Peacemaker, the DC action comedy created by James Gunn (Guardians Of The Galaxy) and starring John Cena (12 Rounds), has been renewed for a second season on HBO Max. The news was announced on Twitter by both Gunn and Cena.
“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,” Gunn said in a statement via The Hollywood Reporter. “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!”
Cena also made a small statement of his own, per THR, stating, “I am incredibly honored and humbled by the response to Peacemaker and the experience of playing this character.”
Peacemaker is a spinoff series from The Suicide Squad film, which also stars Cena as Peacemaker, also known as Chris Smith, and is directed by Gunn. The series has received lots of notoriety since its January launch, as the action comedy was the third most in-demand series as of last month, according to Yahoo.
Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content at HBO Max, also released a statement on the show’s renewal via THR.
“The brilliance of James Gunn once again shines with Peacemaker. He took this character, brought to life by the inimitable John Cena and created an exceptional series that’s simultaneously thrilling, hilarious and heartfelt, showcasing the humanity beneath this team of misfits living in a superhuman world. As the first original DC show to have its series premiere on HBO Max, we are thrilled that the viewers agreed to give peace a f***ing chance.”
Gunn also may not be done expanding the DC universe as he told THR’s TV’s Top 5 podcast about how he has other ideas for The Suicide Squad spinoffs.
Casey Bloys, Head of Programming at HBO Max, touched on the future of DC with the streaming service in an interview with THR.
“One of the things that [Warner Bros. chair and CEO] Ann Sarnoff has been big on is trying to make DC work in a more organized and integrated way,” Bloys said. “I wasn’t there before so I don’t know how things were done but since I started at HBO Max a year and a half ago, we spend a lot of time talking with Toby [Emmerich, Warner Bros. Pictures chair] and Walter [Hamada, president of DC Films] and Jim Lee at DC and we’re trying to be mindful about how all the pieces work together. In my estimation, it feels very well organized. That’s something that was very important to Ann when she started a few years ago.”
While it is unclear when season two will premiere, the season one finale of Peacemaker will release on HBO Max Thursday.