John Cena is back as the eponymous DC Comics character in Peacemaker: Season 2, and the first reviews of the show’s return have arrived online. Continuing as a spinoff of The Suicide Squad, the second season is also now part of the new DC Universe, carrying the franchise forward after the events of Creature Commandos and Superman. The reviews are mixed but lean positive for Cena’s performance, the enjoyment of the character-driven ensemble overall, and the R-rated humor and action.
Here’s what critics are saying about Peacemaker: Season 2:
How does it compare to the first season?
Season 2 is somehow even better.
— Rachel Leishman, The Mary Sue
Three and a half years later, an official universe rebrand and double name change for its streaming service has only given this show the opportunity to get better.
— Abe Friedtanzer, Awards Buzz
Season 2 is more character-driven, more brutal, and more heartfelt than the first.
— Alise Chaffins, MacGuffin or Meaning
Peacemaker‘s second season is darker and sadder than the first year, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids.
— Will Salmon, GamesRadar+
Peacemaker hasn’t been toned down in its second season. If anything, Gunn takes things even further for round two.
— Trent Moore, Paste Magazine
For better or worse, Gunn doubles down on what people liked about season 1.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
In taking Peacemaker himself more seriously, and putting more of the comedic burden on the supporting cast, season 2 feels much more akin to the second Guardians film than the first.
— Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone
Peacemaker season two’s quality is lacking from its previous eight-episode run.
— Ryan McQuade, AwardsWatch
What makes this season better?
Peacemaker season 2 [is] genuinely heartwarming and humane in ways the first one couldn’t even dream of.
— Joonatan Itkonen, Toisto.net
Chris and his teammates’ deep state difficulties this time around are of a more down-to-earth nature; they’re character-based and smarter for it.
— Bob Strauss, TheWrap
Despite the existence of an interdimensional portal and a parallel universe, season 2 of Peacemaker is far more grounded in the characters than the first season.
— Alise Chaffins, MacGuffin or Meaning
How is the action?
Exciting…with impressive fight choreography and a decent amount of gore.
— Cassondra Feltus, Black Girl Nerds
The action does not disappoint and is gnarly as ever.
— Julian Roman, MovieWeb
The action scenes are bloody, brutal, and a blast to watch play out.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
Season 2 is on track to have even more gratuitous deaths than came before.
— Bob Strauss, TheWrap
The fight scenes are still inventive while everyone works with a far more modest budget than Gunn gets in his movies.
— Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone
There are some truly inspired action sequences, with the same creativity in the combat you’d normally see in slasher movies.
— Dais Johnston, Inverse
Is this season funnier?
It’s just as silly, dark, and bizarre as you remember.
— Trent Moore, Paste Magazine
Season 2 of Peacemaker is still filled with laughs, sometimes so rip-roaring that they overshadow the seriousness of the story at hand.
— Kaiya Shunyata, RogerEbert.com
The series is more acerbic than ever, with a continuous barrage of verbal and physical humor.
— Joonatan Itkonen, Toisto.net
As with Gunn’s other R-rated projects, the humour is hit-and-miss, and your mileage will vary.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
It’s not quite as funny as season 1.
— Will Salmon, GamesRadar+
Do we need to do any homework beforehand?
Peacemaker season 2 is an entry point that delivers a DC primer while also delivering a touching story.
— Dais Johnston, Inverse
It’s all tied into the larger universe at hand, with a surprising amount of The Suicide Squad in the mix — almost as if Gunn has been preparing for his eventual cinematic takeover of the DC universe since well before he and Peter Safran were officially handed the keys to the kingdom.
— Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
There are also some fun surprises and references, especially for fans of The Suicide Squad and, perhaps most surprisingly, 2016’s Suicide Squad.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
Screening the first season does feel critical. But season 2 doesn’t dwell much on the past, inviting in many new characters and fully investing in them.
— Abe Friedtanzer, Awards Buzz
How is the writing?
Gunn displays a new level of maturity with his second season writing.
— Bob Strauss, TheWrap
That Gunn has found a way to make a parallel universe storyline in a superhero project both engaging and unpredictable in 2025 is impressive.
— Will Salmon, GamesRadar+
The plotting in the first five episodes provided to critics isn’t too intensive, a smart choice as it keeps the focus on this eclectic ensemble just being together.
— Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
It’s a complex narrative where everything doesn’t always work, but is sure as heck fun to watch.
— Julian Roman, MovieWeb
Just as the later Guardians films lost a bit of their energy by making Star-Lord a primarily dramatic character, there are definitely stretches of this season that had me wishing Gunn would go back to giving Cena retrograde, infantile lines to deliver so that co-stars like Jennifer Holland and Danielle Brooks could roll their eyes at him.
— Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone
This second batch of episodes breaks little new ground and lacks the stakes and imagination seen in the filmmaker’s better projects.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
Does this show elevate the DCU franchise?
It’s the sweet spot of what role TV spinoffs should play in a franchise: enhancing the story of the movies, not requiring it.
— Dais Johnston, Inverse
Gunn even finds emotional resonance in the multiverse concept — something Marvel, for all its efforts in that dimension, has so far failed to locate.
— Bob Strauss, TheWrap
It all helps to flesh out the world of the DCU, in which Peacemaker has emerged as something of an early, unexpected jewel.
— Amon Warmann, Empire Magazine
Seeing just how good Peacemaker is in the DCU makes this one of the best things I’ve seen this year.
— Rachel Leishman, The Mary Sue
Season 2…feels like an entirely superfluous addition to the new DCU, delivering more of the same gags and rarely exploring its Multiverse concept in a way we haven’t seen a million times before.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
Is it one of the best superhero shows out right now?
Peacemaker remains a standout in superhero television.
— Kaiya Shunyata, RogerEbert.com
[It] may well be the most creative superhero fare out there today.
— Abe Friedtanzer, Awards Buzz
A standout among a sea of superhero media.
— Cassondra Feltus, Black Girl Nerds
How is John Cena’s performance?
Peacemaker season two is the best work of John Cena’s career.
— Michael Walsh, Nerdist
John Cena is phenomenal in the series, bringing plenty of depth to this character, even when the script is lacking.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
Cena nails this season’s emotional and moral complexities with the aplomb of an Actors Studio graduate…the most thrilling part of this performance is the way he makes this Super fully Human.
— Bob Strauss, TheWrap
Cena continues to make an excellent case for career transitions since he is genuinely a terrific actor and captures the ego of this hero, mixed with a melancholy longing for the past.
— Abe Friedtanzer, Awards Buzz
Cena is still funny when needed and is able to deliver dramatic scenes with a great range of emotions.
— Julian Lytle, RIOTUS
John Cena’s developed enough acting chops over the years that he can play this angle well, and make Chris into a genuinely sympathetic figure.
— Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone
What about the rest of the returning cast?
The returning cast is fine, but Jennifer Holland remains a standout, even though Harcourt’s arc is one of the least interesting this season.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
Holland gets to do a lot here with Harcourt, as she has to play two versions that are not much alike.
— Julian Lytle, RIOTUS
Danielle Brooks remains an emotional anchor for the series, bringing a lot of humor and heart with her.
— Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
Are there any standouts among the new characters?
David Denman is excellent, as is Tim Meadows.
— Josh Wilding, ComicBookMovie.com
As A.R.G.U.S. agent Langston Fleury – whose “sole weakness is bird blindness” – Tim Meadows is a droll standout.
— Amon Warmann, Empire Magazine
Tim Meadows is a fantastic addition as Economos’ new supervisor who, among other traits, has bird blindness.
— Abe Friedtanzer, Awards Buzz
Meadows’ Fleury takes the overconfident yet bumbling mediocre government agent type to the bank. Every scene he’s in is guaranteed to elicit a laugh.
— Julian Lytle, RIOTUS
Meadows is incredibly funny…but [his shtick] lands differently when those jokes are coming from the periphery rather than from the main character.
— Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone
Does this season have any major problems?
My one major complaint: there’s not enough Vigilante.
— Michael Walsh, Nerdist
The lack of a cohesive relationship between the core five is noticeable throughout.
— Kaiya Shunyata, RogerEbert.com
In making the focus of this season solely on Peacemaker’s journey so far, it takes away from the rest of the ensemble on the whole.
— Ryan McQuade, AwardsWatch
Peacemaker: Season 2 premieres on HBO Max on August 21, 2025.
