S2 Trailer Reveals Chris Smith’s Struggle With Heroism and Identity

HBO Max made a big splash at San Diego Comic-Con this past weekend by unveiling the first full-length trailer for the Emmy-nominated DC superhero spinoff, Peacemaker, for Season 2. Directed by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Suicide Squad), Peacemaker stars John Cena as the eponymous hitman who, after a team-up with the Suicide Squad in The Suicide Squad (2021), recruits him into a new mission called “Project Butterfly” in Season 1 of Peacemaker. But in the new trailer, as well as the first season finale, it becomes clear that this newest season of Peacemaker is going bigger, weirder, and more emotional than ever before.

Peacemaker’s eight-episode first season takes place five months after The Suicide Squad’s Corto Maltese mission and finds Smith barely alive after surviving a near-fatal gunshot. When he’s seemingly nursed back to health, Smith is co-opted by the U.S. government and set up with a new undercover team and mission. He joins a new crew called “Project Butterfly,” under the supervision of Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji) and with logistical support from A.R.G.U.S. agent John Economos (Steve Agee), National Security Agency agent Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), and the recruit Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks).

It turns out that “Project Butterfly” is a long way from your typical government mission. The motley crew soon finds itself on a mission to kill an alien species—insectoid, parasitic butterflies—which have invaded Earth by taking over human hosts. The first season comes to an explosive end with a bloody man-versus-insect massacre on a ranch, which the ragtag group narrowly escapes with their lives, although not without some grievous bodily and emotional harm.

Season 2 of Peacemaker returns to a very different DC Universe than its first outing. The first season was anchored by the narrative universe of the now-defunct DCEU. But Season 2 of Peacemaker instead takes place in the newly minted DCU, which Gunn himself introduced with a slate of upcoming films and projects called “Gods and Monsters.” While that is a different iteration of the DC Universe, Gunn confirmed at SDCC that events from Season 1 remain canon, aside from a few red herrings in the form of Justice League cameos (we’re looking at you, Hawkman).

In addition to returning cast members Cena, Brooks, Holland, Agee, and Freddie Stroma as the fan-favorite, unhinged Vigilante, Season 2 also brings back Nhut Le as Judomaster, as well as Eagly, Peacemaker’s loyal bald eagle sidekick. There are also several new cast members joining Peacemaker Season 2. Frank Grillo joins the cast as Rick Flagg Sr., father of The Suicide Squad’s Rick Flagg (played by Robert Prudieste), who was killed in cold blood by Peacemaker. Grillo’s character is now in charge of A.R.G.U.S. and is seeking revenge. He’s joined by Tim Meadows as agent Langston Fleury, Sol Rodriguez as Sasha Bordeaux, and Michael Rooker as Red St. Wild, described as Eagly’s “nemesis.”

The official synopsis hints that Chris Smith, this season, is going to have to contend with both the emotional aftermath of his callous history as a hired gun and assassin and with his compulsion and desire to be a better person. That desire is still rooted in the same impetus that led him to Peacemaker in the first place—to achieve peace at all costs—but this time around, he has a better, more heroic idea of how he might finally earn it.

A teaser trailer dropped in May offered fans their first glimpse at the absurdity and violent insanity to come. The teaser trailer is set to Foxy Shazam’s “Oh Lord.” The brief clip shows a disheveled Chris once again failing to join the Justice League—led by Green Lantern/Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl/Kendra Saunders (Isabela Merced), and Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn), all reprising their roles from Gunn’s Superman. His pitch is a spectacular flop, as you might expect.

The teaser also offered some fun character updates. For Adebayo, it seems that “Agent Adebayo is now living in the worst level of Grand Theft Auto, if you can believe it,” according to Economos. Harcourt has “a particularly severe form of toxic masculinity,” the viewer is told, and Vigilante, sadly, has found himself employed in food service.

The trailer’s biggest surprise came near the end in the form of a dimensional portal. In a shocking twist, it turns out Chris stumbles into a multiverse where he encounters another version of himself, who is already adored and popular, and is a true and respected hero. Sick of his current life and world of mistakes and romantic troubles, he is initially tempted to stay. But, as the audience likely expects, his past is not finished with him. Harcourt shows up with a very real and chilling line that is bound to be one of the more poignant of the season: “No matter how green the grass is over there, you belong here. With us.”

In Gunn’s address from the Hall H panel at SDCC, he was very clear about Season 2 being about Peacemaker’s growth as a character. “I like TV shows where the characters don’t just show up every year and they’re the same characters,” Gunn said. “I want to see change. I want to see growth—and sometimes regression. I think that Peacemaker is a different guy this year. He’s trying to deal with demons that he exposed 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.”

Season 2 of Peacemaker is going to bring the big superhero moves and silliness fans love, all the while delivering deeper character arcs and branching out into some major multiversal storytelling. We will have to see if Peacemaker can finally come to terms with who he is—or who he wants to be.

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