# Peacemaker season 2

The second season of the American superhero television series Peacemaker is based on the eponymous character from DC Comics. It is set in the DC Universe (DCU) and serves as a "soft reboot" of the series, which started as a spin-off from the 2021 DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Suicide Squad. The season continues the story of jingoistic mercenary Christopher Smith / Peacemaker. It is produced by DC Studios with James Gunn as showrunner.
John Cena stars as the title character, reprising his role from The Suicide Squad, with Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Robert Patrick, Frank Grillo, Sol Rodríguez, David Denman, and Tim Meadows also starring. The season was ordered in February 2022, with Gunn set to write and direct all eight episodes. Filming was expected to begin in 2023, but work was put on hold when Gunn was made co-CEO of DC Studios and switched focus to the film Superman (2025). The spin-off series Waller was then prioritized over the season, but Waller was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, and in March 2024, Gunn announced that the season would now come first. Some filming occurred the next month, taking place simultaneously with Superman at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, ahead of principal photography which began in June and concluded in November.
The season is set to premiere on the streaming service Max in August 2025 and will consist of eight episodes.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 9 | 1 | TBA | James Gunn | James Gunn | August 2025 (2025-8) |
| 10 | 2 | TBA | Greg Mottola | James Gunn | TBA |
| 11 | 3 | TBA | Greg Mottola | James Gunn | TBA |
| 12 | 4 | TBA | Peter Sollett | James Gunn | TBA |
Gunn directed two other episodes of the season, and Alethea Jones also directed multiple episodes.

## Cast and characters

* John Cena as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker: A jingoistic mercenary who believes in achieving peace at any cost
* Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo: The daughter of former A.R.G.U.S. leader Amanda Waller and a member of Team Peacemaker
* Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase / Vigilante: A self-proclaimed crimefighter who looks up to Peacemaker like an older brother
* Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt: An A.R.G.U.S. agent and member of Team Peacemaker
* Steve Agee as John Economos: An A.R.G.U.S. agent who provides tactical support for Team Peacemaker
* Robert Patrick as August "Auggie" Smith / White Dragon: Peacemaker's racist father who was killed by him in the first season
* Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr.: The leader of the Creature Commandos who took over as the leader of A.R.G.U.S. He is angry about the death of his son, Suicide Squad leader Rick Flag Jr., at the hands of Peacemaker in the film The Suicide Squad (2021). Showrunner James Gunn said Flag Sr. and Peacemaker had "unfinished business to take care of", and Flag Sr. is basically the antagonist of the season. Gunn enjoyed evolving the character in the DCU from his introduction as a protagonist in the animated series Creature Commandos (2024–present). Flag Sr. has dark hair in the season, rather than grey hair as in Creature Commandos, because Grillo was filming the series Tulsa King (2022–present) simultaneously with Peacemaker and Gunn felt temporary hair dye would not look good. His in-universe explanation was that Flag Sr. dyed his hair due to vanity and ego.
* Sol Rodríguez as Sasha Bordeaux
* Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury: An A.R.G.U.S. agent
Additionally, Nhut Le reprises his role as Judomaster from the first season, while David Denman, Anissa Matlock, Taylor St. Clair, Dorian Kingi, and Brandon Stanley have been cast in undisclosed roles. Peacemaker's pet bald eagle, Eagly, returns from the first season.

## Production
### Development

James Gunn, creator and showrunner of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) series Peacemaker, said in August 2021 that he wanted to make a second season and was committed to doing so if the series was renewed. He reiterated this after the first season premiered in January 2022, despite he and star John Cena not yet having deals to return for a second season and Gunn wanting to take a break after a busy few years. Gunn did not formally agree to make a second season until he had worked out what he wanted the overall character arcs to be, as he and Cena did not want to agree to something that they would not love to make. Streaming service HBO Max (later renamed Max) officially announced the second season in February 2022, with Gunn set to write and direct all episodes. He said it would explore the repercussions, good and bad, of the first season's events.
Discovery, Inc. and Warner Bros.' parent company WarnerMedia merged in April 2022 to become Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), led by president and CEO David Zaslav. The new company was expected to restructure DC Entertainment and Zaslav began searching for an equivalent to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to lead the new subsidiary. After the surprise cancellation of DC's Batgirl film by WBD in August, Gunn said the second season of Peacemaker was "safe", and would begin filming in 2023. Gunn and producer Peter Safran were announced as the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios at the end of October 2022. A week after starting their new roles, the pair had begun working with a group of writers to develop an eight-to-ten-year plan for a new DC Universe (DCU) that would be a "soft reboot" of the DCEU. Gunn and Safran said some cast members would return from their film The Suicide Squad and the first season of Peacemaker in the DCU, and a "rough memory" of those events would remain. Because Gunn was busy with his new responsibilities, the second season of Peacemaker was put on hold by January 2023. In February, Gunn said the series was delayed by his work on the first DCU film, Superman (2025), but it was not canceled and would be made after the spin-off series Waller. He later clarified that the second season of Peacemaker was his next project after Superman, and said it would be part of the DCU's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters slate of content.
Gunn said in October 2023 that the season would address its change from the DCEU continuity to the DCU continuity. In March 2024, he clarified that the first season was not canon to the DCU and said the second season would be continuing from the events of Superman. At that time, he revealed that Waller had been delayed by the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes and the second season of Peacemaker would now be made first. Production was set to take place simultaneously with Superman later in 2024, in the interest of getting the season ready as soon as possible, so Gunn was no longer able to direct all of the episodes. He ultimately directed three episodes, including the first, with Greg Mottola, Peter Sollett, and Alethea Jones also directing.

### Writing

Gunn was writing the season by October 2023, following the conclusion of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, and he finished writing all eight episodes by early February 2024. He said the season was more about Christopher Smith, referring to Peacemaker's real name, and the interconnectivity between the characters and their personal lives.

### Casting

John Cena confirmed that he would be returning as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker for the second season when it was officially ordered in February 2022. In April 2023, when announcing the cast of the DCU animated series Creature Commandos (2024), Gunn said there were plans for some of the voice actors to reprise their roles in live-action DCU projects and specifically highlighted Frank Grillo as being cast as Rick Flag Sr. across all DCU media. That July, Gunn said Freddie Stroma would reprise his first-season role as Adrian Chase / Vigilante in the DCU. Also reprising their roles from the first season are Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, Robert Patrick as Peacemaker's father Auggie Smith / White Dragon, and Nhut Le as Judomaster. In May 2024, Gunn announced that Grillo would be reprising his role as Flag Sr. throughout the second season of Peacemaker. Sol Rodríguez, David Denman, and Tim Meadows were cast the following month, with Rodríguez portraying Sasha Bordeaux and Meadows cast as Langston Fleury. Sollett indicated in July that Joel Kinnaman was reprising his role as Rick Flag Jr. from The Suicide Squad in the season, though Kinnaman said in October he would not appear. Gunn revealed the next month that Anissa Matlock, Taylor St. Clair, Dorian Kingi, and Brandon Stanley had also been cast in undisclosed roles.

### Filming

Gunn said in March 2024 that filming was scheduled to begin later that year, simultaneously with production on Superman, at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Filming began on April 13, with Gunn doing a "pre-shoot" on a Saturday to work around his Superman filming commitments. He was directing three of the episodes and had hired three other directors for the season: Greg Mottola, who directed the second and third episodes; Peter Sollett, who directed the fourth episode; and Alethea Jones, who directed multiple episodes. Sam McCurdy served as cinematographer. Principal photography began on June 13, 2024, and wrapped on November 25, 2024.

### Title sequence

After the first season's opening title sequence received positive responses, Gunn said they wanted to "up [their] game" for the second season. Charissa Barton returned to choreograph the second season's title sequence. Gunn considered various music choices for the sequence, including reusing the first season's title song "Do Ya Wanna Taste It" by Wig Wam, before settling on a new song that he said aligned with the season's focus on Chris Smith over Peacemaker.

## Release

The season is scheduled to premiere on Max in August 2025.