HBO gives Peacemaker a second chance with a second season order
The John Cena superhero series is one of HBO’s biggest hits of the season
Aux News Peacemaker
Ahead of the season one finale tomorrow night, HBO is giving peace another chance. The HBO Max series Peacemaker, a spin-off of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, will be returning for a second season of violence, comedy, and John Cena in a funny helmet. Despite being imperceptible to the eye, Cena has proved himself a fan-favorite in the role, bringing new depth and attitude to the DC superhero landscape.
“Creating Peacemaker has been one of the true highlights of my life, both professionally and otherwise, with John Cena and the incredible creative team around me, as well as our partners at HBO Max,” Peacemaker writer/director Gunn said in a statement. “To have something we all love so much be loved by the audience, in turn, has been a wonderful experience. I can’t wait for folks to see where Team Peacemaker goes in Season Two!”
The eight-episode first season of Peacemaker wraps up on HBO Max this Thursday and was something of an unlikely hit. In past weeks, Gunn has let fans into just how successful the show has been, both creatively and for HBO, calling Peacemaker “the biggest show in the world right now.” But it wasn’t always a safe bet. Released last August, The Suicide Squad, a splashy, big-budget do-over of WB’s 2016 supervillain team-up, seemed to tank at the box office. However, over time, the movie turned into an old-fashioned sleeper.
“I wasn’t happy about Suicide Squad going to TV day and date, we also happened to come out at the absolute peak of Delta, so it was a difficult decision,” Gunn told Deadline from the set of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3. “For the sake of Peacemaker, I’m really glad: It got more subscribers for HBO, billions of people saw it on HBO; for Peacemaker it worked out really well.”
Peacemaker has been a hit with A.V. Club reviewer Jarrod Jones, who gave the penultimate episode an A. Will the show season stick the landing? We’ll find out tomorrow night.
37 Comments
DC content is so much better when they recognize how absurd superhero content is. The gritty super real shit sucks 100% of the time.
Your editor failed hard in not titling the article “HBOMax Really Wants to Taste It Again.”
“HBOMax makes a move extreme”
HBO Throws Its Viewers the Invisible Bone
“HBOMax is throwing all the dogs an invisible bone to ensure Peacemaker’s second season is also not the wrong time to rock” …
I mean, it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. We’ll, we’ll workshop it. Let’s go with yours for now.
And, you know, by using the idiom “second chance” when the show is apparently super successful.Second chances are for when you fuck up.Maybe we should let the editor “take a victory lap,” by which I mean change the title to something that isn’t stupid.
I think it was meant as more of a comment on the character itself, like how Peacemaker got a 2nd chance in the show.
Isn’t the AV Club now run by scabs and the Monopoly man?
Fuck yeah!
Plot twist: Peacemaker gets taken over by a butterfly in the finale, and next season is actually super-dark with no jokes at all.
(I have not actually seen the finale yet. If I am correct, please reply to this post so I can run out and buy a bunch of lottery tickets.)
Does this mean he turns into a dick vampire?
I love Peacemaker so much, I don’t care how many John Cenas, James Gunns, or butterflies I have to kill to get it.
I’m binge-watching this right now, finally. I’m loving it. Funny, violent–check, check. John Cena is like a sexy grimoire. Also, the actor who plays Vigilante is a stud.
Freddie Stroma. He was also the first version of Dickon Tarly in GoT. I just wanted an excuse to write Dickon, hehe. He was also the asshat Cormac McLaggen in Harry Potter.
He’s got Troma in his name, he’s a natural match for James Gunn.
I have watched and rewatched Vigilante’s “Black contributions to American culture” jail bit more than I care to admit.
Yeah, Vigilante…man, oh man. And he’s such a caring friend – for a psycho killer, I mean. He’s the whole package!
John Cena is the best invisible actor since Claude Rains.
They are not all dying in the finale?Did not see that coming . . . .
Keep in mind none of this would have happened if those assholes hadn’t briefly gotten him fired from the MCU. Thanks a lot, guys.
It’s kind of fucked up that Mike fucking Cernovich was directly responsibly for one of the best things in the current superhero media landscape.
And was rehired largely through the efforts of Dave Bautista! James Gunn owes a hell of a lot of his current standing to 2000s WWE Superstars.
The big question is what they’ll do for the season 2 opening credits. Same song? Same dance with new characters? Or will they come up with something else just as mind blowing? Will Eagly find his mark right away?Nothing on the internet is as pointless as the Skip Intro link on Peacemaker.
Two of the intro characters are dead, and possibly more this week(!), so reshooting is at least a maybe.
This is James Gunn. I don’t doubt for a second he’s gonna have a surprise for the second season’s credits.
My brain misfired and I hit that button today. Went back and watched it twice, but it’s too late. I have to find a way to learn to live with what I’ve done.
Jon Cena is like a far more talented Arnold Schwarzenegger. I hope he’s cast in way more things (and actually picks good movies, unlike Johnson).
Seriously, he is so talented! I never saw him before his stint guest-hosting SNL awhile back, and was instantly taken with his next-level unselfconscious funniness. And he’s just blown me away on this show.
I got the impression that Johnson believes his own hype. Cena’s more down to Earth. Schwarzenegger will always be a legend though.
The Rock is more of a straight-ahead action hero these days, whereas Cena tried that route early on to very little success (The Marine, woof), and didn’t really turn it around until he showed serious comedy chops in Trainwreck and Sisters.
I’ve become a Cena mark. Even going back and finding appreciation in matches from his whole career. Peacemaker has done this to me.
Definitely check out Trainwreck with Amy Schumer. He’s fucking hilarious.
I am watching it and I am still not sure this is good news.
Just experienced the finale and it tasted better than I could have possibly hoped! Perfect end to a bonkers season. Quintessential Gunn.
I watched the finale at 4:30 am Eastern time this morning and can’t wait for AV Club review so we can talk about it!
Somewhere between Blockers and Peacemaker I became a John Cena fan, and I don’t know when the hell that happened. Also, Danielle Brooks is terrific. I’m so happy she’s getting to move past Taystee. I think she’s so good and deserves more than to be typecast as that one character for the rest of her career