When last we saw John Cena in the role of Christopher Smith (a.k.a. Peacemaker), HBO Max still existed, Russia had just invaded Ukraine, Roe v. Wade had been overturned by the Supreme Court, and Walter Hamada was still in charge of DC Films. It’s been more than two and a half years since then, and a lot has changed. HBO Max is now just Max, James Gunn and Peter Saffron are now co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios, but we’re still waiting for Peacemaker Season 2, with Cena explaining why it’s taking so long, and the challenges the series has faced in the interim.

Speaking with Variety, Cena was pressed for details as to why Season 2 of Peacemaker has taken more than two years to bring to fruition. While the series is slated to return at some point in 2025, no exact date has been given just yet, and that’s something the star says is by design so that it can be as successful as its predecessor.

“What you got to understand and keep in mind is I’m the guy who plays Peacemaker. So when we come out with a show and it’s the No. 1 show on Max and, finally, we take a character who is supposed to be dead, bring Peacemaker back to life, and people enjoy the universe and want to see more of it — but then you have a shift in the structure of who is calling the shots over at DC. James and Peter actually both called me and said, ‘You know what, we want to take some time to do this right. But it’s just going to take a little time.'”

The biggest thing holding up the filming and release of Peacemaker Season 2 was James Gunn’s Superman, which is set to hit theaters on July 11, 2025. The events in Cena’s show take place after the new DCU movie, which means now that filming has wrapped on Gunn’s latest, he’s free to focus his efforts on the Max hit, which – seeing as how Superman isn’t released until July – probably won’t see the light of day until late summer/early fall 2025.

Peacemaker Season 1 Is No Longer Canon In Gunn’s New DCU

With Gunn’s takeover of DC Studios, a number of changes have been put in place that will (hopefully) work to improve things for the better. It’s no secret that the DC Extended Universe was mired in starts, stops, and delays that plagued it from the start, with Gunn himself admitting at one point that “they [Warner Bros.] were just giving away IP like they were party favors to any creators that smiled at them.”

Perhaps one of the biggest changes when it comes to Peacemaker is that Season 1 of the series is no longer canon in Gunn’s brave new world, meaning that events depicted in the freshman outing will have no effect on how he proceeds moving forward. That being said, Season 2 will still look to pick back up from where the first season left off, but from there we could see somewhat of a time jump to make it coincide with whatever happens in Superman. It gives us a headache just thinking about it, but we trust in Gunn to eventually bring everything together in a way that makes sense.

As for how Season 2 of Peacemaker is going? “We are in progress. That is the safest answer I can give without anybody knocking on my door and telling me I’m fired,” Cena said. “Personally, I am very happy, so I hope that translates to everybody who is anticipating it.”

You can look for Season 2 of
Peacemaker
to debut in 2025, but in the meantime, Season 1 is now streaming on Max.