Peacemaker Season 2 Review – Slow Start, Explosive Finish

🕊️ This review is part of the The Peacemaker Series – watch both seasons ranked and reviewed.

I went into Peacemaker Season 2 with the specific kind of confidence that comes from having watched Season 1 twice. James Gunn, John Cena, the ensemble, the whole deranged energy — what could go wrong? The first three episodes answered that question with a slow drip of setup that, honestly, had me worried. Not bored exactly, but watching the clock.

Then episode six happened. And episode seven. And I remembered why I was there.

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Peacemaker: Season 2 (Prime Video) (opens in a new tab)

The full eight-episode second season — including episodes 6 and 7, which justify the entire wait.

A Shaky Opening Act

Season 2 picks up in a changed world — not just for Peacemaker himself, but for the entire DC Universe around him. This is now a proper DCU production, woven into the continuity that includes Superman and everything Gunn is building at DC Studios. That larger universe creates both opportunity and weight.

The opening episodes feel heavier than Season 1’s light touch. There’s more setup to do, more connections to establish, more universe to honour. The result is a first act that moves carefully when Season 1 was always moving. Peacemaker is still funny. The ensemble is still excellent. But the first few episodes feel like they’re building toward something rather than being something — which, in retrospect, is exactly what they’re doing.

The comparison to Season 1 doesn’t help. Gunn’s first season had the freedom of zero expectations and zero franchise obligations. Season 2 has both. The early episodes carry that weight visibly.

The Team, Rebuilt

The core ensemble returns intact: John Cena’s Christopher Smith is still the chaotic centre, Danielle Brooks’ Leota Adebayo is still the moral compass keeping the whole operation from collapsing, and Jennifer Holland’s Emilia Harcourt is still the best straight performance in the show. Freddie Stroma’s Vigilante is still inexplicably one of the most entertaining characters on television — a man for whom context is not a meaningful concept.

What Season 2 does with the ensemble is deepen their relationships. Season 1 was about a group of misfits being forced together. Season 2 is about a group of misfits who now genuinely have each other’s backs — and the ways that complicates everything. The found-family DNA that was emerging in Season 1 is now fully expressed, and it gives the show an emotional texture it didn’t have in the first run.

Steve Agee’s John Economos continues to be the show’s most reliable comedic anchor — a perpetually reasonable man in an unreasonable situation — and his material in Season 2 is some of his best.

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Peacemaker: Season 1 (Blu-ray) (opens in a new tab)

Watch this first. Everything Season 2 builds on was established here.

The Turn: Everything After Episode Five

Around episode five, something clicks. The season’s set-up work is done, the threats are established, and James Gunn stops building and starts detonating. The back half of Season 2 delivers action set pieces, character payoffs, and moments of genuine surprise with a rhythm that matches anything in Season 1.

Episodes 6 and 7 are the season’s beating heart. Without spoilers: both episodes escalate the season’s core conflict to a point where the show is genuinely operating at full power. The action is outstanding. The character work is earned rather than manufactured. The combination of genuine stakes and Gunn’s signature absurdist humour is working at the same time rather than alternating, which is what the show does when it’s at its best.

The finale caps everything off with an ending that does two things Season 1’s finale also did: provide satisfying closure on the current arc while leaving a clear appetite for what comes next. The last ten minutes of Season 2 made me want Season 3 in a way that felt completely unforced.

The DCU Connections

Season 2 is explicitly part of James Gunn’s new DC Universe — the same continuity as Superman (2025) and the rest of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. Where Season 1 existed in a somewhat transitional space between eras, Season 2 is fully anchored in the new universe.

This means the stakes have genuinely changed. When Season 2 references the wider world, it’s the same wider world as Superman and the other DCU projects. The Peacemaker team occupies a specific corner of that universe — the black-ops, morally compromised, decidedly unspectacular corner — and the show is smart about what this means in a world where Superman is flying overhead somewhere. The contrast between Peacemaker’s approach and the idealism of the wider DCU is a running theme, and it’s well-used.

For viewers invested in the wider DCU building project, Season 2 is genuinely important connective tissue. For viewers who just want more Peacemaker-being-Peacemaker, it also works completely on its own terms.

The Humor: Still Completely Unhinged

One thing Season 2 gets right from the first episode: the comedy. Gunn’s specific register — absurdist situations treated with complete seriousness by characters who have no perspective on their own ridiculousness — is intact throughout. Vigilante continues to be the season’s funniest element, a man for whom the concept of “appropriate response” simply does not exist. Several of the season’s best comedic sequences are built around the contrast between the team’s genuine emotional investment and the objective absurdity of what they’re doing.

The dancing. The eagle. The continued, absolutely straight-faced commitment to Peacemaker’s helmet looking like a toilet. Season 2 doesn’t apologize for any of it, which is exactly right. The humor is what protects the show’s emotional sincerity from collapsing into self-parody. When both are working — the laugh and the genuine feeling in the same scene — Season 2 is as good as anything Gunn has made.

Compared to Season 1

Season 1 remains the tighter, more immediately satisfying season because it arrived with no franchise obligations and complete creative freedom. Its eight episodes feel purposeful from start to finish.

Season 2 has a real stumble in its opening act. The back half more than compensates, and the overall arc — once complete — is arguably more ambitious. But it asks for more patience than the first season did, and not all viewers will give it.

The honest comparison: Season 1 is the kind of show where every episode is good. Season 2 is the kind of show where you have to get through a few ordinary episodes before reaching some of the best things Gunn has made for DC. Both are worth your time. Season 1 earns it more efficiently.

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Related Dadnology review: Peacemaker Season 1 Review – John Cena’s Absurdly Great DC Debut

Does Peacemaker Season 2 get better after the slow start?

Yes, and quite dramatically. The first three episodes are setup-heavy and noticeably slower than anything in Season 1. Stick with it. Episode five is the turning point, and episodes six and seven are among the best things James Gunn has made for the DCU. The ending is excellent and makes you genuinely want Season 3.

Do I need Season 1 before Season 2?

Absolutely. Season 2 assumes complete familiarity with Season 1 — characters, relationships, the emotional arc of Christopher Smith — and does not recap. Start at Season 1. It is also very good.

How does Peacemaker Season 2 connect to the wider DCU?

Season 2 is fully integrated into James Gunn’s new DC Universe, the same continuity as Superman (2025). The Peacemaker team operates in the DCU’s black-ops corner, and the show is smart about the contrast between their morally compromised methods and the idealism of the wider universe. There are direct connections to other DCU projects.

Is Peacemaker Season 2 better or worse than Season 1?

Season 1 is the tighter season — eight purposeful episodes with no franchise obligations. Season 2 has a slow opening act but a spectacular back half. The honest verdict: Season 1 earns its rating more consistently; Season 2 peaks higher in its best episodes. Both are worth watching.

Is Peacemaker Season 2 suitable for kids?

No. Same content warnings as Season 1: constant strong language, graphic violence, adult humor. Hard 18+ recommendation. This is a show for after the house is quiet.