Kinnaman is coming back as Rick Flag in Season 2 of the Max Original series. So there’s just been a ton of work going on with DC the last couple of days. News about Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, Creature Commandos and now Peacemaker to help soften the blow of no Superman this weekend. San Diego Comic-Con rolls on tonight with The Penguin getting some spotlight. It’s a great weekend to be a fan of these characters. Now, with the reveal of Kinnaman’s involvement, the speculation around John Cena’s return to that shiny helmet will probably increase quite a bit. Check out the director’s post down below!

On Instagram Sollett wrote, “Just wrapped my first week directing @Peacemaker! Huge gratitude to @JamesGunn and Peter Safran for inviting me aboard. This is one exceptional cast and crew! Thank you @JohnCena, @TheDanielleBrooks, @SteveAgee, @JoelKinnaman, @real_timmeadows, @solrodr and Frank Grillo for the warm welcome! #DCUniverse @DCStudios #peacemaker @StreamOnMax”

Creature Commandos Begins New DC Era

Despite being an animated series, Creature Commandos is the first big title of James Gunn’s reign at the head of DC Studios. Fans got a small taste of the show and its impressive voice cast yesterday at San Diego Comic-Con. There are multiple parallel tracks running over there at DC. Matt Reeves is busy with his Batman Crime Universe. Gunn is hard at work on Superman as a kind of mission statement for what this era of DC will be. The animation side has things like Creature Commandos. Peacemaker follows after the highly-successful first season of the show. So, yeah, a lot of different irons in the fire for the blue brand. But, this fresh start kicks off in earnest with a wild concept only James Gunn could really muster.

“Nothing is canon until Creature Commandos next year – a sort of aperitif to the DCU – & then a deeper dive into the universe with Superman: Legacy after that,” Gunn said on Threads in 2023. “It’s a very human drive to want to understand everything all the time, but I think its okay to be confused on what’s happening in the DCU since no one has seen anything from the DCU yet.”

Are you surprised Kinnaman is coming back? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

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Superman (2025) director James Gunn is clarifying where the Superman reboot sits on the DC Universe timeline in relation to other upcoming franchise releases – specifically the animated series Creature Commandos and Peacemaker Season 2. 

The short answer is that Creatures Commandos will take place before the events of Superman (2025), while the events of Peacemaker Season 2 will occur after the events of Superman. 

Gunn was active on the social media platform Threads, addressing a fan question regarding rumors about what DC Studios actually has in production. Gunn made it clear that only the officially announced projects – “Superman, Supergirl, Penguin, Peacemaker, Lanterns, and a handful of animated projects – are in production, and anything else on the DCU slate that was previously announced has yet to go into production: 

Nothing is “in production” unless it’s been greenlit. Right now that’s Superman, Supergirl, Penguin, Peacemaker, Lanterns, and a handful of animated projects. But Paradise Lost like many other titles known and unknown is still in very active development – it will be in production once we have a script or scripts we think are great and ready to shoot, never before. As an aside, we aren’t officially cast on anything that isn’t greenlit.

When one fan asked “Will Peacemaker release before or after Superman?” Gunn answered “After. It follows the events of Superman.”

Another fan jumped in with the follow-up question: “Is creature commandos set before or after Superman?” to which Gunn answered, “Before. All of these initial projects are happening in the order they’re released.”

For reference: Creature Commandos is expected to debut on HBO Max late this year (December); Superman (2025) will be released in July of next year, with Peacemaker Season 2 following afterward. It seems that the content will also follow a chronological line, with Creature Commandos being set immediately after Peacemaker Season 1; then the events of Superman unfolding, followed by the events of Peacemaker Season 2. That’s not a trend that will probably last; DC fans have already speculated that a project like Paradis Lost (a look at the Amazons of Paradise Island) could jump back in time to the ancient past. 

What Is Creature Commandos About? 

According to James Gunn’s previous presentation on DCU releases: “The new series picks up directly after our Peacemaker season one finale, which leaves Waller with her hands tied operationally, meaning that she’s no longer able to get away with putting human lives on the line to carry out her clandestine morally questionable missions,” the filmmaker shared in his video. “Instead, she recruits a ragtag band of misfits, not unlike the Suicide Squad and Peacemaker.”

As stated: Creature Commandos will release in December; Superman has a release date of July 11, 2025; and Peacemaker Season 2 sometime later in 2025. 

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Work on the sophomore season of DC’s Peacemaker is currently underway, and it looks like a notable director is along for the ride. In a recent post on Instagram, Gunn confirmed that Superbad and Adventureland director Greg Mottola will be helming part of Peacemaker Season 2. Mottola, whose work on the TV side includes episodes of Dave, The Newsroom, and Arrested Development, will direct the second and third episodes of Peacemaker’s new season.

“Ever since seeing Daytrippers back in the ’90’s at Film Forum in NY, I’ve been a huge @gregmottolaofficial fan – through Superbad and so much more,” Gunn’s post reads. “When we needed a director for episodes two and three of Season 2 of #Peacemaker he was the first person I thought of. Can’t wait for you guys to see what we’re cooking!”

What Is Peacemaker Season 2 About?

Plot details are currently unknown about Peacemaker‘s sophomore season, which is currently filming and is set to debut on Max at a later date. John Cena will continue to lead the series as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker, with Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase / Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, and Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo.

New cast members for Peacemaker Season 2 will include Sol Rodríguez as Sasha Bordeaux, Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury, and David Denman in a currently-unknown role. Frank Grillo is also confirmed to be reprising his role as Rick Flag, Sr. from the forthcoming Creature Commandos animated series.

Is James Gunn Directing Peacemaker Season 2?

Gunn has already confirmed that, thanks to his schedule filming DC Studios’ Superman movie, he will not be able to direct as much of Peacemaker Season 2. He previously helmed the first, second, third, sixth, and eighth episodes of Peacemaker‘s first season.

“Yes, we’ll be shooting Superman & #Peacemaker simultaneously; yes, I’ve written all the episodes; but, no, in the interest of getting the show out there I won’t be able to direct them all (only some),” Gunn previously confirmed on social media.

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James Gunn has confirmed that actor/comedian Tim Meadows has joined the cast of DC’s Peacemaker Season 2, in the role of Agent Langston Fleury! The character seems to be an original creation for the show, but feels very in line with the roles Meadows has played in Mean Girls (2004, 2024), Son of Zorn, and other projects. 

Meadows’ casting was confirmed in one of Gunn’s Instagram posts, which pictured him alongside Meadows and Peacemaker star Steve Agee (ARGUS agent John Econoos) with a table covered in scripts in the background. Peacemaker Season 2 has been in production for months now, but the last few days have seen Gunn dropping a flurry of new casting announcements for the show. 

The biggest news was that DC’s Creature Commandos animated series star Frank Grillo would be bringing his DC Universe character, Rick Flag Sr., into live-action for Peacemaker Season 2. That’s a pretty big deal, considering that John Cena’s Peacemaker killed Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) in a brutal fight during Task Force X’s mission in Corto Maltese. Peacemaker Season 1 showed the level of guilt and remorse that Peacemaker has over killing Flag Jr. – but that probably won’t matter much when Daddy Flag comes looking for payback. Having Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr. in Peacemaker Season 2 will also pull the DCEU series into the new DC Universe franchise after Creature Commandoes introduces Flag Sr. and the lore around his WWII exploits with a monster squad. That said, James Gunn has promised that the canon shift between the old DCEU and the new DCU won’t be “confusing” to fans.

Sol Rodríguez (Star Trek: Picard) and David Denman (Power Rangers) have also been announced as new Peacemaker cast additions, with Rodríguez playing Sasha Bordeaux, a member of Amanda Waller’s Checkmate intelligence agency; Denman is playing an unknown role. 

What Is Peacemaker Season 2 About?

Plot details are unknown Peacemaker‘s next season, which is currently filming and is set to debut on Max at a later date. James Gunn is doing the ambitious job of filming Peacemaker Season 2 at the same time he’s also shooting the DCU’s debut film, Superman (2025). 

“Yes, we’ll be shooting Superman & #Peacemaker simultaneously; yes, I’ve written all the episodes; but, no, in the interest of getting the show out there I won’t be able to direct them all (only some),” Gunn previously confirmed on social media. 

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A few new faces are joining the dance party of Peacemaker Season 2. On Monday, a report from The Wrap confirmed that both Sol Rodríguez and David Denman have joined the cast of Peacemaker‘s sophomore season. Denman, whose work includes The Office, Mare of Easttown, and Power Rangers, has been cast in an unknown role. Rodríguez, whose work includes Star Trek: Picard, Grachi, and Party of Five, will play Sasha Bordeaux, who is known in the comics for being a member of Checkmate and a supporting character of Batman.

Rodríguez and Denman are the latest new faces to join Peacemaker‘s sophomore season, with Frank Grillo also confirmed to be reprising his role as Rick Flag, Sr. from the forthcoming Creature Commandos animated series. Gunn subsequently took to Instagram to confirm Rodríguez and Denman’s castings.

Who Is DC’s Sasha Bordeaux?

Created by Greg Rucka and Shawn Martinbrough in 2000’s Detective Comics #751, Sasha Bordeaux is initially introduced as the reluctant bodyguard of Bruce Wayne. After discovering Bruce’s secret identity as Batman, he becomes her apprentice and love interest, and is framed for the murder of Vesper Fairchild alongside Bruce during the Bruce Wayne: Fugitive arc. While in prison, she is saved from the brink of death by Checkmate, who take her under their wing and eventually make her the right hand to Maxwell Lord.

Sasha is then transformed into a cyborg amid Lord’s misuse of the OMAC program, donning a prosthetic robot arm and an empty metal eye socket. She eventually becomes Checkmate’s Black Queen and a love interest of Michael Holt / Mister Terrific (played by Edi Gathegi in the DC Universe), and later plays a role in “Final Crisis” and “JSA vs. Kobra.” She most recently appeared in comic canon during DC Rebirth, as a government agent tied to an evil artificial intelligence. Season 2 of Peacemaker will mark Sasha’s first appearance in any media outside of comics.

What Is Peacemaker Season 2 About?

Plot details are currently unknown about Peacemaker‘s sophomore season, which is currently filming and is set to debut on Max at a later date. John Cena will continue to lead the series as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker, with Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase / Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, and Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo.

“Yes, we’ll be shooting Superman & #Peacemaker simultaneously; yes, I’ve written all the episodes; but, no, in the interest of getting the show out there I won’t be able to direct them all (only some),” Gunn previously confirmed on social media.

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Thanks to Freddie Stroma’s portrayal in the first season of Max’s Peacemaker series, an entire new audience is endeared to the character of Adrian Chase / Vigilante — and it sounds like more is in store. A new post from Peacemaker series creator and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn celebrated the anniversary of Adrian Chase’s comic debut, as well as the larger legacy of the Vigilante mantle. In the process, Gunn confirmed that Stroma will reprise his role as Vigilante in Peacemaker‘s sophomore season — something that fans could probably safely assume, given the fact that Gunn already indicated that the character would return in 2023.

“On this date in 1982, creators @marvwolfman and George Pérez introduced Adrian Chase who would take up the mantle of Vigilante, originally created in 1941 by Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin,” Gunn’s post reads. “Freddie Stroma as #Vigilante is returning in season two of Peacemaker!”

What Is Peacemaker Season 2 About?

Plot details are currently unknown about Peacemaker‘s sophomore season, which is currently filming and is set to debut on Max at a later date. In addition to the show’s existing ensemble cast, Frank Grillo is confirmed to be reprising his role as Rick Flag, Sr. from the forthcoming Creature Commandos animated series. 

“Yes, we’ll be shooting Superman & #Peacemaker simultaneously; yes, I’ve written all the episodes; but, no, in the interest of getting the show out there I won’t be able to direct them all (only some),” Gunn previously confirmed on social media.

Is Peacemaker Season 2 in the New DCU?

While the first season of Peacemaker was created within the DC Extended Universe, even featuring that universe’s version of the Justice League in its Season 1 finale, the show is now carrying over into Gunn and Peter Safran’s “reset” DC Universe. As Gunn has promised on the social media platform Threads, this rollout of the DCU’s canon won’t be “confusing” to fans.

“Nothing is canon until Creature Commandos [in 2024] — a sort of aperitif to the DCU — and then a deeper dive into the universe with [Superman] after that,” Gunn shared on Threads last year. “It’s a very human drive to want to understand everything all the time, but I think it’s okay to be confused on what’s happening in the DCU since no one has seen anything from the DCU yet.”

The post James Gunn Confirms Another Peacemaker Character Returning for Season 2 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Peacemaker has become one of DC’s biggest adaptations in recent memory, chronicling the R-rated exploits of John Cena’s Christopher Smith / Peacemaker. The live-action series is currently working on its second season, and given the fact that series creator James Gunn is co-CEO of the upcoming DC Universe of movies and Max-exclusive television shows, some have wondered if Cena will appear elsewhere in the franchise. During a recent appearance at Comicpalooza, Cena did not offer a public comment on that possibility, joking that he doesn’t want to make Gunn angry.

“Do you know who James Gunn is?” Cena answered with a laugh. “He’s got this look when you make him mad. And it’s actually indescribable, but I don’t want to see it ever again. So I’m just gonna say… no comment.”

Is Peacemaker Season 2 in the New DCU?

While the first season of Peacemaker was created within the DC Extended Universe, even showing that universe’s version of the Justice League, it has been confirmed that it will be a part of Gunn and Peter Safran’s “reset” DC Universe. As Gunn has promised on the social media platform Threads, this rollout of the DCU’s canon won’t be “confusing” to fans.

“Nothing is canon until Creature Commandos [in 2024] — a sort of aperitif to the DCU — and then a deeper dive into the universe with [Superman] after that,” Gunn shared on Threads last year. “It’s a very human drive to want to understand everything all the time, but I think it’s okay to be confused on what’s happening in the DCU since no one has seen anything from the DCU yet.”

What Is On the DC Universe Slate?

As Gunn and Safran revealed in early 2023, the initial DC Studios slate for “Gods and Monsters” will include movies for Superman, The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Swamp Thing, and The Authority. It will include the HBO Max television shows Waller, Booster Gold, Lanterns, Paradise Lost, and an animated Creature Commandos series. Reports have also indicated that a live-action Teen Titans movie and an animated Jurassic League movie are in the works.

“A lot of people think it’s going to be Marvel 2.0, and definitely I learned a lot of stuff at Marvel. I think that we have a lot of differences,” Gunn explained at the time. “We are telling a big, huge, central story that is like Marvel, except for, I think that we’re a lot more planned out than Marvel from the beginning because we’ve gotten a group of writers together to work that story out completely. But we’re also creating a universe that is like Star Wars, where there’s different times, different places, different things, or Game of Thrones, where characters are a little bit more morally complex.” 

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James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe is continuing with great fanfare, and the connections between its movies and television shows are only building. On Friday, Gunn took to social media to confirm that Creature Commandos star Frank Grillo will be reprising his role as Rick Flag Sr. in the forthcoming second season of Peacemaker. The news was accompanied by a photo of Gunn and Grillo on some sort of set — which, in the background, features a banner for an event sponsored by Big Belly Burger and Stagg Industries.

It is unclear at this point if the set is actually for Peacemaker Season 2, or for Gunn’s currently-filming Superman movie. Given the fact that Rex Mason / Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) — a superhero closely tied to Stagg Industries in the comics — is in Superman, either option definitely feels possible. Either way, the banner confirms that both companies already exist in the DCU. Big Belly Burger has already appeared throughout previous DC movies and television shows, including The CW’s Arrowverse of shows and last year’s Blue Beetle movie.

Who Is Frank Grillo Playing in the DCU?

Grillo has been cast as Rick Flag Sr., a decorated war veteran and the original leader of DC’s first incarnation of the Suicide Squad. Created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru in 1959’s The Brave and the Bold #25, Flag is also the father of Rick Flag, who was portrayed by Joel Kinnaman in previous DC movies.

“I did Creature Commandos with Gunn and Peter Safran, and they have a whole plan for Rick Flag Sr,” Grillo told ComicBook in a 2023 interview. “That’s going to play out throughout the whole DCU. I can’t say what it is. And I’m hoping it’ll be equally as good, if not better, than Crossbones.”

What Is Superman About?

Per DC Studios, Superman tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and a better tomorrow, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.

Superman will also star David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Terence Rosemore as Otis, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica / The Engineer, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, and Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt / Mr. Terrific.

Superman is currently scheduled to be released exclusively in theaters on July 11, 2025. Creature Commandos and Season 2 of Peacemaker do not have confirmed release dates.

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Frank Grillo, who played Crossbones in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is set to make his live-action DC Universe debut in the upcoming second season of Peacemaker. Grillo will play Rick Flag, Sr. — the father of Joel Kinnaman’s character from The Suicide Squad. While it’s not clear that the entire movie is fully canon in the new DC Universe, one thing seems sure: Rick Flag was murdered by Peacemaker, and Old Man Flag won’t be thrilled about it. Grillo is set to play the character in Creature Commandos later this year, which may help set up his Peacemaker role.

Gunn posted the casting news — which confirms a theory some fans have been working with since Creature Commandos was announced — on social media today. Gunn said that Grillo will play the role “throughout” season 2, which seems likely to indicate he’s a series regular, although he could also be a recurring guest star whose appearances are spread out through the season.

“Christopher Smith and Rick Sr have a little unfinished business to take care of,” Gunn teased.

Given that the show’s first season dealt with Chris’s own daddy issues, and helped him come to grips with the mistakes he has made as Peacemaker, Grillo’s role is an interesting one. There could be a few different ways that a more contrite Peacemaker could head with the father of a man he killed.

“I would love it,” Grillo told ComicBook back in March. “I was just with Kevin Feige and Lou D’Esposito and the Russo Brothers. They honored Lou. And I was with Pratt and Batista, and I was like, ‘God, I wish you would bring me back.’ I said, ‘Lou, before I’m too old, bring me back.’ He said, ‘We’ll talk.’ But now I’m doing the DCU. I did Creature Commandos with Gunn and Peter Safran, and they have a whole plan for Rick Flag Sr. That’s going to play out throughout the whole DCU. I can’t say what it is. And I’m hoping it’ll be equally as good, if not better, than Crossbones.”

You can see the post below.

In a recent string of comments on Threads, Gunn confirmed that Creature Commandos is still on track to debut at some point in 2024, but there is no official release date yet.

Peacemaker‘s second season has been pushed back until after Creature Commandos drops, although whether that’s to accommodate Flag’s story or just due to scheduling and the strikes hasn’t been officially confirmed.  

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John Cena is wasting little time following his WrestleMania appearance to step back into the shoes of DC’s Peacemaker, as director James Gunn has revealed the first “behind the scenes” shot from season two. While Gunn won’t be handling all the directing duties for the upcoming season, the head of DC’s new cinematic universe will still have a big part to play in the anti-hero’s big comeback. Considering how popular Peacemaker has become, this is sure to make waves in the comic book world. 

This new iteration of Peacemaker first appeared in James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad”, with John Cena showing just how dangerous this DC comic character could be in a life-or-death scenario. Unfortunately for Cena’s character, he didn’t make many friends once he betrayed the likes of Bloodsport and the other members of the Squad. In Peacemaker’s first season, we saw the titular character taking on an alien invasion while making some new friends along the way. In recent headlines, it’s been revealed that the next season won’t exactly be in the same universe, as it is making the transition from the “Snyder-Verse” into the new phase of the DC Cinematic Universe under Gunn, “Gods And Monsters”.

Peacemaker Season 2 Has Started Filming

James Gunn is no stranger to dropping some big reveals on social media, and it seems that he won’t be breaking the trend as head of DC’s new cinematic universe. The legendary director took an image of himself reflected in Peacemaker’s now legendary helmet, showing that Cena wasted little time in jumping to set from the squared circle at the WWE’s latest major event. 

On social media, Gunn recently clarified how Peacemaker’s second season will be making some changes from the character’s initial outing, “Nothing is canon until Creature Commandos [in 2024] — a sort of aperitif to the DCU — and then a deeper dive into the universe with Superman: Legacy after that. It’s a very human drive to want to understand everything all the time, but I think it’s okay to be confused on what’s happening in the DCU since no one has seen anything from the DCU yet.”

What are your predictions for Peacemaker’s big comeback? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the DC Cinematic Universe. 

The post Peacemaker Season 2 FINALLY Begins Filming With John Cena and James Gunn’s First BTS Image appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Peacemaker star John Cena shared an update on when Season 2 is ready to get filming. After an absolutely electrifying run-in during WrestleMania XL, the WWE Superstar joined The Pat McAfee Show to talk about the fate of the Max favorite and his future in the squared circle. Cena mentioned his upcoming feature Heads of State. But, his time with Peacemaker Season 2 will be coming up very soon. He’s filming right after he gets done with that movie. That makes sense as James Gunn will likely be wrapping up Superman’s filming then and the schedules all line up. After that, The Franchise is hoping that he gets one more crack at a WWE run.

“We started filming [a movie] before the strike called Heads of State Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Idris Elba,” Cena began. “And then straight from that to Peacemaker Season 2. That’ll take us through just about Christmas. I’m crossing my fingers, and toes, and my heart, that maybe – maybe just maybe – I can tell the Hollywood World to pump the brakes for a while and come back to my family for one last run. I hope, I don’t know. I hope, I’m trying, we’ll see what happens.”

Peacemaker Season 2 Updates

Gunn has been super open about the scheduling for his DC Universe projects. As one of the most well-received pieces of superhero media of the last 5 years, a lot of people what to know what’s been going on with Peacemaker. It turns out that the Max show will begin filming this summer. From there, Gunn’s dance card is pretty full with Waller and guiding the larger DC Comics picture on film. He won’t be directing every single episode of these shows. But, he’s got his hands in a whole lot of the production side for each one.

“The source is kind of iffy but this is true,” Gunn said on social media when asked about Season 2’s summer filming.. “John Cena shared this on Howard Stern last week. To answer your follow-up questions: yes, we’ll be shooting Superman & Peacemaker simultaneously; yes, I’ve written all the episodes; but, no, in the interest of getting the show out there I won’t be able to direct them all (only some); & yes, Waller’s still happening & Jeremy & Christal are hard at work writing great stuff, but the schedule was impacted by the strikes so Waller will come after PM in the larger order of things.”

John Cena’s Barbie Cameo

Fans have seen Cena pop-up all over. That includes in the buff at The Oscars and during Barbie. On The Howard Stern Show, the WWE star explained that he almost didn’t get to be a mermaid in the Oscar-winning movie because his agency didn’t think it was a great idea.

“[The agency is] just going on what they know, and what they know is, ‘This entity, this commodity gravitates towards these things, we should stay in this lane,'” Cena explained. “But I’m not a commodity. I’m a human being, and I operate under the construct of every opportunity is an opportunity.”

“I read the script of the movie and I tried my hardest to be in it,” Cena added. “Margot [Robbie] was like, ‘We’ll make you a mermaid. You’ll be in it for half a day.”Yeah, sure. But I think the perspective from an agency standpoint was, ‘This is beneath you,’ which I get that. But also to the agency’s credit, immediately they acquiesced.”

How excited are you for Peacemaker Season 2? Let us know down in the comments!

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John Cena is willing to delay his Hollywood career if it means one last run in WWE. The Peacemaker actor made a surprise appearance during the WrestleMania 40 main event, aiding Cody Rhodes in finishing his story and winning the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship. Cena made a return to WWE last year, as one of the many WWE Superstars feuding with Roman Reigns and the Bloodline. Cena wasn’t the only WWE Legend to show up in the WrestleMania XL main event, with Undertaker and The Rock also getting involved. WrestleMania 40 ended on a high note, which has Cena excited at the prospect of a final run.

“I’m crossing my fingers, and toes, and my heart, that maybe – maybe just maybe – I can tell the Hollywood World to pump the brakes for a while and come back to my family for one last run,” John Cena said on the Pat McAfee Show the morning after WrestleMania. The crowd in attendance at WWE World gave those comments a loud applause. “I hope, I don’t know. I hope, I’m trying, we’ll see what happens,” he added. Cena also joked that his record in a WWE ring the last three years hasn’t been stellar, to which McAfee quipped that they should send The Miz in as a “slumpbuster.”

John Cena squares off against The Rock at WrestleMania 40

John Cena’s music hit at WrestleMania 40 after Solo Sikoa attempted to help Roman Reigns beat Cody Rhodes in the main event. A Samoan Spike and Spear weren’t enough to put Cody down, but when Solo and Roman started to go on the offensive again, John Cena’s music hit. He reached down to the ring, giving Attitude Adjustment’s to Solo and Roman, with Solo getting a second one onto an announce table.

Then, The Rock’s music played, and the two rivals stared each other down in the middle of the ring. Cena gave Rock a “You Can’t See Me,” but fell to a Rock Bottom. Cena would later be among the WWE Superstars to come to the ring to applaud and celebrate Cody Rhodes on dethroning Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed Universal Championship.

The Rock and John Cena faced each other in the main events of WrestleMania 28 and WrestleMania 29. At the time, Cena called The Rock out for leaving WWE to go Hollywood, and now Cena is the one that has gone Hollywood, starring in The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, and the Fast & Furious franchise.

What do you think about John Cena making one last WWE run before retiring? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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Because the new DC Studios is starting fresh with its releases, no DC projects up until now have been in canon with the new DC Universe. That means even the films and shows made by James Gunn, one of the two new heads of DC Studios, aren’t in the same continuity as the releases coming up such as Superman and Creature Commandos. It also means the first season of Peacemaker isn’t canon while the second season will be, according to Gunn.

The filmmaker made the reveal on Threads, telling a fan Peacemaker Season Two will take place after the events of Superman. In a thread discussing the events of Peacemaker’s sophomore outing, Gunn simply said “Season one isn’t canon but no,” when asked if both seasons of the John Cena vehicle took place post-Superman.

Even though Gunn has still kept the plot for Peacemaker Season Two under wraps, the filmmaker has reassured fans of the first season it won’t be hard to follow considering the chances in continuity.

“Nothing is canon until Creature Commandos [in 2024] — a sort of aperitif to the DCU — and then a deeper dive into the universe with Superman: Legacy after that,” Gunn shared on Threads last year. “It’s a very human drive to want to understand everything all the time, but I think it’s okay to be confused on what’s happening in the DCU since no one has seen anything from the DCU yet.”

Gunn continued: “And, yes, some actors will be playing characters they’ve played in other stories & some plot points might be consistent with plot points from the dozens of films, shows & animated projects that have come from DC in the past. But nothing is canon until [Creature Commandos] and Legacy.” 

The whole first season of Peacemaker is now streaming on Max. What other shows would you like to see in the new DCU? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!

The post Peacemaker’s James Gunn Confirms Major Change to Season One appeared first on ComicBook.com.

DC Studios co-chair James Gunn recently gave fans a big update when it comes to Season 2 of Peacemaker, but that isn’t the only DC project he had an update for. Gunn, who is busy filming Superman, also had an update about the Waller television series — and it’s good news for fans. According to Gunn, while things have been a little delayed, Waller is still in the works.

On Instagram, Gunn confirmed the update about Peacemaker and proactively let fans know that Waller is still coming, it was just impacted by last year’s Hollywood strikes.

“The source is kind of iffy but this is true,” Gunn wrote. “John Cena shared this on Howard Stern last week. To answer your follow-up questions: yes, we’ll be shooting Superman & Peacemaker simultaneously; yes I’ve written all the episodes; but no, in the interest of getting the show out there I won’t be able to direct them all (only some; and yes, Waller‘s still happening and Jeremy and Christal are still hard at work writing great stuff, but the schedule was impacted by the strikes so Waller will come after PM in the larger order of things.”

What is Waller About?

The Amanda Waller-centered series was first revealed as being in the works back in 2022 and was confirmed last January when Gunn revealed the opening slate for the DCU.

“This is a story of Amanda Waller who is played by Viola Davis,” Gunn said at the time. “Viola Davis is going to team up with members of Team Peacemaker and this is a story that’s been created by Christal Henry who did Watchman and Jeremy Carver who created Doom Patrol. It’s a fantastic story that’s out of this world and I can’t wait for people to see it.”

Created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne, Waller was first introduced in the pages of DC Comics in 1986’s Legends #1. Although she does not have superpowers, Waller has become a formidable force in the world of superheroes, between her directing of the Suicide Squad and her roles with Checkmate and A.R.G.U.S. The New 52 continuity reintroduced a younger version of Waller, who was a member of the black-ops Team 7 alongside Black Canary, Deathstroke, and Grifter. That version of the character later formed the Justice League of America.

Peacemaker Season 2 Will Have a New Intro

One of the most talked about things with the first season of Peacemaker was the dancing intro that featured various characters in the series. Recently, Gunn confirmed that there would be a new intro for Season 2

“A lot of dancing people died first season. A new intro with new characters will be coming. Peacemaker.”

In addition to John Cena in the titular role, the first season of Peacemaker featured some other familiar faces from The Suicide Squad, including Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt as well as Steve Agee’s John Economos and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller.  The series also stars Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Freddie Stroma as Vigilante, Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke, Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon, and Annie Chang as Sophie Song. 

Are you excited that Waller is still moving forward? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!

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James Gunn is currently busy filming Superman, which is scheduled to hit theaters next year. When Gunn’s new role as co-chair and co-CEO of DC Studios was announced, the director revealed that his first movie would mark the beginning of the rebooted DCU. However, Gunn has said some actors from the DECU will return to play their characters, and he has confirmed that Peacemaker is still getting a second season. There have been rumors that the show would be going back into production soon, which Gunn just confirmed on Instagram. 

“The source is kind of iffy but this is true ,” Gunn captioned a screenshot of Jennifer Holland (Emilia Harcourt) telling a fan that filming on Season 2 will start this summer. “John Cena shared this on Howard Stern last week. To answer your follow-up questions: yes, we’ll be shooting Superman & #Peacemaker simultaneously; yes, I’ve written all the episodes; but, no, in the interest of getting the show out there I won’t be able to direct them all (only some); & yes, Waller’s still happening & Jeremy & Christal are hard at work writing great stuff, but the schedule was impacted by the strikes so Waller will come after PM in the larger order of things.” You can check out the post below:

Who Stars in Peacemaker?

In addition to John Cena in the titular role, Peacemaker featured some other familiar faces from The Suicide Squad, including Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt as well as Steve Agee’s John Economos and Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller.  The series also stars Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Freddie Stroma as Vigilante, Christopher Heyerdahl as Captain Locke, Chukwudi Iwuji as Clemson Murn, Lochlyn Munro as Larry Fitzgibbon, and Annie Chang as Sophie Song. 

What Is Superman About? 

DC Studios describes Superman as the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned. 

Superman will star David Corenswet as Superman as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane,  Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica/The Engineer, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt/Mr. Terrific, Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason/Metamorpho, and Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher. 

“It’s not an origin story,” Peter Safran previously explained to reporters when asked about the film. “It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Superman represents truth, justice, and the American way. He has kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.”

Superman will be released in theaters on July 11, 2025. Stay tuned for more updates about Peacemaker. 

The post Director James Gunn Won’t Oversee All of Peacemaker Season 2 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

James Gunn’s about to be a very busy man. The filmmaker is already busy filming principal photography on DC Studios’ Superman in addition to his day-to-day position as co-president of DC Studios itself. Now, his next project might already be lined up shortly after Superman wraps production.

According to a new report from scooper @DanielRPK, the second season of Peacemaker is expected to begin filming in June and will run through September. This would be the third project under the DC Studios to begin production after Creatures Commandos and Superman. It’d be the second live-action property to film under Gunn and Peter Safran’s new group given Commandos is an animated project.

This isn’t the first time Gunn has hinted another DC Studios project filming this year, confirming in January Superman wouldn’t be the only thing filming for the outfit in 2024. At the time, many expected the other DC Studios project would be Waller, the Viola Davis-starring series serving as a spinoff of both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Season One.

“This is a story of Amanda Waller who is played by Viola Davis,” Gunn said of the show last year. “Viola Davis is going to team up with members of Team Peacemaker and this is a story that’s been created by Crystal Henry who did Watchmen and Jeremy Carver who created Doom Patrol. It is a fantastic story that’s out of this world and I can’t wait for people to see it.”

That means production on Waller would likely be pushed to late 2024 if not 2025. It’s also not factoring in any of DC Studios’ upcoming films, with Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow looking to be the next feature to enter principal photography. The movie recently cast House of the Dragon lead Milly Alcock as its Kara Zor-El, and it’s currently being written by Ana Nogueira. It has yet to find a director, though that hiring is expected any way.

The whole first season of Peacemaker is now streaming on Max. What other shows would you like to see in the new DCU? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!

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James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe reboot is on the horizon, kicking off a whole new world of superhero movies and television shows. The first film set to join the DCU slate is Superman: Legacy, which will be written and directed by Gunn for a summer 2025 release date. Speculation around Superman: Legacy has hit a fever pitch, especially as fans have wondered which DC characters may or may not appear in the film — and it looks like Gunn himself has debunked two more. On Wednesday, Gunn posted a photo of himself with Peacemaker stars Jennifer Holland and Freddie Stroma, after he was “showing them around” the sets of Superman: Legacy.

Gunn confirmed within his post that neither Holland or Stroma will be making an appearance in Superman: Legacy, either as their Peacemaker characters of Emilia Harcourt and Vigilante, or as anyone new. In a subsequent comment on Threads, Gunn joked he “wouldn’t rule out” putting either actor in a random crowd shot of the film.

What Will Peacemaker Season 2 Be About?

Details are currently under wraps about Peacemaker‘s second season, which was greenlit back in 2022 and will be folded into the new DCU. As Holland told ComicBook.com shortly after the Season 1 finale, there’s a lot of potential for where the ensemble’s character dynamic goes next.

“I love her character arc through the whole season,” Holland said of her character, Emilia Harcourt. “I think it’s really, really nuanced and it doesn’t rush itself. I really love the way that it was written into the whole series. I think, for me, I didn’t want to hold back. I wanted Harcourt to be as cold and closed off as she could be in the earlier episodes, because I wanted her to really have that full character arc throughout the season.”

“I think the interesting thing is that we don’t know where she goes from here. She’s not exactly an open book now. She still has a lot of demons and a lot of stuff to deal with. Emotionally, she’s still very closed off. But she — at this point, I think — has finally accepted that it’s okay to have a team, and it’s okay to have a family. Whereas when we saw her at the beginning of the series, she was such a lone wolf. She felt like she was just carrying everyone else, and everyone else was just a liability to her. She thought she would be better off alone. I think she has accepted that there is value in having a team and having a family.”

What Is Superman: Legacy About?

Per DC Studios, Superman: Legacy tells the story of Superman’s journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and a better tomorrow, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned. 

The cast of Superman: Legacy will include David Corenswet as Clark Kent / Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, María Gabriela de Faría as Angela Spica / The Engineer, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt / Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason / Metamorpho.

Are you excited for Superman: Legacy? What do you think of Gunn’s newest behind-the-scenes update? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Superman: Legacy will be released exclusively in theaters on July 11, 2025. Season 2 of Peacemaker will debut exclusively on Max at a later date.

The post James Gunn Confirms Two Peacemaker Stars Aren’t in Superman: Legacy appeared first on ComicBook.com.