Peacemaker Season 2: Release Date, Trailers, Cast, and Everything We Know

The last time we saw John Cena's Peacemaker, aka Christopher Smith, was in 2022, if you can even believe it. (Well, unless you caught his brief cameo in Superman.) The character was a major scene-stealer when he first popped up in The Suicide Squad in 2021 — so much so that Warner Bros. made plans for the spin-off Peacemaker series on HBO Max well before the movie came out. But the DC movieverse is a very different place now than it was back then, with the old version of the franchise (the DCEU) replaced with a new version (the DCU), which is being spearheaded by James Gunn.

Despite all that, there's good news: Peacemaker Season 2 will arrive on our screens this summer. Keep reading to find out all we know about the second season.

Peacemaker Season 2 release date

James Gunn announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Peacemaker Season 2 will premiere on Aug. 21 on HBO Max. "Counting the days until Peace on Earth," Gunn wrote. "I just finished the DI & Mix on the Season Premiere yesterday and wow it's one of my favorite things ever."

Peacemaker Season 2 teasers and trailers

The long-awaited trailer for Peacemaker Season 2 dropped during San Diego Comic-Con, showing a down-on-his-luck Peacemaker traveling through a portal to an alternate, and much more peaceful, dimension. (Well, peaceful until he has to fight the alternate version of himself.) Meanwhile, Frank Grillo's Rick Flag Sr. is out to avenge his son, who was killed by Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad.

In the first teaser for Peacemaker Season 2, Peacemaker goes in for an awkward job interview with Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn). And Tim Meadows shows up as a jerk ARGUS agent? And Peacemaker is about to get into a fight with... Peacemaker? What in the multiverse is going on here? 

Previously, Gunn broke the news of the premiere date by sharing a much shorter teaser — it's exactly 11 seconds long. In it, Danielle Brooks' Leota Adebayo tells Peacemaker, "You're a superhero now." He sure is!

Who will be in Peacemaker Season 2?

Peacemaker returning cast:

• John Cena as Peacemaker/Christopher Smith
• Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo
• Freddie Stroma as Vigilante/Adrian Chase
• Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt
• Steve Agee as John Economos

Peacemaker Season 2 new cast:

• Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr.
• Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury
• Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux
• Michael Rooker as Red St. Wild
• David Denman

Is James Gunn directing any episodes of Peacemaker Season 2?  

Per Deadline, Gunn — who is now co-head of DC Films, along with Peter Safran — will have a directing credit on three of the eight episodes in Season 2, and he also wrote all of Season 2. 

The remaining episodes will be directed by Greg Mottola, Peter Sollett, and Alethea Jones, who in 2024 announced that she directed "a few epic episodes" of Season 2 on her Instagram.

What will Peacemaker Season 2 be about?

The official logline doesn't tell us much, but here it is: "The new season follows Christopher 'Chris' Smith, aka Peacemaker, the vigilante superhero as he struggles to reconcile his past with his newfound sense of purpose while continuing to kick righteous evil-doer butt in his misguided quest for peace at any cost."

While Peacemaker Season 1 was set in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), Season 2 will be set in the new DC Universe (DCU). The first teaser revealed that Peacemaker will audition for a spot on the Justice Gang (which includes Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Maxwell Lord). James Gunn confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con that this season will take place a month after the events of Superman.

Season 1 of Peacemaker, like The Suicide Squad, is theoretically no longer considered canon in the DCU, but this season's multiverse storyline gives the show a way to move between worlds. With Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), the father of Joel Kinnaman's Suicide Squad character, being involved (and confirmed by Gunn as the antagonist of Season 2), this may not be a clean reset of Peacemaker's story.

Peacemaker Season 2 poster

Peacemaker spin-offs

In expanding the new DCU, James Gunn officially revealed that Waller, a series centered on Amanda Waller (played by Viola Davis in Peacemaker), was in the works, with Davis reprising her role. Waller is a high-ranking government official who is in charge of ARGUS, the secret group that handles all things Suicide Squad, and characters from Peacemaker are expected to appear in Waller — Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez) being a prime candidate. There's no timetable for Waller except that it will be filmed after Peacemaker Season 2.    

Where can I watch Peacemaker?

Peacemaker Season 1 is available to watch on HBO Max.