Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Peacemaker Season 1After eight episodes, HBO Max's Peacemaker came to an end, and now fans have to deal with the harsh reality that it’s going to be a while until the recently confirmed Season 2 gets into production. The problem is that there are just not enough shows around with killer bald eagles, snacking-addicted villains, and musical numbers that prove even the less flexible of us all can dance. (I personally salute you, James Gunn.) So, while we are still cursing the heavens and Googling for ways to hibernate for at least a year, it’s time to discuss how Peacemaker sets its second season and what surprises Gunn still has in store for fans.
The DCEU Is Back At Full Speed
While both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker are filled with nods at the larger DC universe, Warner Bros. never really explained how Gunn’s production fits the bigger picture. It’s been a while since Warner shifted its focus from interconnected stories to individual films. And, if we are being honest, it’s not a bad strategy – Joker and the upcoming The Batman wouldn’t exist if the company was still bent on making a shared universe above all things. Even so, there have been rumors about how the upcoming The Flash will use DC’s version of the Multiverse to soft-reboot the DC Extended Universe on theaters and create a more cohesive shared universe moving forward.
Peacemaker’s finale surprised fans by featuring some powerful cameos, as the Justice League shows up for the final confrontation with the butterflies. And not just any version of the Justice League, but the one that Zack Snyder helped to put together, with Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller reprising their roles as Aquaman and Flash, respectively. Superman and Wonder Woman remain hidden in the shadow, but let’s be honest, it would be too expensive to also bring Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot just for a series cameo – Momoa and Miller were already on set, filming their next solo superhero films.
The Justice League cameo reveals that Gunn’s corner of the DC Universe is not isolated from previous films featuring the Justice League. Gunn already confirmed one of the series main characters will come back to a big theatrical movie – and it could be Agent Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) in the Black Adam film. So, it seems like Warner is once again heavily investing in the idea of an interconnected universe. That means the clues for future seasons of Peacemaker might be hidden in future DC projects, and fans can start once again to look at hidden details in films and series to find out more about the big picture.
The end of the Suicide Squad?
In Peacemaker’s finale, Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) tries to redeem herself by exposing her mother’s black ops teams. Taking to the press and the U.S. government at the same time, Adebayo tells the whole world about the existence of Task Force X and Project Butterfly, underlining how Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) ruled both teams with an iron fist and was willing to do anything for the success of their missions. Adebayo calls for the immediate investigation of Waller’s illegal actions, and in just one stroke, might have put an end to the Suicide Squad.
Since now we know Peacemaker is connected to the bigger DCEU, Adebayo’s actions could reverberate in other DC franchises. For example, the Suicide Squad is a big part of the DCEU, using the villains that superheroes apprehend to execute dangerous missions outside U.S. jurisdiction. The Justice League won’t be happy to know that they were sending inmates to their death, and countries worldwide will demand the U.S. to explain their illegal infiltrations in foreign territory. While Peacemaker started as a contained narrative, Adebayo’s speech to the press completely changes the DCEU status quo, and it will be interesting to know how the world adjusts to it. Even more, now we need to know if Waller takes the fall or if she gets to redirect the blame for it all to another poor soul. Since Gunn is working on a second The Suicide Squad spinoff series, we might learn that even before Peacemaker’s Season 2.
Peacemaker’s Personal Journey
Peacemaker is without a doubt a superhero comic book production, with alien invasions, metahumans, world-threatening conspiracies, and technology so advanced that it looks like magic. Nevertheless, what makes the show so intriguing is that Gunn uses this fantastic universe to explore human nature and raise important questions about morality and self-improvement. The series follows the journey of Christopher Smith, a.k.a. Peacemaker (John Cena), while he tries to become more than the killer his Nazi father (Robert Patrick) trained him to be.
The series doesn’t hold its punches when denouncing Peacemaker for his inherited racism and sexism, pointing out how the antihero is more than often a bully and a bigot. However, Gunn is brave enough to defend the idea that even the biggest asshole can become a better person instead of just condemning Peacemaker's actions. So, little by little and with the force of attrition, Christopher starts to make an effort to change himself. Self-improvement is not easy, and it doesn’t happen fast. That means that, by the end of the first season, Christopher is still an asshole. But he’s definitely less of an asshole, and we also had the time to understand the good aspects of his personality, like his loyalty to his friends.
Christopher's struggles to become a better person lead him to a final confrontation with his father, the White Dragon, an irredeemable white power supremacist that taught Peacemaker every despicable thing he learned. Trying to take the reigns of his own life, Peacemaker ends up killing his father, a bloody step towards self-improvement. However, Peacemaker’s finale shows that the White Dragon is not entirely gone, as Christopher keeps having visions of his father’s ghost.
It’s hard to get rid of the past, and shooting a gun will not magically put Christopher on the right path. There’s still much work to be done, and, yes, Christopher will have to deal with the ghost of his father whispering in his ear that he’ll never be anything more than a hateful killer. Season 2 of Peacemaker should focus on Christopher’s journey, as the antihero exorcizes his father’s ghost and maybe find a way to become the hero that he hopes to become. Even so, there’s too much blood on Peacemaker’s hand, and Season 2 should also confront the antihero with the brutality of his actions.