Though James Gunn has confirmed that Peacemaker star John Cena will return as Chris Smith at some point, it sounds like it might be quite some time before we see the former villain in the DCU again.
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Matchbox actor indicated that his character will take a back seat for a while as Gunn turns his attention to DC's "big three."
"Now this guy can play with a whole box of toys. And when you have the whole box, you need to deal first with the most valuable ones... Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman"
Very true... except Gunn hasn't done this! Superman did lead the DCU charge, and while a new Wonder Woman movie is reportedly being "fast-tracked," there's been hardly any word on the new Dark Knight's debut in Batman: The Brave and the Bold since the project was announced as part of the "Gods and Monsters" slate.
There's a lot of speculation that Adria Arjona will debut as Diana in Man of Tomorrow, but this has yet to be confirmed.
Peacemaker season 2 concluded with Smith, Vigilante and the rest of the 11th Street Kids, along with Judomaster and A.R.G.U.S. Agents Sasha Bordeaux and Langston Fleury, founding Checkmate, and a vengeance-fuelled Rick Flag Sr. establishing his villainous turn by kidnapping Chris and stranding him in Salvation, the Earth-like dimension Flag intends to use as a prison for the planet's metahumans.
We know that Flag Sr. will be back for Man of Tomorrow, but Gunn has previously confirmed that his Superman follow-up will not directly address Peacemaker's fate.
"No, no, no. But people should expect that the way that the military and Rick Flagg and everybody are working together and they’ve created a probably illegal prison for metahumans on another dimension is gonna be a part of DCU stories going forward. And not just a tertiary, ‘Oh, this is Arkham’ — it’s a part of the stories. There’s an escalating war, obviously, that’s going on between the government and metahumans. And this is a part of it."
Whether a third season of Peacemaker happens or not, we'd be very surprised if Checkmate didn't factor into Gunn's wider plans for the DCU.
Gunn was asked about a possible big-screen outing for the Peacemaker gang during a roundtable interview last year, and his response might be very telling.
"I actually know the answer to that question. I am not at liberty to say under penalty of the Safran punishment, which is a loss of my knuckle. Every time I give away something, Peter Safran will take away another joint of my finger. It’s very painful. He uses a cigar cutter."
While this is obviously far from confirmation, the fact that Gunn didn't go with the usual "not at this time" or "we'll see what happens" leads us to believe that there are indeed plans in place for a Peacemaker feature.
Peacemaker season 2 follows Chris Smith, the vigilante superhero, as he struggles to reconcile his past with his newfound sense of purpose while continuing to kick righteous evildoer butt in his misguided quest for peace at any cost. He discovers an alternate world where life is everything he wishes it could be. But this discovery also forces him to face his traumatic past and take the future into his own hands.
"The new season follows Christopher 'Chris' Smith, aka Peacemaker, the vigilante Super Hero as he struggles to reconcile his past with his newfound sense of purpose while continuing to kick righteous evil-doer butt in his misguided quest for peace at any cost.
In season 2, Peacemaker discovers an alternate world where life is everything he wishes it could be. But this discovery also forces him to face his traumatic past and take the future into his own hands.”