"Peacemaker" season 2 debuted on HBO Max last night (Aug. 21) with a one-episode premiere. It's been about three years since we last saw John Cena's titular antihero on the small screen in season 1, though if you saw "Superman," you also saw a brief Peacemaker cameo. That moment technically marked the character's first involvement in James Gunn's new DC Universe, but his story truly began in earnest last night with the "Peacemaker" season 2 premiere.
Now, while this episode was technically the first "Peacemaker" episode to be canon in Gunn's DCU, it felt like the old "Peacemaker" to me. Yes, we may have a new theme song from Foxy Shazam, replacing Wig Wam's now-iconic "Do Ya Wanna Taste It," and there's a new choreographed dance number to go with it, which show star Steve Agee told me took two days to film. But John Cena was still an irreverent anti-hero who just wants to do good, and the show is still fun as heck to watch.
If you haven't seen the premiere yet, head over to HBO Max, watch the first episode, and then come back. Or, read on if you're comfortable with some spoilers. Let's dive into why this shocking season 2 premiere is a must-watch for anyone, whether they're a DC fan or not.
Spoilers for "Peacemaker" season 2 premiere ahead
'Peacemaker' season 2 premiere successfully resets its own timeline
As I've already mentioned, this is technically the first season of "Peacemaker" that's officially in the DCU canon. While James Gunn was involved in both 2021's "The Suicide Squad" and "Peacemaker" season 1 in 2022, both were part of the old DC Extended Universe. So this season's premiere had a tough task to accomplish. It had to take events from what we've already seen of John Cena's Peacemaker and decide what to keep, what to toss out, and what to retcon.
I came away impressed with how well the show did exactly that. The first thing it did was bring everyone up to speed on what had happened to the show's characters in the aftermath of season 1. By doing this, it not only brings anyone who missed season 1, or forgot what happened three years ago, up to speed on the "Peacemaker" canon, but it also makes those things canon. Everything from season 1 becomes canon the second it's referenced in season 2, and I felt Gunn managed to do this necessary exposition dump in a way that wasn't ham-fisted.
I also appreciated that Gunn didn't tiptoe around Jason Momoa and the Justice League cameo at the end of season 1. Rather than create some timeline in which this cameo was possible, Gunn just retconned the whole thing without explanation, replacing Momoa and the Justice League with the Justice Gang that we first met in "Superman." Now, it was always Isabela Merced and Nathan Fillion as Hawkgirl and Guy Gardner, who appeared at the end of season 1 — Momoa never existed.
Gunn solves his "Peacemaker" paradox quickly — and in shocking fashion
If you watched the official "Peacemaker" season 2 teaser trailer, at the end, you spotted a shocking reveal: There are two Peacemakers. That's because the quantum unfolding chamber that Peacemaker's dad, Auggie Smith, aka White Dragon, used to store all of his Peacemaker helmets now belongs to Chris (Peacemaker), and when walking through it one time, he realizes he's not the only Chris Smith with access to the chamber.
We don't get a Crisis of Infinite Chrises just yet, though. First, we get the reveal that in this alternate dimension, Chris and his dad have a good relationship, Auggie might not be a white supremacist, and Chris's brother is still alive and well.
That sets up our emotional stakes for the season and takes things to a deeper place in season 1 than in season 2. In season 1, we saw Peacemaker's emotional growth and character development from "total asshole," as Gunn dubbed him in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, to someone with friends and someone who is starting to come to terms with the loss of his father and brother.
Now, though, that growth is put to the test, and we can see that there's a lot to tempt Peacemaker to abandon his Earth for the one on the other side of the unfolding quantum chamber. He could have had a good relationship with his family, rather than merely process and mourn the one he never had.
But before he can decide whether or not to swap lives with his doppleganger, our Peacemaker hears the click of a cocked gun behind him, and thus begins an electric bout of Cena on Cena violence.
If you haven't seen that fight, last chance to turn around and watch it, because (spoiler alert) our Peacemaker unintentionally impales the torso of his other-dimensional counterpart on a metal outcropping in the quantum unfolding chamber. This had to happen — like with Highlanders, there can only be one — but now the Peacemaker paradox is replaced with a monumental question: Should Peacemaker replace his dead counterpart in another dimension?
To learn the answer to that, you'll have to watch the rest of "Peacemaker" season 2, and as someone who has seen the first five episodes, I highly recommend you do. This is merely the beginning of a hilarious, yet emotionally complex journey for our (anti)hero and the rest of the 11th Street Kids.
Stream "Peacemaker" season 2 premiere now on HBO Max
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Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.
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