Though James Gunn has confirmed that John Cena will return as Chris Smith at some point, the future of Peacemaker's 11th Street Kids pals is not quite as certain.
Gunn has indicated that a third season of Peacemaker is not on the cards, and one main cast member has now claimed that he has not heard anything about potentially reprising his role in the DCU.
“I’ve had zero discussions,” Vigilante actor Freddie Stroma tells The Direct. “People always say, ‘Oh, you wouldn’t tell us anyway!’ But I genuinely have no idea. I wish I could act all coy, but I genuinely don’t know.”
Peacemaker season 2 concluded with Smith, Vig 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. Could Vigilante and the others return on the big screen?
Gunn was asked that very question 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.”