DC Studios Universe Watch: Peacemaker Season 2
I'm pretty sure we didn't talk much about Peacemaker Season 1 around here. Which is too bad, I quite liked it.
Peacemaker Season 2 just finished on HBOmax. And, man, are the reactions online weird.
And, look, I want to be a kind person, but sometimes it's really clear that
* once a show moves beyond a certain number of episodes/ duration, and therefore snowballs in complexity, some viewers don't know how to watch a movie or TV show without being spoonfed what is happening
* in 2025, people are still actively worrying about their fan theories and judging a show based on whether or not the show matches the story they told themselves. Why would you watch a show so predictable you know exactly where it's going?
* a lot of folks think that if something is character driven, nothing has happened, which just blows my gourd
* a lot of people who consider themselves experts on "the comics" don't seem to actually know anything about the comics. And I say this as someone who knows nothing about Peacemaker other than that he's a Charlton character with a very oddball helmet.
And these folks are very online and want to speak to the manager.
Over one movie (Suicide Squad) and two eight-episode seasons, we've seen John Cena as Chris Smith evolve as a character, along with a small group of pals. He's gone from enthusiasm over being a government stooge/ assassin in order to fulfill his dreams of being a hero, to learning to stand with people who actually care about making the world better (ARGUS's motives were always of the CIA playing-the-game-to-lead-the-game variety).
Season One did have big-bads in the form of an invasive alien species, which managed to lead to a big action set piece. Season Two is the fall-out of what happens when you rock the boat - for reference, check out what really happens to whistleblowers in the real world. Ie: As we enter Season 2, things are not going great for our 11th Street Kids.
The oddity of Peacemaker is that it treats heroing like something you can just go do - it can even be a job, one which Chris is told by accident he's not qualified for.
In the wake of that, and with heartbreak as Harcourt rejects him (again and again), Chris finds an alternate reality in which he could be a hero - but there's a different set of horrors attached there. Is Gunn commenting on how mediocre white men who can't seem to get a leg up keep being drawn to White Nationalism and certain ideas about women? I mean, I'd think so. If you can think you're an effective keyboard warrior and have ideas about trad wives, then, I'd guess so.
But, look, Peacemaker was always a bit different from Marvel product and felt much more akin to something like a 90's Vertigo comic than a standard superhero book.*
I've dug the show's oddly personal vibe. It's a sign of the maturity of the superhero genre when you don't need to fight a villain of the week to get to the big boss, or sort out the villain's nefarious scheme. In fact, Peacemaker Season 2 doesn't *have* a real villain. It has broken people moving in a variety of directions. And that includes Rick Flagg, who just hasn't properly dealt with the death of his son, and is seduced into Luthor's world and mindset by the end of the series.
I don't think it's that complicated. The peace that Chris Smith is making, is not done by killing dudes. He's making peace for himself and his friends. Yeah, the peace made is the friends we made along the way. So there you go.
I get that some folks feel like if they sign up for a superhero film or show, they're signing up to basically watch someone else play a video game for them to watch (I mean, how many John Wick movies are there now?). I don't know what to say about not everything made for TV and movies being that, and that maybe... we can all try to grow a little in what we'll watch and enjoy?
The advantage I'm experiencing as a 50 year old dude is that I am now largely zen about whatever is being shown to me. And turn off what isn't working. You don't want to have Peacemaker end the season by fighting an army of evil Nazis from an alternate dimension? Fine. Let's do this character-based stuff. As long as it works (and it does).
It's not like sequels have never been about superheroes in crisis. Superman II was about Superman wanting to give it all up for Lois. Spider-Man 2 is about Peter wanting to quit. Honestly, it makes the action feel less like something to sit through on the way to the next plot point when you feel like what you're seeing in the super-action occurs. Asking "what's it all about?" kind of makes sense.
We're getting fantastic performances from everyone. Frank Grillo is just a good actor, and his arc here is wild. I'm now a big fan of Danielle Brooks and will be checking her out (you know what I mean! stop.). I'd watch Jennifer Holland in anything. Freddie Stroma just guaranteed himself a career at least doing cons. And I've liked Steve Agee since the Sarah Silverman Show. But obviously Sol Rodriguez is going to continue to play a big part of Gunn's DCU, and it's well deserved. I just looked at the IMDB list, and it's really remarkable the talent assembled.
Cena is such a weird outlier in the wrestling-to-acting pipeline - alongside Bautista? Who I always forget was a wrestler. Like, Cena's... good? Maybe great? At least as Chris. I've not really watched him in anything else, but certainly any prejudice I had about wrestlers making that transition needs to get reconsidered. Not everyone is out there making Santa With Muscles.
But for the folks who think the show somehow isn't pushing the DCSU forward? My dudes, establishing Lex as a player within the US government? Salvation? CHECKMATE opening its doors? My guys... this is all the fun stuff on the edge of the Justice League that you find when you don't focus solely on Gotham (and, by the way, Sasha Bordeaux showed up in Detective Comics first, so keep up). I was honestly surprised how much they telegraphed.
I won't get too much into analyzing the music. That is the realm of JimD. But to say I'm now a fan of Foxy Shazam is accurate.
Anyway, I guess if you were waiting 8 episodes for Hawkgirl to show up again (for some reason) I can understand your confusion to a small degree. But, also... hey, maybe pay attention to what the show is actually saying versus the outline you've written in your head. But color me shocked that comic media fans online are saying goofy things that belie bad taste.
*curiously, DC is launching a new Vertigo label while the mainstream books literally are borrowing the plot of Mortal Kombat for their big annual event. Yes, I find DC K.O. to be the dullest possible thing DC could be doing in 2025.
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