The first episode of the second season of Peacemaker received high praise after it debuted on HBO Max, allowing the DCU to continue gathering momentum as it gets rolling. But according to series creator and DC Studios’ co-chair James Gunn, fans–and even critics who were sent early screening packages for the show–have a lot to look forward to
In an interview with Screen Rant, Gunn explained that he was behind the decision to only let the press screen the first five episodes of the new season, claiming the remaining three simply held too many surprises to risk letting them into the wild.
“I am the one who’s keeping the three episodes away from everybody because there are too many surprises in those last three episodes,” explained Gunn. “Especially 6 and 8, they are just crazy, my favourite things I’ve ever done of anything.”
Gunn may have recently given away one of the surprises by all but confirming that Blue Beetle will appear in the sophomore season but the appearance of one hero would hardly be enough to keep three episodes from the screening package. What could have Gunn so excited? With him serving as the creative CEO of DC Studios and also as the creator of the four-film Superman Saga, it’s nearly impossible to say; however, given when Peacemaker filmed, it is potential appearances by David Corenswet or Milly Alcock should not be counted out.
What I can say is, it’s just inherently interesting and complex material. The core idea of what X-Men is involves complexity.
-X-Men director Jake Schreier
In an interview with Empire, director Jake Schreier confirmed that he he is now on the clock for Marvel Studios X-Men.
“I can’t say anything about it, but we’ve started work on X-Men, and that’s obviously very, very exciting,” said Schreier, who directed the very well-received Thunderbolts* which debuts on D+ August 27th.
“There are so many things that I didn’t know about before I started [Thunderbolts*],” he explained. “The biggest learning curve for me was the proportion of the action to the more emotional, character-driven scenes, and how, even though it’s more shooting days than I’ve ever had, they get eaten up quite quickly by the action stuff. By the time we got to the end of it, it felt like, ‘Oh, now I feel like we get how to do this a little bit better.’”
After officially taking the reigns of the film in May, Schreier teased the studio’s complex take on the team of mutant heroes in a July interview with The Playlist. “It’s an incredible opportunity with super interesting characters and [much] internal conflict,” he said of helming the first MCU-set X-Men film. “These characters are wrestling with their identity and place in the world—that’s inherently interesting and complex material.”
Recently, DC Studios co-chair and Peacemaker creator James Gunn has drawn parallels between how John Cena‘s Christopher Smith was able to move from an “in-between universe” into the DCU and his plans for Blue Beetle, who made his big-screen debut in 2023.
“Peacemaker was always in a weird place. People say he was part of the DCEU but he wasn’t really,” said Gunn in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes.”He was part of this “in-between Universe” of DC when there was nobody really making sure that everything was connected and at a time when they were going to rewrite everything with The Flash.We were kind of able to do whatever we wanted and we had that brash ending, which I loved, it was one of my favorite things from the whole season, but it just didn’t fit in with the DCU. And Peacemaker, there’s hardly anything else that you need to change for him, he can slide very easily into the DCU, same with Blue Beetle. They just kind of fit in very nicely, we just have to retcon a couple of things,” the DC boss explained. And it seems as though heat have had Blue Beetle on his mind for a reason.
In an additional portion of the Rotten Tomatoes interview, Gunn seems to all but confirm that Blue Beetle will appear in an upcoming episode of Peacemaker Season 2.
After the interviewer shares his love for the character with Gunn and expresses his desire to see Blue Beetle appear in Peacemaker, a grinning Gunn “Well, you know, I won’t say you’re not in luck.”
Given Season 2’s use of the Multiverse as a primary plot device, a number of options are in play, including following up on the disappearance of Ted Kord, the original Blue Beetle, that was mentioned in the 2023 film. Whatever the path, it’s certain that the film’s star Xolo Maridueña, who has been teasing his character’s DCU future, will play some role.
New episodes of the second season of Peacemaker debut weekly on Thursdays on HBO Max.
David Denman came to fame playing Roy Anderson over 31 episodes of The Office. It took him one episode of the second season of Peacemaker to make his presence known.
Playing an alternate dimension version of Peacemaker’s brother, Keith, Denman was a standout in “The Ties That Grind.” The episode teased John Cena‘s Christopher Smith with a what if…? scenario in which the dynamics of his family were completely flipped from the violence he had known in his own dimension, where he killed his brother and father. Instead, Smith stumbles into a world where his father, Auggie, and his brother work with him to fight crime as the Top Trio; however, while Chris is Peacemaker and Auggie looks to still be the White Dragon, Keith’s alter ego was kept secret…until now.
In an interview with Comic Book, Denman revealed that his character goes by the name Captain Triumph, a Crack Comics character created in 1943 who later came under the purview of DC Comics.
Though it’s highly unlikely Denman’s version of the character will share much with his comic book counterpart, it’s a fun nod to a character with a very interesting publication history.
Despite having one of the studio’s most talented ensemble casts, the only lasting impact Eternals has had on the MCU was to introduce Adamantium into the mix in Captain America: Brave New World. Even without a sequel in the works, the film’s stars such as Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Kumail Nanjiani have yet to find themselves integrated into other projects, leading to speculation they may never be seen again, despite some of them being more than willing to return to the MCU.
Yeah! I mean, listen, I have plans today. I don’t know if they have plans. I would love to come back. But I’m sort of waiting to hear when or if that’s going to happen. I’m hoping I get to do more. I had a great time playing that character. It’d be a shame if he’s a sort of one and done. But, you know, the decision’s not mine to make.
–Kumail Nanjiani on the future of the Eternals franchise, January 2023
“It came out right after COVID, so I had a year and a half at home to be just like, ‘When this thing comes out…‘” said Nanjiani of the anticipated impact Eternals would have on his career. “It came out, it got really bad reviews, and it didn’t do that well. It shattered me too much. That was when I was like, ‘Oh, I need to go to therapy to figure this out.”
Any disappointment fans may have had in the response to the film multiplied for Nanjiani. As he shared, Marvel intended for Eternals to launch its own franchise, including additional movies, video game appearances and even a ride at Disney Parks.
“I was like, ‘This is going to be my job for the next ten years.’ I signed on for six movies. I signed on for a video game. I signed on for a theme park ride. They make you sign on for all this stuff,” explained Nanjiani. “You’re like, ‘Okay, so I’ll be doing Marvel movies every year, and in between, I’ll do my own little things. Whatever I want to do.’”
Reading between the lines of Nanjiani‘s comments, it sounds as though not only was an Eternals trilogy in the pipeline but also appearances in other projects, likely including Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which has since been scrapped, and Avengers: Secret Wars. However, four years later, Nanjiani‘s Kingo has only appeared in Marvel Animation’s What If…? and as he explained, it doesn’t sound as though he has any future appearances scheduled at the moment.
“None of that happened,” he lamented. “For me, what really hit me was realising that too much of my self-esteem is wrapped up in other people’s reactions to my work. People have way bigger problems than this.”
Of course, recent years have provided plenty of evidence that the studio never truly puts any character fully to rest. Tim Roth and Tim Blake Nelson recently returned to their respective roles after more than a decade on the sidelines and with an all-new, all-different mutant-centric saga on deck, maybe there will be new life for the Eternals, too.
Before the DCU officially got underway with Creature Commandos in December 2024, DC Studios co-chair James Gunn had already muddied the canon waters. In what seemed to be an odd choice at the time, Gunn explained that events from The Suicide Squad or Season 1 of Peacemaker would “automatically become canon” when they were talked about in Creature Commandos.
Released in 2021, The Suicide Squad introduced John Cena‘s Peacemaker to fans as part of a second team of degenerates sent by Amanda Waller to Corto Maltese. The events of The Suicide Squad, including the death of Rick Flag at the hands of Peacemaker, serve as the set up for Season 1 of Peacemaker. With Amanda Waller, who was featured in both projects, and Rick Flag’s father both appearing in Creature Commandos, and again in Season 2 of Peacemaker, a clear line of continuity seemed to be established from one project to the next…but then Gunn threw in a twist.
“The truth is almost all of Peacemaker is canon with the exception of Justice League… which we will kind of deal with in the next season of Peacemaker,” Gunn teased in a November 2024 interview.
Gunn was, of course referring to the season finale of the first season of Peacemaker, which featured some high profile cameos following the episode’s big battle. As Peacemaker and his crew walked away from the ashes of the barn battle, four members of the Justice League arrived on the scene. But with the DCEU dead and buried, how could they exist if Peacemaker is DCU canon?
3 CENTURIES AGO, the first superpowered beings, known as METAHUMANS, appeared on Earth, ushering in a new era of GODS AND MONSTERS.
3 DECADES AGO, an extraterrestrial baby was sent in a spacecraft to Earth, and adopted by Kansas farmers.
3 YEARS AGO, the baby, now grown, announced himself as SUPERMAN, the most powerful metahuman of all.
3 WEEKS AGO, Superman stopped the country of BORAVIA from invading JARHANPUR, sparking controversy around the world
3 HOURS AGO, a metahuman called the HAMMER OF BORAVIA attacked Superman in the city of METROPOLIS.
3 MINUTES AGO, Superman lost a battle for the first time.
While Mister Terrific, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Superman and Supergirl did appear, the latter two were NOT members of the Justice Gang at that time because as Gunn reminded fans on Threads, the events of Peacemaker Season 1 happened “before Superman.” That also explains the absence of Metamorpho, who teamed up with the heroes, and why Clark was so familiar with those characters in Superman. According to Gunn, the Man of Steal and his cousin have been able to “team up with them a lot like they did in Superman,” in the three years since Clark announced himself as Superman.
To recap, the events of Peacemaker Season 1 take place in the new DCU continuity before Superman and, as made clear by Rick Flag Sr.’s reference to the “Luthor incident,” Season 2 takes place after the events in Metropolis. Easy as that!
D’Onofrio‘s comments were consistent with those of Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum, who earlier this year explained that the studio hoped to see Daredevil stories told on D+ for years to come. “Season 2 will come out next year, and then hopefully season 3 and season infinity after that,” said Winderbaum. “I think this world is extremely rich, and there are many stories to be told on the streets of New York.” Now, a new report reveals that work on Season 3 is already being scheduled ahead of a hoped-for renewal.
According to Nexus Point News, “Marvel Studios has already begun prepping for a potential renewal and is aiming to begin production on season 3 in March 2026 and shoot through the Summer, similar to season 2’s production schedule.”
NPN also shared word that Cox and D’Onofrio each signed three-season deals, meaning that if a fourth season is in the cards, both stars would have to renegotiate their respective deals.
Season 2 of the series wrapped production in July and is set for a March 2026 release. The sophomore season looks to pick up right where Season 1 left off: with New York City under Kingpin’s increasingly tyrannical rule.
Sony and Marvel Studios are holding nothing back in their combined efforts to ensure that Spider-Man: Brand New Day absolutely slaps. Following the news that Florence Pugh had joined the ensemble cast, Variety has learned that Emmy-nominated actor Tramell Tillman has also boarded the 2026 film.
I’m told that Marvel has a plan to say goodbye to Kang. They’re going to wrap him up. I think they want to give him the boot just to put to bed any…I think they’re going to deal with Kang somehow. A small little thing… probably in one of the Avengers movies. I’ve heard Doctor Doom could be the one who kills him.
-Jeff “The In” Sneider
Should Sneider’s information ring true, Spider-Man: Brand New Day should be the first of at least a pair of projects in which Tillman will appear. Of course, there’s another option available in which the talented Tillman is playing ANYONE else in the field–perhaps even T’Challa–pening the door for a longer term engagement for the star.
Who needs conventions?! Like Marvel Studios, DC Studios sat out SDCC ’25, leaving a pair of enormous holes in Hall H. Skipping the big show hasn’t slowed the momentum gathering at DC Studios, however, as Superman director James Gunn has used nearly every opportunity available to build hype around his Superman Saga.
In an interview with Nick Viall, Gunn revealed that his plans are to produce a four-film Superman Saga set within the DCU.
Supposing that Supergirl and the “Justice Gang” star alongside David Corenswet‘s Superman in the next film, it is incredibly interesting to think that Gunn has the next two films in the saga outlined in some way. Outside of Lex Luthor and Zod, the vast majority of Superman’s Rogues Gallery has never been adapted into theatrical projects, giving Gunn the opportunity to bring a number of Superman’s baddies such as Brainiac and Mongul into the DCU.
After years of rumors of what Spider-Man: Brand New Day might be, it turns out it may be better than anyone imagined. The cast of Destin Daniel Cretton‘s upcoming film was already talent-rich and the rich just got richer.
According to MCU insider Daniel Richtman, Florence Pugh has joined the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
With The Punisher was exacting vigilante justice on the streets of New York and a showdown between Spidey and a rampaging Hulk rumored to take center stage, it certainly stands to reason that Yelana Belova, the leader of the New Avengers, might check in.
Pugh Joins fellow MCU vets Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, Zendaya and Michael Mando and newcomer Sadie Sink for what might well be Marvel’s strongest non-Avengers ensemble cast.
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