Cena Teases Peacemaker's New Status Quo (2024)

John Cena's Peacemaker, aka Christopher Smith, was a major scene-stealer when he first popped up in The Suicide Squad in 2021 — so much so that Warner Bros made plans for the spinoff Peacemaker series on Max well before the movie came out. But the DC movieverse is a very different place now than it was back then — the old version of the franchise, which began with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, finally died its last death in the wake of The Flash and Blue Beetle.

Despite all that, we've got good news:Peacemaker Season 2 is on its way, so we'll try to answer your questions, such as when does Peacemaker Season 2 premiere, who is in Season 2, and where to watch Peacemaker on streaming.

Peacemaker Season 2 latest news

While speaking with Varietyin September 2024, John Cena made a few vague comments about Peacemaker Season 2, why it's taken so long to come together, and how it fits as part of James Gunn's and Peter Safran's rebooted DC universe. But when we say "vague" we mean it — he opened with a quip about how he'll get fired if he mentions any real details. But the quote is still useful if you read between the lines. You can see what Cena said in the next paragraph, and we'll explain what it means after.

"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 OK.' 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."

There's really one major implication that we can glean from this comment: that Peacemaker Season 2 is more than just a continuation of the old story, and it won't exist in some weird transitional vacuum that doesn't connect cleanly with the rest of the new shared universe. Instead of rushing ahead with Peacemaker Season 2 just for the sake of getting it out there, they waited until they could make it make sense in the new big picture.

PeacemakerSeason 2 release date prediction

There have been no announcements about when audiences can expect the return of Peacemaker. However, we know that Season 2 will take place after Gunn's upcoming Superman: Legacy movie, which is out in July 2025 — so Peacemaker will probably return some time after that movie hits theaters.

PeacemakerSeason 2 trailer

There's no trailer yet, but when one is released, we'll post it here!

Is James Gunn himself directing any episodes of Peacemaker Season 2?

While he's a studio boss now, the Guardians of the Galaxy director would probably still call himself a filmmaker first — which is why he wrote and is directing Superman. With those dual duties already keeping him busy, would he have time to lend that personal touch to a few episodes of Peacemaker, especially after he handled five episodes in Season 1?

While Gunn's a busy guy, he was able to make time for this show — per Deadline, he'll have a directing credit on three of the eight episodes in Season 2, and he also wrote some or all of Season 2.

What will Peacemaker Season 2 be about?

There have been no announcements about the plotline of Season 2 of Peacemaker yet, and while we could make some predictions based on the finale of Season 1, it's not quite that simple.

This is due to the change from the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) to the new DC Universe (DCU). Kicking off with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel in 2013, the DCEU was created to compete with Marvel's cinematic universe — giving us Wonder Woman andJustice League, along with many more. However, after several years of corporate upheaval at Warner Bros., and numerous box office flops by DC films, the studio decided to reboot the universe with new characters while retaining some of the old ones, like Peacemaker.

While Peacemaker Season 1 was set in the DCEU, Season 2 will be set in the DCU. James Gunn said on Threadsthat "Peacemaker Season 2 will take place after the events in Superman [Legacy]." A fan asked if the upcoming Superman film, due out in 2025, would have an impact on the plot of Peacemaker's upcoming season, and Gunn simply responded, "Yes."

Even more confusing is that Season 1 of Peacemaker, as well as The Suicide Squad,are theoretically no longer considered canon, and we don't really know what that means. But with Rick Flag Sr., the father of Joel Kinnamen's Suicide Squad character, being involved, this may not be a clean reset of Peacemaker's story — why use that character if not to specifically deal with the baggage from Peacemaker murdering Rick Flag Jr.? The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Season 1 contained no direct references to any other DC movies, so it's possible they're being grandfathered in to the new version of the DC movieverse.

But that's a discussion for when we actually have some story details. For now, the only safe assumption is that John Cena's Peacemaker character will be kicking the butt of some evil forces to some glam rock tunes. Beyond that, anything is possible.

Peacemakerspin-offs

In expanding the new DCU, James Gunn officially revealed that Waller, a series centered on Amanda Waller (played by Viola Davis in Peacemaker), was in the works with Davis reprising her role. Waller is a high-ranking government official who is in charge of ARGUS, the secret group that handles all things Suicide Squad, and characters from Peacemaker are expected to all appear in Waller — Sasha Bordeaux being a prime candidate. There's no timetable for Waller except that it will be filmed after Peacemaker Season 2.

Who will be in Peacemaker?

PeacemakerReturning Cast:

• John Cena as Peacemaker/Christopher Smith, a superhero who wants peace at any cost
• Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, the newest member of Peacemaker's team and the daughter of Amanda Waller
• Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase, another superhero who goes by the alter ego Vigilante
• Jennifer Holland as Agent Emilia Harcourt, the special ops expert of the team
• Steve Ageeas John Economos, the team's tech expert

Peacemaker Season 2 new cast:

• Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr.
• Tim Meadows as new ARGUS agent Langston Fluery
• Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux
• David Denman

Where can I watch Peacemaker?

Peacemaker is a Max original series so it airs exclusively on the streaming service Max. Subscribers can catch up on the first season now along with many other hit DC shows and movies.