Peacemaker Season 2: Will John Cena And James Gunn Return?
John Cena and James Gunn are returning for Peacemaker Season 2 on HBO Max
Is Peacemaker Season 2 on the way? We need more Eagley in our lives! With Peacemaker, James Gunn and John Cena have given us one of the better stories to come along in the superhero genre in some time. It’s been a remarkable run for the character who was first introduced in The Suicide Squad and stole every scene he was in for that movie.
It carried over into the first season of Peacemaker, easily one of the television wins of the year. A story about a bulking mass of a man-child whose warped sense of justice and liberty was the perfect juxtaposition to the way he actually operated in the world. With the series now wrapped up on HBO Max, we can start turning our attention to Peacemaker Season 2.
John Cena Confirms Peacemaker Season 2 Is Happening
This much we already know. John Cena took to Twitter to give the official word that Peacemaker Season 2 was in the works and he was more than a little excited about the prospect. Another round of stories for Cena and company offers up all kinds of possibilities for the character and his team. Check out what Cena had to say about the return of the series.
It’s interesting to see John Cena talk, albeit briefly, about what it meant to get into character as Peacemaker for this season. And it’s clear that he and James Gunn have an important working and creative relationship around this character, something that really shines through on the screen.
Peacemaker Survived The DC Cancelations Following Batgirl And WB Shakeup
Warner Bros. and DC went through a major shakeup this year when they essentially decided to overhaul the plan for movies and series in this universe going forward. It essentially started with Batgirl which was already done filming and had the studio in the hole about $100 million dollars.
But that wasn’t enough to save the Leslie Grace flick and WB made the decision to not let it see the light of day in favor of a tax break. The decision to move this way with Batgirl then led to a number of other moves by the studio to offload projects they didn’t seem commercially viable going forward. There was fear that this would mean the end of Peacemaker Season 2.
But now James Gunn and Peter Safran have taken creative and production control over the DC Universe and there is a whole slew of new projects coming. With Gunn’s involvement already with Peacemaker, it stood to reason that the series would make the cut. And it did. The show will be back and is set to be a jumping off point for other productions as well.
Danielle Brooks And Jennifer Holland Should Be Returning For Peacemaker Season 2
While the casting for Peacemaker Season 2 is anything but official, it would appear that we would be getting at least the remaining core team of folks back for the second round of stories.
In addition to John Cena, that would include Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo whose friendship proved critical for Cena’s Christopher Smith in this first season. Sure, it wasn’t always on even footing, but Adebayo was just the right kind of character for this series. And we also know she has deeper ties to the DC Extended Universe.
Additionally, Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee would likely be back as Emilia Harcourt and John Economos respectively. Both carried over their roles from The Suicide Squad and make up the core of the original team tasked with handling Peacemaker.
Finally, Freddie Stroma’s Adrian Chase/ Vigilante would be critical to any further story in Peacemaker Season 2. The only dude denser than Peacemaker with even less a moral grip on right and wrong around being a “hero” was one of the true highlights of the first season. Considering that he fashions himself something like Peacemaker’s best friend, it would be imperative to have him back in the mix.
And one would have to assume that Eagly is back as well. Because what is Peacemaker without his freedom-inspiring pet who also happens to hand out the best hugs?
James Gunn Is Back For Peacemaker Season 2
Along with John Cena’s announcement about Peacemaker season 2, James Gunn had also shared the good news. There really would be no Peacemaker if it weren’t for James Gunn. When Marvel originally fired the director from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, that studio’s loss was DC’s gain.
He swooped right in and righted the ship on this movie with The Suicide Squad easily bringing in the funniest and bloodiest story that universe had seen to date.
With a tongue-in-cheek approach the superhero genre, bringing together a ragtag group that included Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, and of course John Cena’s Peacemaker among others, the flick flipped the franchise on its head with spitfire dialogue, stunning imagery, and just a general sense of how to have fun with comic book movies.
Much of this carried over into Peacemaker, a show that did anything but take itself seriously. This is all thanks to Gunn and his particular vision around the series. Heck, you can see as much just from the opening musical sequence that’s about as creative and different as anything we will ever see in the genre.
This wasn’t a show that wanted to take itself at all seriously, and it didn’t. Gunn would need to be back helming things for a second go-around and he’d talked to Deadline already about the prospect of returning for a Peacemaker Season 2. It’s come to fruition.
More Suicide Squad and Peacemaker Spin-Offs Are In The Works
James Gunn has also suggested that Peacemaker wasn’t the only character he’s working into a series for HBO Max. And when DC made its big announcement for the new movie and series slate, it was revealed that Viola Davis would also be getting her own series.
That’s going to be in the form of Waller which will follow the titular character in her somewhat nefarious world. Davis has been excellent as Amanda Waller, clearly bringing a cold-blooded calculation to the character which plays really well on-screen. She was much more prominently featured in the first Suicide Squad movie before getting knocked out in the Gunn reboot. But it stood to reason she was here to stay in this universe.
There’s no clear timeline on when we will get Waller and we are still waiting for specific release timelines on Peacemaker Season 2 as well.
