Last Thursday, Peacemaker Season 2 wrapped up on HBO Max. The response from fans has been mixed, with many feeling that it was a disappointing conclusion to a hit-and-miss batch of episodes. However, it seems just as many people loved seeing the 11th Street Kids again.
At the start of 2023, DC Studios announced its "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" slate. Several of those projects have failed to materialise, and many never see the light of day (at least not in their original form). Still, with Creature Commandos receiving rave reviews and Superman proving a critical and commercial hit, the DC brand does appear to be in safe hands with James Gunn.
Despite that, Peacemaker Season 2 was still something of a mixed bag. As well as arguably being an overall underwhelming follow-up to that stellar first season, it highlighted some of Gunn's flaws and pointed to the filmmaker being stretched a tad too thin this past year.
In this feature, we take a deep dive into some of Peacemaker's biggest problems and attempt to figure out whether it's just a series that's simply not for everyone or an indication that DC Studios might not be the saviour it initially appeared after the DCEU's many disasters...
What Did The Series Really Achieve?
The Suicide Squad established Peacemaker as a pretty hateful character, and after he'd murdered Rick Flag Jr., no one shed a tear when Bloodsport shot him. A post-credits scene revealed that he'd survived, with Peacemaker Season 1 later leaving us all rooting for Chris Smith.
Gunn successfully got fans to care about the character by unravelling his dark past and establishing him as someone who at least wants to do the right thing. Season 2, on the other hand, focused primarily on Chris's budding romance with Emilia Harcourt. Almost everything this season revolved around that, but it wasn't a strong enough relationship to have so much of this story hinge on.
What happened on that boat—a kiss—informed Chris's entire story arc, and Peacemaker Season 2 was full of tropes. Emilia went down the self-destructive route of getting into barfights, and Chris, who, in case it wasn't obvious, had to be shown as the saddest man at an orgy to establish how he was feeling, learned that the grass isn't always greener on the other side (with an obvious twist that his perfect reality wasn't perfect).
We'll get to Checkmate and Salvation a little later; in a season that gave Gunn 8 episodes to explore more of the new DCU, the show only succeeded in making a group of relatively unimportant characters an important part of the filmmaker's vision for this franchise. For better or worse.
Overpromises And Underdelivering
In many ways, it's refreshing to have a writer/director and studio executive be so open with fans on social media. Gunn takes the time to share insights into his work, correct mistakes/false rumours, and occasionally even bicker with his followers. He also teases the DCU's future with vague hints about what's next.
That's the norm in many ways; Kevin Feige is guilty of doing the same thing. The difference is, he's much better at it than Gunn...which is why the filmmaker had to lower expectations in interviews by confirming Superman wouldn't appear in Peacemaker Season 2, and why he's now arguing that Checkmate and Salvation were "big reveals."
Over several weeks, the filmmaker inadvertently set expectations way too high for the final few episodes of Peacemaker Season 2. Whether it was hyping up the series as a Man of Tomorrow prequel or promising game-changing revelations (Earth-X was predicted by fans weeks before that episode aired), Gunn set himself up to fail.
He never lied, but made the mistake of overpromising and underdelivering. Lex Luthor's appearance was a big deal, but was it "really, really, really big"? And hailing Peacemaker as a "prequel" to the Superman sequel because it features a couple of plot beats that will carry over to that film is as big a stretch as saying Captain Marvel was an Avengers: Endgame "prequel" because it introduced Carol Danvers.
James Gunn Overindulged
Peacemaker Season 2 was tentatively planned before Gunn was appointed DC Studios co-CEO, and it's hardly surprising that he made the series a priority when given a position of power.
However, in doing so, he made a DCEU property official DCU canon by reshooting scenes to force a round peg into a square hole, even when this brand desperately needs to move on from the past. Gunn made it work with that clever "Previously in the DCU" recap, but, strangely, this was a priority when so many major characters—and "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" projects announced at the start of 2023—are still on the shelf.
The show tried perhaps a little too hard to turn the talented Jennifer Holland into an action star. Then, there was not one, but two extended musical performances from Gunn's favourite bands in a largely uneventful finale. This wasn't Gunn at his best, and it feels like a show written by someone who was shooting a major blockbuster, Superman, at the same time.
The filmmaker even found a role for another of his friends, Michael Rooker, as Red St. Wild, a poacher out to kill Eagly. Why explore the intricacies of Earth-X or flesh out borderline caricatures like Vigilante and Judomaster when you can have Rooker walk through the forest with a comically large gun, Looney Tunes-style? But hey, Eagly is now the "Prime Eagle," whatever that means.
Checkmate And Salvation
Peacemaker Season 2 ended on something of a bum note with Chris Smith trapped in Salvation. Still, it was an intriguing cliffhanger, while that interdimensional metahuman prison and the formation of Checkmate are noteworthy developments for the wider DCU.
Rick Flag Sr.'s descent into villainy didn't feel earned after Creature Commandos, with the way he was laughing and joking with Lex Luthor's lackeys while A.R.G.U.S. agents died, coming across as a forced way to fit this character into a role better suited to Amanda Waller.
As for Checkmate, let's be honest: it's an exclusive to get the 11th Street Kids into more DCU movies and TV shows. There's nothing inherently wrong with that idea, but Gunn makes it hard to have 100% faith in his vision when he's recasting every other major role, but producing an entire TV series to make sure the characters he worked on in the DCEU are now a pivotal part of what's supposed to be a reboot.
We're intrigued to see what Salvation means for the DCU, especially if it's leading to Gunn pulling ideas from The New Frontier (Salvation could quite easily be revealed as Dinosaur Island, and a precursor to The Centre's introduction). Still, Salvation could have just as easily been revealed as another of Lex Luthor's discoveries in Superman...
Was Peacemaker Season 2 A Failure?
The answer to the question above is subjective. However, between very positive reviews and what appears to be strong viewership on HBO Max, it's hard to frame Peacemaker Season 2 as anything other than a success.
It may have left some fans underwhelmed or disappointed, but the series certainly hasn't bombed. If anything, it's just made it clear that Gunn is human and far from infallible, as he arguably made some missteps, both as a filmmaker and studio executive.
A poor choice of words left fans expecting cameos from the Man of Steel, Booster Gold, and Blue Beetle in the finale; instead, they got a handful of minor Superman characters. It's also a lesson in setting expectations; Earth-X was simply a small part of Peacemaker's journey, not a world that Gunn intended to explore or revisit, even if it seemed like that's where things were headed.
Many of you will still feel misled, and that's understandable. Now, 2026 will be a huge test for the DCU as Gunn takes a step back to focus on Man of Tomorrow while Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface are all released (none of which were written or directed by the Superman helmer). The break might be good for him and DC fans.