The creator explains why he's not planning a third season despite ending season 2 on a massive cliffhanger. James Gunn reveals how Peacemaker season 2 finale se

The creator explains why he's not planning a third season despite ending season 2 on a massive cliffhanger.

James Gunn reveals how Peacemaker season 2 finale sets up future DCU projects — but not season 3

The creator explains why he's not planning a third season despite ending season 2 on a massive cliffhanger.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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October 10, 2025 9:00 a.m. ET

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John Cena on 'Peacemaker'. Credit:

Jessica Miglio/HBO Max

**This article contains spoilers about the *Peacemaker* season 2 finale, "Full Nelson."**

Peacemaker (John Cena) better get comfy in his new prison world Salvation. He's going to be stuck there for a long time, because *Peacemaker* creator James Gunn is not currently planning a third season of the HBO MAX series despite the season 2 finale ending on a massive cliffhanger.

When * *asked the showrunner/executive producer/writer/director about a potential season 3 during a press conference on Thursday, Gunn explained the cliffhanger ending will actually have an impact on future DCU projects instead of another season of *Peacemaker*. At least, for now.

"This is about the wider DCU and other stories in which this will play out right now," Gunn said. "So that doesn't mean that there won't be [*Peacemaker* season 3]. Never say never, but right now, no, this is about the future of the DCU. And Peacemaker is an important character."

Frank Grillo on 'Peacemaker'.

Jessica Miglio/HBO Max

The season 2 finale ended with Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) finally getting his revenge on Peacemaker by shoving him through a dimensional doorway in the Quantum Unfolding Chamber, onto a planet that he named Salvation. The Earth-like world was intended to become a prison for metahuman criminals, and Peacemaker is now the first inmate. He looked around in shock as monstrous roars erupted from the trees around him, making it clear that his new home is not safe.

While Gunn stressed that this isn't the last time fans will see Peacemaker, he remained tight-lipped about whether he'll appear in upcoming DC films *Supergirl* or *Superman* follow-up *Man of Tomorrow.*

"Well, we'll have to see," Gunn said as he began laughing. "That's a secret."

However, Gunn explained that the developments in the *Peacemaker* season 2 finale will have a massive impact on a lot of the upcoming movies and TV series, as Flag created Salvation and the other 11th Street Kids-founded Checkmate to fight against the corrupt A.R.G.U.S. It's all part of the "bigger story" he's telling across the newly rebooted DC universe.

Danielle Brooks and Freddie Stroma on 'Peacemaker'.

Jessica Miglio/HBO Max

"Those are the two things that were always a part of this season, Checkmate and especially Salvation," Gunn said. "That was always pretty instrumental in the overall, overarching story that I'm telling in the DCU. *Lanterns* is very connected to all that. It may not seem like it at first, but it is all very connected."

By the end of the finale, Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), Economos (Steve Agee), and Adrian (Freddie Stroma) teamed up with A.R.G.U.S. agent Sasha Bordeaux (Sol Rodriguez) to create Checkmate, based on the DC Comics organization, using Adrian's stolen drug dealer money.

"You'll definitely see Checkmate carrying through," Gunn said. "They're a thing now, so they're a part of what's going to happen, and I think they're going to be really, really good at what they do. So when we see them next, I think their circumstances will be a little bit different than the startup that they're at now."

Jennifer Holland on 'Peacemaker'.

Jessica Miglio/HBO Max

Meanwhile, Gunn revealed that his version of Salvation is lightly inspired by the *Salvation Run *comics — meaning that he isn't following any specific story arc or characters from the source material.**

"I liked the concept of creating this prison that was absolutely inescapable, but was also a little rash because they think it's not dangerous from their initial tests," Gunn said. "But in the comics it is, and in this world, obviously there's hints of it being dangerous. But I also like the idea of being able to create this other environment where people that are considered bad metahumans are going to have to figure out a new way to create a society... Of course, there are a bunch of repercussions about sending a bunch of bad guys to another dimension. In this case, the sole person there right now is a good guy who has to survive on his own."

Flag believes he's finally won now that he's exiled Peacemaker on Salvation. But in order to get his revenge, he made a deal with the devil, a.k.a. the imprisoned Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Gunn teased that's going to end up burning Flag later.

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"Rick is dumb," Gunn said. "I love the character of Rick Flag, but he thinks he's way smarter than he is, and we see it continuously. He thinks he can [beat] Lex, and there's just no way he's going to be able to deal with that. That's not going to be great for him."

Expect to see the repercussions also play out in the upcoming second season of the animated series *Creature Commandos.*

"Oh, it is in there. It's a part of it, yeah," Gunn said. "That's being written now and we've got the first couple episodes, and so that's a part of it."

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One dangling *Peacemaker* storyline that likely won't be seen again for a while is the return of Keith (David Denman). Last seen horrifically disfigured and injured on Earth-X, Peacemaker's alternate-universe brother survived despite Harcourt's attempt to kill him. Suffice to say, that won't be good whenever he does return onscreen.

"I think we've born a super villain, but I do think the A story's about Salvation, which is a thing that's more planned out than the Keith of it all," Gunn said. "I have plans for Keith. I just haven't figured out exactly how it's all going to work out, so I have to make sure I can do it. It's hard with the interdimensional-hopping stuff to make these things come together in the way I'd like. So I have what I would like to happen with Keith, but I'm not sure. I've got to make sure it'll work."

So Peacemaker can breathe easy — for now, he only has to deal with the dangers of Salvation, and not his Nazi, revenge-driven brother. There's a silver lining to everything.

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