John Cena made his debut as Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker, in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, before going on to headline his own spin-off series. Peacemaker was a big success for Warner Bros./DC, and a second season is currently in production for the Max streaming service.
Gunn has already confirmed that Peacemaker season 2 will be set after the events of Superman Legacy, and that the movie will "have an impact" on the show. Does this mean we can expect to see Smith or some other Peacemaker characters appear in the DCU Man of Steel reboot?
Cena was asked about the possibility of showing up in future DCU projects during an appearance at Comicpalooza, and while he brilliantly evaded the question, his response did seem to suggest that he may know a little more than he's willing to divulge.
"Do you know who James Gunn is? He's got this look when you make him mad, and it's actually indescribable, but I don't want to see it ever again. So I'm just gonna say, no comment."
When Gunn took the job as co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, it seemed pretty obvious that Peacemaker season 2 was going to be part of the new DCU, and while this is the case, Gunn recently revealed that the first season is not!
We're not certain why (the Justice League showing up in the S1 finale likely has something to do with it), but, as far as we know, this is the first time two seasons of the same series will exist in different continuities.
Season 2 plot details are still mostly under wraps, but we do know that Frank Grillo will reprise his Creature Commandos role as Rick Flag Sr., and will be seeking revenge for Peacemaker killing his son Rick Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) in The Suicide Squad.
"Peacemaker explores the continuing story of the character that John Cena reprises in the aftermath of executive producer James Gunn's 2021 film The Suicide Squad – a compellingly vainglorious man who believes in peace at any cost, no matter how many people he has to kill to get it!"
The Peacemaker season one cast also includes Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, Chukwudi Iwuji, Steve Agee, and Robert Patrick. Gunn wrote all eight episodes and also directed five of them, starting with the pilot. Gunn, Peter Safran, and Matt Miller are the series' executive producers. Co-executive producer John Cena and consulting producer Stacy Littlejohn are also involved in the production of the show.