Peacemaker Season 2 Review
James Gunn’s second round of Peacemaker hits like a confetti cannon full of gore, family issues, and yacht-rock needle drops. If you’re a returning fan, it’s still just as loud, messy, and prone to tangents, yet in a superhero landscape crowded with quippy anti-heroes, this season keeps a distinct flavor—part hangout comedy, part trauma exorcism, part DCU glue. And it works.
Peacemaker Season 2 (2025) | HBO & DC
A singular tone in a crowded space
Plenty of comic-book shows aim for irreverence; few feel as weirdly personal as Peacemaker. Season 2 leans harder into Gunn’s brand of chaotic sincerity with vulgar riffs sitting beside sincere monologues, sad family memories, and the show’s oddly warm found-family energy.
In a market where Deadpool-style meta humor is the obvious comparison point, Peacemaker stays unique by letting silliness and shame coexist rather than cancel each other out. The season’s outlandish plot points and alternate-reality detours stay grounded by a character who is still learning how to be a person when the helmet comes off. And it doesn’t need a POV shift to make the comedy clear.
Cast chemistry: the 11th Street Kids still click
John Cena remains a bullseye fit for Chris Smith. He’s a physically imposing goofball who can pivot to wounded silence in the space of a close-up. He sells the season’s most uncomfortable beats, including visions of his father and the looping pain of watching that death replay inside his head, then snaps back to the show’s prankish rhythm without whiplash.
Around him, the ensemble thrives. Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt keeps her guard up but allows more warmth through the armor; Freddie Stroma’s Adrian Chase/Vigilante continues to steal scenes with childlike logic and gleeful violence; Danielle Brooks’s Leota Adebayo is the heart and conscience; Steve Agee’s John Economos commits to deadpan exasperation that lands big laughs. The season’s balance of unique character chemistry makes the zany “found family” feel earned.
Peacemaker Season 2 (2025) | HBO & DC
Heart, discomfort, and the show's moral spine
Season 2 keeps pushing Peacemaker to look in the mirror. The series isn’t afraid to get uncomfortable (like forcing Chris to confront how his need for approval curdles into violence), but it always finds its way back to comedy without erasing the bruises.
That careful balance gives the show a moral spine. Jokes don’t undercut the feelings; they essentially make those feelings more visible. Even when a gag runs long (the wink joke is a season high), the emotional through-line always holds, which is why the season’s quieter conversations hit as hard as its bar brawls.
DCU alignment: smart integration with a Slightly wobbly landing
The season nests cleanly inside the new DC Universe, threading in elements that matter beyond the show without turning into a cameo parade. Checkmate’s formation by our core crew signals where this team may pop up next, and the finale’s twist (Peacemaker exiled to “Salvation,” a metahuman prison world) plants a flag for future DCU stories, including where Superman and other projects might intersect.
It’s clever franchise engineering that still feels like Peacemaker. The drawback: for a series that appears to be ending here, the last episode leans a little too cliffhangery. It’s fun and propulsive, but resolution gives way to setup. If a spin-off were confirmed, the final gear shift would feel gratifying; as is, it reads as a deliberate handoff that leaves this season’s victory lap half-claimed. Still, the final episode does resolve some season-long arcs, so longtime fans won’t be entirely disappointed here if you want a sense of closure.
Score: 8/10
Quirky, chaotic, and unexpectedly heartfelt, Peacemaker Season 2 proves there’s still plenty of fun left in superhero TV.
