See what critics have to say about ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2
See what critics have to say about ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2
The new season of ‘Peacemaker’ begins streaming this week. Is it worth your time?
The eagle screams on Thursday! “Peacemaker” Season 2 is coming to airwaves very soon. The series is one unique entrant in the DC Universe, and was originally a spin-off of the 2021 film “The Suicide Squad” that is helping to serve as a soft reboot for the new DCU.
Season 1 of “Peacemaker” debuted in 2022 and explored the aftermath of the events of “The Suicide Squad.” Season 2 will debut on HBO Max on Thursday, Aug. 21.
“Peacemaker” Season 2 will see the titular hero swapping universes. Transported to the new DCU, Peacemaker will have to grapple with the realities of living in a new timeline that is similar to the one he remembers, but has some key differences. Will he and his “peace at any cost” philosophy find a place for himself in his new home?
There has been some pretty positive feedback for “Peacemaker” Season 2 so far. On Metacritic, the show currently shows a score of 78, which indicates Generally Favorable reviews based on the site’s scoring system. On Rotten Tomatoes, “Peacemaker” sports a 97% rating, and we’ll dive a little deeper into those reviews below to let DC fans know exactly what critics think of the new season.
Watch a trailer for ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2:
Peacemaker
The continuing story of Peacemaker, a vainglorious superhero/supervillain who believes in peace at any cost — no matter how many people he has to kill. After a miraculous recovery from his duel with Bloodsport, Peacemaker soon discovers that his freedom comes at a price.
What do critics think of ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2?
Amon Warmann | Empire
At this point, one could be forgiven for being a bit weary about yet more multiversal storytelling. But Gunn — who writes all eight episodes, and directs three of them — gets a lot of mileage out of the concept here by giving his titular character the ultimate temptation: what if you could escape to an alternate dimension where your worst mistakes never happened and the other you has everything you’re desperately craving? It’s a dilemma that Peacemaker tackles in typically messy but utterly relatable fashion. It’s also the impetus for some of Cena’s best acting to date. Once again finding the sweet spot between the silly and the vulnerable, his penchant for improvised comedy remains impressive and each one of his poignant moments are keenly felt.
Nate Richard | Collider
Even though Peacemaker Season 2 stands as the third installment in Gunn’s new DCU, it remarkably still feels like its own thing. There are plenty of connections in the first episode, and a few others in the latter four episodes, but for the most part, the season continues Peacemaker as its own contained story. It’s refreshing and never once does it feel like homework to study up on before the next big-screen DCU flick. Cena and Brooks continue to have incredibly sweet chemistry with one another as Chris and Adebayo, and the series also does an effective job at maintaining the will-they-won’t-they of Chris and Emilia’s dynamic. As for the new additions, Grillo really gets to shine in his third go-around as Rick Flag Sr, essentially acting as this season’s new antagonist.
Kaiya Shunyata | rogerebert.com
Season 2 of “Peacemaker” is still filled with laughs, sometimes so rip-roaring that they overshadow the seriousness of the story at hand. Yet there’s a heaviness here that didn’t course through each storyline last season, as if it’s fused to the bodies each of these characters exists within. While Chris is dealing with his feelings of grief and regret, his comrades aren’t faring much better. Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) is now separated from her wife, and is desperate for more spy work; Harcourt has been blacklisted from every intelligence agency in the country; Economos’ (Steve Agee) new job as an A.R.G.U.S. agent threatens his place within the group; and Adrian’s (Freddie Stroma) desperation for Chris’ approval weights heavy upon his shoulders. Each of these core characters carries a broken soul, and the only people they seem to find solace in are each other.
Reuben Baron | Looper
The specifics of what make the parallel world Peacemaker wanders in and out of from his Quantum Unfolding Storage Area “better” than his home world are embargoed as spoilers. To speak more generally, the thematic purpose of this multiverse story is to delve into the series’ greater theme of regrets and consequences. Peacemaker may have saved the world and become less of a jerk, but his past actions continue to haunt him, and the consequences of those actions put him in danger. In particular, Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) will never forgive Peacemaker for killing his son, Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), and is using all his power in A.R.G.U.S. to get justice and/or revenge. In this situation, why wouldn’t Chris want to escape to a different reality?
Ben Sherlock | Screen Rant
Some of the gags go on a little too long, and the tonal shifts between goofy humor and gritty drama are occasionally a little jarring, but Peacemaker continues to be a joy to watch in its long-awaited second season. It has another great glam metal soundtrack, featuring icons like the late, great Ozzy Osbourne, but also a lot of deep-cut Swedish bands like Sister Sin, Ammotrack, Hardcore Superstar, and the Cruel Intentions. Cena gives a career-best performance, and Gunn has a crystal-clear vision for this character’s story. The Suicide Squad spinoff that apparently no one asked for is one of the best superhero shows out there.
Clint Gage | IGN
The first 5 episodes of Season 2 serve up more of the same raunchy blend of action and comedy you’d expect from Gunn and Peacemaker. The good news is, “the same” in this instance is a pretty high standard. Season 2 (so far) is very funny in moments, very gory in others and crude the whole way through. Episode 1 in particular goes so far beyond gratuitous with one sequence that it lands in some other place altogether. Ludicrous maybe? Farcical, I think works. I honestly thought it was a hallucination for a few scenes. But front and center through all of it, is John Cena’s incredible ability to give dumb, metalhead energy while also hinting at a vast depth of emotion and regret is really something. Christopher Smith is a guy capable of truly horrible things, but thanks to Gunn’s writing and Cena’s performance, he’s a relatably tragic guy for whom you can’t help but feel sorry.
Alan Sepinwall | Rolling Stone
As we’ve been finding with the past few years of DC’s rivals in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, multiverses can be a more exciting idea in theory than in practice… Gunn is trying to use this tactic for a smaller story, where Chris gets a taste of a life where he’s not a joke, and where his backstory isn’t as horrific, which forces him to confront how unhappy he is in his own life. This means we get a lot less of Peacemaker, lovable moron, and a lot more of Chris Smith, regretful and sensitive guy who’s trying to do better. Cena’s developed enough acting chops over the years that he can play this angle well, and make Chris into a genuinely sympathetic figure. But 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.
Rachel Leishman | The Mary Sue
The testament of a good show is whether or not you care about the characters more than the bigger picture. With Peacemaker season 2, we’re lucky in the sense that both of those aspects are thrilling this time around. And it is all because of this amazing cast and creative team. Gunn has a unique ability of weaving in important character work with scenes that feed into the overall arch of the season as a whole…Overall, the season is just so much fun and I am so emotionally invested in these characters at this point. So watching season 2 and seeing just how good Peacemaker is in the DCU makes this one of the best things I’ve seen this year.
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