The superhero genre has been popular for years, but some big changes have been happening on the DC side of things. The DCEU (which is streaming with an HBO Max subscription) ended with Aquaman 2, and co-CEO James Gunn has been the architect of a new shared universe. The original slate of projects is titled Gods and Monsters, and Peacemaker Season 2 ended up being one of the very first releases on it. However, that show got caught in the middle of the switchover between universes, and James Gunn explained how it all worked behind the scenes.
Peacemaker Season 2's premiere retconned the DCEU and Justice League, altering the ending of Season 1 in the process. While James Gunn was able to quickly make narrative sense of this pivot to the DCU, he spoke on Threads about the unique place the John Cena-led show was in during this change in power. As he put it:
Peacemaker Season 2 deals were all in place when I became head of DC. It was either break everyone's contracts and pay out all that money and take away HBO Max's biggest show at the time or find a way to make it work. I chose the latter. Mostly tho because I love the character and the show and thought he/they could be an important part of the DCU.
This does help to clear things up. James Gunn had a ton of tough decisions to make when taking his leadership position at DC and starting a new shared universe. Either way, the studio was going to have to pay the cast of Peacemaker. That, combined with his passion for the character and series, led him to bring back the series, which happened to be part of both the DCU and DCEU.
Indeed, it looks like Season 2 will end up having a major influence on upcoming DC movies. In addition to John Cena's cameo in Superman, the Peacemaker Season 2 finale saw Rick Flag Sr. dump Chris in Salvation, a pocket dimension that's going to be used as a prison for metahumans. We'll just have to wait and see if he gets out, and how Salvation is utilized as the newly formed shared universe expands.
At the time of writing this story, Peacemaker hasn't officially been renewed for a third season on HBO Max. But that huge cliffhanger, as well as the formation of Checkmate, are definitely fodder for more stories. Hopefully, we will find out soon one way or another.
Peacemaker is streaming in its entirety over on HBO Max. The next DC movie hitting theaters will be Supergirl on June 26th as part of the 2026 movie release list. But with that movie being largely set in space, it likely won't provide the Peacemaker-related answers we're looking for.
