From Project Butterfly to Parallel Worlds: Peacemaker S2 Expands the Mythos

Back in May, HBO Max released a teaser trailer for Season 2 of Peacemaker, James Gunn’s Emmy-nominated DC antihero spinoff series starring John Cena. The full trailer finally arrived at San Diego Comic-Con, teasing multiversal madness and redemption for the irrepressible Christopher Smith, better known to the world as Peacemaker.

Season 1 of Peacemaker was a loose continuation of the events of The Suicide Squad (2021), taking place five months after the characters’ Corto Maltese mission. Smith, the leader of the titular team, barely survived a near-fatal gunshot wound in the film and now finds himself back in the game. He is assigned to a clandestine mission by code name “Project Butterfly” and led by a Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) and his new team with support from an A.R.G.U.S. agent named John Economos (Steve Agee) and NSA agent Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), along with a recruit named Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks).

For Project Butterfly, Peacemaker and his team learn they are not working on some run-of-the-mill U.S. government mission after all. They are tasked with tracking down an alien invasion and stopping a parasitic species of interdimensional butterflies that are killing people by inhabiting their bodies and using them to travel through the world. After a climactic, bloody battle on a ranch full of these creatures, the group takes victory in defeat as they leave the battlefield as living but heavily scarred bodies and broken spirits.

However, all that could change as Gunn’s Peacemaker series returns for a much-changed DC Universe in Season 2. Where the first season was set in the DCEU (before that cinematic universe was declared defunct), the second season jumps to the new DCU, which Gunn himself announced as the official start of a “Gods and Monsters” slate of stories in the DC Universe. Still, Gunn confirmed at Comic-Con that some things that happened in the past seasons, even after everything shifted in The Batman (2022), Black Adam (2022), and The Flash (2023), still remain in the continuity and canon of the series.

The returnees from Season 1 include Cena as Peacemaker, Brooks, Holland, Agee, and Freddie Stroma as the fan-favorite, unhinged crack assassin Vigilante. Nhut Le as Judomaster and Eagly, Peacemaker’s loyal, articulate bald eagle sidekick, also return this season. Robert Patrick reprises his role from The Suicide Squad as Peacemaker’s deceased father, Auggie Smith, who has had a longstanding impact on Christopher’s psyche.

New to the season are Frank Grillo as Rick Flagg Sr., the father of the late Rick Flagg played by Jim Crute in The Suicide Squad, and killed off-screen by Peacemaker. Grillo’s Flag has become the new director of A.R.G.U.S. and has a personal grudge against Christopher. New cast additions for Season 2 also include Tim Meadows as agent Langston Fleury, Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux, and Michael Rooker as Red St. Wild, Eagly’s nemesis.”

Per the official synopsis, Season 2 continues by following Peacemaker as Chris Smith deals with the emotional fallout of the violent actions he’s committed over the years while also nurturing a desire to become a better man. He still seeks peace at any cost—but now he wants to do that through heroism and personal conviction instead of blind service and obedience to a cause.

The May teaser gave fans an early look at the absurd and over-the-top world of the Peacemaker. Shot to the tune of “Oh Lord” by rock band Foxy Shazam, the teaser saw Christopher attempt to join the Justice League. Led by a Green Lantern/Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl/Kendra Saunders (Isabela Merced), and Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), all reprising their roles from Gunn’s Superman, Chris was ushered in for his sales pitch. He sounds off on what he’s to offer the team, but of course, it all falls flat.

The teaser also gave a light update on some of the other characters between seasons. It appears that Adebayo is “living in the worst level of Grand Theft Auto,” according to an incredulous Economos. Emilia Harcourt is also reportedly suffering from a “particularly severe form of toxic masculinity,” while Vigilante has descended into working in the food service industry.

In the full trailer, a new, major reveal is given to audiences. At one point, Christopher finds a dimensional portal and steps through. When he emerges, he finds he’s not in his universe. In a thrilling bit of mind-melting multiversal madness, Peacemaker meets an alternate reality version of himself. This alternate Christopher is popular and beloved, a true hero in his world. Bemoaning the state of his relationships and acceptance in his own, Chris entertains the thought of remaining in the other world. But Harcourt, showing up as some sort of emissary from his home dimension, warns him to return. She states flatly, “No matter how green the grass is over there, you belong here. With us.”

In a Q&A held during the Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con, James Gunn discussed what fans could expect from the season’s characters in Season 2. “I like TV shows where the characters don’t just return every season and they’re the same characters,” Gunn said. “I want to see growth. I want to see change—and sometimes regression. Peacemaker is a different guy this year. He’s dealing with the demons he uncovered from the first season and trying to deal with them, and the world is not accepting him the way he is. They aren’t accepting him as a hero.”

Peacemaker Season 2 premieres August 21, 2025, exclusively on HBO Max.