Everything you need to know about Peacemaker season 2

By David Caballero Updated September 2, 2025

Peacemaker, the unexpected HBO Max hit that premiered in early 2022 and surprised everyone with its irreverent humor and heartwarming approach, will return for a second season. Peacemaker (John Cena) is the breakout character from James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, and the show has taken the character to the next level and effectively turned what was a D-list DC villain into a bona fide star.

Fans can surely expect to see more of the wacky, violent, and subversive humor that made the show’s first season such a hit to begin with in season 2. Now that the series has returned, here’s everything we know about the second season of Peacemaker.

Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker, is an antihero from DC Comics who made his debut in 1966 as a pacifist willing to go to extreme lengths to keep the peace. Although his pre-Crisis version opted to use non-lethal weapons, the character underwent a significant change throughout the years, eventually becoming a much more violent vigilante who kills at the slightest provocation.

Cena’s version in the now-defunct DC Extended Universe draws inspiration from the post-Crisis version, depicting Smith as a criminal serving a 30-year sentence at Belle Reeve penitentiary. He joins the Suicide Squad during their mission at Corto Maltese and eventually reveals himself to be a double agent working directly for Amanda Waller to cover up the U.S. government’s secrets. After killing Rick Flag, Peacemaker is critically injured by Bloodsport, resulting in an extended stint at the hospital.

Season 1 of Peacemaker begins with the character recovering from his injuries. He is then forced to join a mysterious A.R.G.U.S. operation code-named “Project Butterfly,” which eventually turns out to be a task force fighting a series of parasitic aliens resembling butterflies who have slowly taken control over key figures.

Throughout the season, Peacemaker undergoes a significant shift, bonding with his teammates and showing great remorse for killing Flag. Peacemaker’s troubled relationship with his father, Auggie, a remorseless white supremacist and the season’s secondary antagonist, also plays a huge role.

The final episodes see Peacemaker and his allies defeat the invasion while sparing one butterfly he grew close with and nicknamed “Goff.” He also kills his father after Auggie launches an attack under his supervillain persona, White Dragon. The season ends with Peacemaker dealing with his father’s death while actively trying to become a better person.

Season 2 of Peacemaker was officially ordered in February 2022 after season 1 proved a success for HBO Max. At that point, the future of the DC cinematic franchise was uncertain, as Gunn wasn’t announced as co-chair and co-CEO of DC Studios until October 2022.

Once Gunn was officially in charge, he quickly began developing the upcoming Superman film, but his commitment to season 2 of Peacemaker remained unchanged. Over two years after season 1 dropped, season 2 of Peacemaker officially began production on June 13, 2024.

Gunn dropped a teaser photo on his social media, confirming that the antihero is getting ready to get back into action. The production team wrapped filming on November 25.

On June 12, Deadline reported Superbad director Greg Mottola would direct “a few episodes” of Peacemaker season 2. Mottola’s style is a perfect fit for the wild and subversive world that Gunn created, and his approach will surely work incredibly well with Peacemaker‘s off-color tone.

The new season has also found a director in Peter Sollett, who helmed multiple episodes of the acclaimed horror mystery series, Evil. Given this show’s dark humor and subversive stories, Sollett’s experience should make him a perfect fit as a director for Peacemaker season 2.

In addition, director Alethea Jones, who helmed the first and ninth episodes of the acclaimed series High Potential, stated that she directed “a few epic episodes” of the new season of Peacemaker.

Much of the main cast of Peacemaker season 1 will return for the new season. As for new casting announcements, Gunn announced on May 10 that Frank Grillo will reprise his role as Rick Flag Sr. — which he will first play in the upcoming animated series Creature Commandos — throughout season 2 of Peacemaker.

As fans know, Peacemaker kills Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad and spends a large chunk of season 1 grappling with his regret. Grillo’s casting hints that season 2 will continue Peacemaker’s road to redemption, and Gunn’s comments about “unfinished business” signal an adversarial dynamic between the antihero and the potentially vengeful father.

Michael Rooker’s new character, Red St. Wild, is said to be the “world’s foremost eagle hunter” on a mission to kill his “nemesis,” Peacemaker’s pet eagle, Eagly. Rooker has starred in many of Gunn’s superhero projects, including the Guardians of the Galaxy films as Yondu and The Suicide Squad as Savant.

On June 10, it was revealed that Sol Rodríguez and David Denman joined the cast. Rodriguez is playing Sasha Bordeaux, a character closely associated with Batman in the comics, and even acted as Bruce Wayne’s bodyguard. She later becomes involved with the agency Checkmate, leading to a revamp of her character and her eventual association with Amanda Waller and Task Force X.

Characters returning to the DCU after 2025’s Superman include Terence Rosemore and Stephen Blackehart as LuthorCorp employees Otis Berg and Sydney Happersen. Hiroyuki Lia also returns as Secretary Mori, while Nathan Fillion, Isabel Mercred, and Sean Gunn reprise their roles as Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Maxwell Lord.

For his part, Denman plays Chris’s brother, Keith, from another universe in which he grew up to be an adult crimefighter with Chris and their father. Likewise, Gunn revealed on Threads that actors Anissa Matlock, Taylor St. Clair, and Dorian Kingi were cast in undisclosed roles. It was soon revealed that they respectively play A.R.G.U.S. agent Angler, Mrs. Chase, and the “Kyphotic Alien” who appears in Peacemaker’s Quantum Unfolding Chamber.

Lastly, James Gunn announced on Instagram that Tim Meadows joined the cast on June 12. The SNL veteran plays A.R.G.U.S. agent Langston Fleury, a new character set to be introduced in Peacemaker, who gives his coworkers inappropriate nicknames.

A teaser for Peacemaker season 2 was released on May 31, 2025. In it, Chris participates in an unsuccessful interview for a spot in the Justice Gang from James Gunn’s Superman, featuring cameos from Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Maxwell Lord. The rest of Peacemaker’s team are also shown to have lived unsatisfactory lives since the first season, despite saving the world from the butterflies.

At the same time, A.R.G.U.S. director Rick Flag Sr. is shown searching for Peacemaker, seeking justice for the death of his son. The video ends with Chris walking through a door in his father’s Quantum Unfolding Chamber and encountering a variant of himself.

The official trailer for season 2 was released on July 26, 2025. The video revealed that Peacemaker wants to be a “real hero” and will try to find happiness by traveling to an alternate universe where he is dating Harcourt, both his father and brother are alive, and he and his family are celebrated heroes.

Following the premiere of episode 1, a new trailer for Peacemaker season 2 was released, teasing what’s to come in the weeks ahead.

Season 2 begins by showing how things have gone downhill for Peacemaker and the rest of the 11th Street Kids. Chris failed to get a spot in the Justice Gang. Harcourt lost her job with A.R.G.U.S. and has struggled to find work in other government agencies. Leota has divorced from her wife, Keeya. Economos has spent several months miserably spying on Chris for Rick Flag Sr.

However, Chris discovered a portal in his father’s Quantum Unfolding Chamber that leads to another universe, where his brother is alive and they are superheroes alongside their father. But when Chris chooses to see more of this new world, he gets into a fight with his alternate self that ends in the latter’s accidental death.

Having detected Chris’s repeated use of the interdimensional portal, A.R.G.U.S. sends agents to investigate this anomaly while Chris is away, only for them to get beaten up by Eagly. When Chris returns home, he ventures into the other universe and texts its version of Harcourt. Since his alternate self had a romantic relationship with her, Chris is all too tempted to explore his counterpart’s desirable life.

Peacemaker‘s second season has been declared “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, with a near-perfect 99% rating from 72 critics and an audience rating of 78%. Digital Trends has reviewed the first episode of Peacemaker season 2, and with 4.5 out of 5 stars, the show’s sophomore season is another shining addition to the DCU.

The first episode of Peacemaker season 2 premiered on HBO Max on August 21, 2025. The remaining seven episodes will be released on a weekly basis until the finale on October 9.