Peacemaker Season 2 Review. Despite sharp character work…

Review 70 — Peacemaker Season 2 (2025), Showrunner — James Gunn

Ahhh… it pains me to say this, but as a whole, this season is disappointing.

The gun(n), unfortunately, has jammed.

Despite sharp character work and Gunn’s signature humor, the story at the heart of Peacemaker Season 2 simply isn’t strong enough to carry all that weight. Just the character development can’t save a story that simply doesn’t know what it’s trying to be.

Let’s get into it.

Quick Recap

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Christopher Smith, a.k.a. Peacemaker (played by John Cena), is an assassin who believes in achieving peace at any cost no matter how many people he has to kill for it. We first meet him in The Suicide Squad (2021), where he’s recruited by Amanda Waller, head of A.R.G.U.S., to join a team of criminals i.e. Task Force X or The Suicide Squad on a mission to destroy evidence of a secret government project.

During the mission, Peacemaker is secretly ordered by Waller to ensure all traces of the project are erased, even if it means killing his own teammates. When Rick Flag Jr., a loyal soldier under Waller, tries to stop him, the two fight ending with Peacemaker killing Flag Jr. However, another teammate, Bloodsport, shoots him in the neck, leaving him for dead. In the post-credits scene, it’s revealed that Peacemaker survived.

Peacemaker Season 1

We pick up with him in Peacemaker Season 1. Recovering from his injuries, he’s pulled back into action by Waller, who assigns a small off-books team Economos, Adebayo, Harcourt, and Murn to work with him. They’re also joined by another vigilante, who is named Vigilante. The team discovers an alien species called Butterflies that infest human hosts by living inside their brains. Over the course of the season, they uncover the truth behind the invasion and ultimately put an end to it.

Amid all this, Peacemaker’s past resurfaces particularly his relationship with his father, White Dragon, a violent white supremacist who trained and tormented him since childhood. Peacemaker’s guilt over accidentally killing his brother during one of their brutal “training” fights still haunts him. In the present, the two finally clash, and Peacemaker kills his father, freeing himself from that trauma.

In the finale, Adebayo who was revealed to be Amanda Waller’s daughter goes public with the truth about Task Force X, Belle Reve, and her mother’s illegal operations. After a climactic battle, the Justice League makes a brief appearance with silhouettes of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, while Aquaman and The Flash actually appear and share a humorous exchange with Peacemaker’s team.

Soft Reboot

Originally, The Suicide Squad (2021) and Peacemaker Season 1 took place within the DCEU (the universe of Man of Steel, Batman vs Superman etc.). However, after the restructuring of DC Studios and the formation of James Gunn’s and Peter Safran’s DCU, continuity changes were made for Season 2 to align it with the Superman (2025) film and future projects.

In the Season 2 premiere recap, the old Justice League scene is retconned and now replaced by the Justice Gang, featuring the new versions of DCU heroes Superman, Supergirl, Mr. Terrific, Guy Gardner, and Hawkgirl, maintaining the same comedic exchange style as before. It’s not a total reset, the events that happened in season 1 still stand, just the end is a bit different.

Now that we know what was, Let’s get into what now.

The Issues

The story has its moments. It really does. But beyond those flashes of brilliance, when you try to find an actual plot, there just isn’t one. The character development and world-building are solid, but the story itself offers almost nothing. And that’s frustrating, especially after keeping the audience waiting week after week, expecting something meaningful to unfold.

This season? I’m sorry, it just isn’t good. I may not be a professional writer, but as a viewer, I felt misled. The expectations whether inflated by hype or not crash hard.

Lack of a Central Plot

The biggest problem? There’s no central plot. No proper villain. No real focus. And in a superhero show, that absence matters. You can subvert tropes, sure, but you still need direction. Instead, what we get are loosely connected threads that never fully pay off.

The season’s plot: After Waller’s downfall, Rick Flag Sr. becomes head of A.R.G.U.S. and discovers Peacemaker was responsible for his son’s death, and is seeking revenge. Trying to find purpose, Peacemaker attempts to join the Justice Gang but, realizing they look down on him, spirals into self-doubt. During this time, an inter-dimensional portal left by his father leads him to a mirrored world where his father (Auggie) and brother (Keith) are alive and loving, along with a Harcourt who genuinely cares for him. He encounters the alternate Peacemaker and kills him in self-defense, then begins living the alternate’s life, seeing it as a second chance he leaves his old life behind. However, his friends follow him and soon discover this world is Earth X, a dimension where Nazis won WWII and dominate the world. In Episode 7, the team fights their way out, killing the alternate father and heavily injuring Keith, returning to their own dimension and vowing never to go back.

The entire Earth X plot, including its buildup combined lasts barely two episodes and is never mentioned again.

Missed Potential of Earth X

And that’s where the frustration really hits. You’ve been teasing this storyline from the very start, slowly dropping hints, and then it’s all thrown away just as it starts to get interesting. That’s not a main plot and it’s barely a subplot. Everything between Episodes 2 and 6 feels like filler. And I don’t use that word lightly, because I actually like good filler when it’s used to deepen characters. But this? This just drags. The pacing is inconsistent, the tension evaporates, and by the time the reveal comes, you’re not even excited anymore, you’re just relieved something finally happened.

What’s interesting is that the Earth X twist was something fans had been guessing from the start but honestly, I didn’t mind that at all. The setup didn’t ruin the reveal, in fact, it made it even more satisfying to see those theories come true.

The problem is how it was handled.

They had something massive on their hands and instead of exploring it deeply, they just moved on. The Earth X storyline should’ve been bold, impactful, and haunting.

Pacing and Scheduling Issues

Making things worse, Superman (2025) dropped on HBO Max between Episodes 5 and 6, and suddenly Lex Luthor appears in Episode 6. It feels like they stalled the plot just to make that cameo fit. If Superman had to come first, fine, just delay the show. Don’t make the story suffer for synergy.

If they needed to stall, at least give us a subplot to hold onto have. Like Rick Flag Sr. actively hunting Peacemaker by sending assassins and build some real tension. Anything would’ve been better than endless teases or few spoken words. In the current version it’s just surveillance and a raid.

When Flag Sr. and Peacemaker finally come face to face, Flag Sr. beats him down and it’s genuinely unsettling to watch, which is exactly the intensity we wanted. If the tone had been consistent like this throughout, it would be unnoticed, but the lack of it makes the moment hit even harder.

They could have always used another villain or another angle to fill the gap but it just dragged which meant pacing felt chopped and uneven. Scenes that should’ve been part of one powerful episode were split into multiple episodes, diluting all the impact.

So yes, while there’s good character work and emotional weight here and there, the lack of focus, wasted buildup, and poor story management make this season incredibly frustrating to watch.

Comparison to Other DC Projects

I’m not saying the whole season should’ve revolved around Earth X or the dynamic between Flag Sr. and Peacemaker, both could’ve worked in parallel. But they needed to be far less subtle about it.

Getting a bit technical here, but The Arrowverse (the DC TV universe) once did a four-part crossover called Crisis on Earth-X, which explored the same concept of Earth X in about two and a half hours. Peacemaker Season 2, by contrast, runs over eight episodes with roughly five and a half hours and yet, despite having double the runtime and probably a bigger budget, it couldn’t deliver a story as tight or emotionally compelling.

It’s not an entirely fair comparison, those shows had years of buildup and character groundwork and even though they might not be perfect, it does make a point: When a smaller-budget TV crossover feels more cohesive than a flagship show in the new DCU, That’s not good.

The advantage of a TV show is that you can introduce a larger number of characters and explore many more concepts than a film. If the goal was to set up future projects, this season fails to do so.

The Finale Fail

And now to the final episode. I woke up early just to watch it but boy, does it disappoint. There’s some solid character development from Adebayo, Peacemaker, and the rest of his friends, but from a story standpoint, it’s peanuts compared to what this show could have been.

After Episode 7, Chris surrenders the portal to A.R.G.U.S. to help the team get their jobs back. He’s arrested, and A.R.G.U.S. begins using the portal to explore other worlds, searching for one similar to theirs. Flag Sr., who’s running the operation, couldn’t care less about the casualties, he just wants results. People die, chaos unfolds, and eventually, they find a suitable world. He then takes a proposal to the government to use that world coined ‘Salvation’ as a prison for metahumans, and it gets approved. They main friends find out and then resign from A.R.G.U.S., and decide to start fresh, They all reconcile including Peacemaker and they create an agency called Checkmate (related to DC comics). But then Flag Sr. kidnaps Peacemaker and traps him in that world as retaliation for killing his son… and that’s it.

I’m sorry, but what the actual fuck.

I don’t mind being surprised or even confused, but I do mind being left unsatisfied. A finale should resolve or at least reward your investment, not invalidate it. I knew we weren’t going to see much of Earth X anymore, I at least expected the exploration of other dimensions to lead somewhere exciting, but it’s barely a few fleeting glimpses that promise much and deliver nothing. It genuinely pissed me off.

In DC Comics, Salvation is a world full of super-villains imprisoned by A.R.G.U.S., some trying to escape, others trying to take control. That’s a great premise, and one I’d love to see explored. I had to look it up myself and that’s fine for me. But the show shouldn’t expect viewers to do homework to understand its ending. They will explore it in other projects but what about the present. They treated this season finale as a starting point for a different story which just leaves the audience hanging and doesn’t provide closure to a rather chaotic season.

The episode still works as a feel-good finale because it closes the chapters on all the characters while opening new ones. But the lead-up has been so messy that while you leave with a sense of satisfaction, there’s also a lingering emptiness. After Peacemaker is trapped on the other planet, just before the scene ends, we hear various creatures and sounds, hinting that things are about to get chaotic. Also, after they escape Earth X, Keith is still alive but injured. Because Peacemaker 1 killed Peacemaker 2, Keith will likely want revenge and has the tech to make that possible. It’s a thread left unresolved, with no clear sense of what the future holds. Gunn himself has said there’s no set plan for a Season 3, yet this episode feels like a full-on setup for one. Instead, it serves as a setup for the wider DCU, which is fine, but as a season, Peacemaker still needed a more satisfying wrap-up to feel complete if there is uncertainity about the characters future.

Yet, when you’ve built up so much tension and invested deeply, why not take it just a bit further? I know Gunn isn’t one to use post-credit teases for future projects, but even a small hint would’ve gone a long way, A glimpse of Peacemaker a few years later, silhouettes of other villains, or a few distorted voices, anything to give the audience a sense of what’s next.

The Good

Don’t let my criticism take away from the fact that Peacemaker Season 2 is still a show with great characters who are developed in ways that make you care about them almost instantly. Despite the issues with the plot, there are plenty of fun moments hidden in the chaos that make the show special.

The comedy is R-rated, but it lands. A standout moment is when the John, Adebayo and Harcourt are in Vigilante’s basement creating the portal, they see all the drugs and money that he took when he killed criminals, and when Vigilante turns his back, they start stashing it. That scene is delightfully diabolical.

Chris being blind to the darker aspects of the alternate dimension failing to notice the absence of people of color might have been understandable. But when Harcourt 1 comes to retrieve him, she spots the not-so-subtle clues: copies of M*in Kampf on desks and a literal mural of H*tler. It’s funny because it highlights how Chris was so focused on the good that he cared about, that he completely missed the obvious. The humor lands because, it turns out the signs were there, He was just dumb.

A big highlight is Vigilante. During the Earth X sequence, he meets his alternate self, and the dynamic is a blast to watch. Their mannerisms, the mirrored interactions, even the Spider-Man meme pose, all add a layer of chaotic fun.

During the final episode, the live show of Foxy Shazam performing the show’s theme, Oh Lord, was a great touch, a fitting way to close one chapter and commence a new one.

The set design, locations, and CGI are all on point, paired with excellent cinematography. Sound design and background music are consistently effective, never feeling out of place and always enhancing the scene.

New Cast Highlights

The new cast members that bring unique flavor to the universe:

• David Denman as Keith (Peacemaker’s brother from Earth X): Even as a Nazi, his relationship with Peacemaker is built on care and love, making him a compelling addition.
• Tim Meadows as Langston Feury: A standout performance reminiscent of Frank Drebin from the Naked Gun series. His bird blindness and delivery are hilarious. Managing to say batshit crazy stuff with a straight face adds a comic relief that hits perfectly.
• Sol Rodríguez as Sasha Bordeaux: A cyborg A.R.G.U.S. agent, Sasha is a charmer and undeniably beautiful. Beyond her looks, her character development is strong, as she comes to realize that A.R.G.U.S. isn’t what it’s meant to be and switches sides, all without undermining her past. If she appears in future DC projects, her action scenes as a cyborg will be a definite highlight.
• Michael Rooker as the eagle hunter: A brief cameo that, while short, adds a nice touch without feeling forced.
• Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr. : A strong character, but for someone driven by revenge and a desire for control, he comes across as weak. He’s no Waller, his ambitions are big, but he lacks the presence and cunning to match them.
• Auggie Smith as The Blue Dragon: Not a new character but rather a new version. This Auggie is the Earth X version and for all of Earth X being bad, Auggie seems to be bad but only to a limit he can, he is not a nazi as he says, instead he tries his best. During his explaination to Chris, it mattered to Chris because the father he knew was never like this he was more rigid, harsh, and consumed by ideology, whereas this Auggie, despite the oppressive world around him, tries to retain some moral compass

The Intro

Like Season 1, this season opens with a song-and-dance number and this time to Oh Lord by Foxy Shazam. Much like Do Ya Wanna Taste It grew on me, Oh Lord has done the same. It’s catchy, bold, and perfectly fits the madness of the show and the themes of the season. It’s even made its way into my playlist on repeat! See the intro theme Here

Character Development

The other major win is character development. Peacemaker experiences genuinely solid growth this season. He’s finally coming to terms with the deaths of his brother and father, and his struggle to define himself in a world full of real superheroes is compelling. Watching him navigate trauma, guilt, and insecurities is moving, and John Cena absolutely kills it. His performance is layered, raw, and easily one of his best yet.

When he first meets his brother in the other dimension, and they simply talk, it’s quietly powerful. Later, during a heated fight, he sees his brother being beaten, which triggers his own trauma and forces him to confront his past. Chris realizes that no matter the universe, the problem wasn’t the world or others, it was him. Full-circle moments like this are difficult to execute for any character, but with Cena’s convincing performance and the careful writing, it lands beautifully and hits hard emotionally.

The rest of the team shines as well, Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), John Economos (Steve Agee), Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and Vigilante (Freddie Stroma).

These characters continue to grow. Adebayo letting her past go and moving on while still being there for everyone else makes it a good watch. Harcourt especially stands out. After the A.R.G.U.S. expose, she’s fired and blacklisted by Waller in petty revenge, leaving her adrift. The show explores her struggle, described as a form of “toxic masculinity” but more in a emotional suppression and reliance on aggression as a coping mechanism method. This is tackled intelligently without undermining her femininity or independence, something often compromised in film and real life. Instead, it makes her a nuanced, resilient, and fully human character. Even the way she handles her feelings about Chris feel natural.

It’s rare to see this kind of emotional maturity in superhero TV. While some people might not like it, I appreciate when it’s done with restraint and purpose but when the story around it keeps collapsing, even great performances start to feel wasted.

Final Thoughts

Season 2 has its moments, but it’s ultimately disappointing. Strong character development is present, yet without a solid, engaging story, it leaves a bad taste. The season had so much potential and after the brilliance of Season 1, and Gunn’s Superman (2025).

Despite all that, I still have faith in him. And if you don’t, that’s not fair. I’m not saying the show is trash, nor am I calling it perfect, it’s just… good enough To remind you why he is a great storyteller, but not good enough to prove it. I’ll still follow the new DC Universe as it expands, and my respect for Gunn remains intact.

Also I have no idea what his motivations were for writing the season this way, or how he prioritized certain plot-lines over others. I hope readers understand that I mean no malicious intent here, this is purely my perspective. I care about storytelling, and whether or not I’m “heard” doesn’t matter, this is just me expressing my honest opinion.

Rating: 4/10 — “God knows that it’s been a rough 2 months, Oh, Oh Lord, Oh Lord, keep on keepin’ on.

Side note :

• Watch The Suicide Squad (2021), it’s fun, action-packed, and works perfectly on its own.
• Also, check out the Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Earth-X. It can be a bit cheesy at times, but it delivers solid action and strong storytelling.