[Caution: This article contains spoilers for the first episode of Peacemaker season 2, “The Ties That Grind.”]
James Gunn‘s Peacemaker is back, but there are some changes. The second season starts by summarizing events from the DC Universe (DCEU), reminding us how Chris Smith (John Cena) and his team, including Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), John Economos (Steve Agee), Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), and Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), saved the world as part of Project Butterfly. However, this was in the old DC Extended Universe, not the new one that began with Creature Commandos and officially started with Gunn’s Superman movie.
In a narrative twist known as retconning, the appearance of the Justice League in the finale of Peacemaker’s first season was reworked by Gunn. Instead of Leota reaching out to her mother for help, she summoned the Justice Squad – an elite metahuman team comprising Green Lantern Guy Gardner (played by Nathan Fillion), Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced). This squad officially includes the likes of Superman (David Corenswet) and Supergirl (Milly Alcock), who serve as Kryptonian cousins on reserve within this team.
In a reimagined timeline, I find myself in a world where the Justice League, consisting of Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) haven’t shown up late to save the day – because, as it turns out, the Justice League hasn’t been formed yet in this universe. To put it simply, if we were to erase Zack Snyder’s Justice League and any references to other heroes, and consider season 1 of Peacemaker as a standalone story, it could potentially fit into the DCU timeline.
James Gunn Explains the New DCU Canon in Peacemaker Season 2
As a passionate movie enthusiast, let me share my take on a recent post by James Gunn. Essentially, he’s suggesting that the DC Universe (DCEU) and the timeline depicted in ‘Peacemaker’ Season 1 are incredibly similar, yet with some very tiny differences that you could almost count on your fingers.
To put it another way, I’d say that if you were to draw a comparison, you might find that the narrative arc of ‘Peacmaker’ Season 1 closely aligns with the DCEU timeline, but with a few twists so unique, they make Season 1 seem somewhat out of place within the larger DC Universe.
Initially, Peacemaker originated as a spin-off from the 2021 movie The Suicide Squad, which, like Peacemaker, had connections to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Characters such as Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), and Waller (played by Davis) were all part of The Suicide Squad. However, during its first season, Peacemaker’s storyline diverged from the overall narrative of the DCEU at that time, according to James Gunn.
When someone noted that season 1 referenced a version of Batman who doesn’t kill people, as opposed to Ben Affleck’s Batman killing in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”, Gunn responded by saying, “Yes. Things like Bat-Mite, Matter-Eater Lad, and others didn’t quite fit since it was a transitional period.” (It has been confirmed by Gunn that while Bat-Mite may not be part of the DC Universe, the character Matter-Eater Lad could potentially exist in the future.)
Additionally, it’s important to mention that the other world where Chris encounters his living father Auggie (Robert Patrick) and brother Keith (David Denman) in the premiere isn’t actually the DCEU, but rather an alternate timeline or a mirror universe parallel to the DCU.
Gunn clarified in a recent conversation that it’s not about the multiverse. Instead, he likened it to reading a beloved novel, specifically Philip Roth’s “The Counterlife.” He describes it as an alternate life significantly different from our own and the struggle of dealing with this contrasting existence.
Gunn further explained, “What is Peacemaker’s emotional response to encountering a reality similar to his own, yet seemingly superior in every aspect? And how does he confront the ghosts from his past – those who were loved and ultimately taken by him? These are the emotional struggles that Peacemaker grapples with.
New episodes of Peacemaker season 2 premiere Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO Max.
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2025-08-25 02:27