Where Does ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Take Place In Rebooted DC Universe?

John Cena as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker on season two of “Peacemaker.”

HBO Max

The rebooted DC Universe (DCU) is shaping up, and season two of Peacemaker is the latest project to fit into the timeline.

Three years after the debut of the Peacemaker TV series, John Cena is back as the titular antihero for season two, which premieres on HBO Max on Thursday. But plenty of things have shifted in the DC Universe since season one.

After several critical failures (see: Black Adam, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom), the DC Universe is in the early stages of a much-needed retooling, helmed by DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran.

Season two of Peacemaker, which hits streaming a month after Gunn’s Superman reboot was released in theaters, falls squarely into the first chapter of the new DCU, called Gods and Monsters.

All this new world-building might be difficult to keep track of, so in case you’re curious about how season two of Peacemaker fits into the DCU, we’ve got you covered.

The rebooted DC Universe kicked off with the animated series Creature Commandos, released in 2024 and created by Gunn. But Superman, written and directed by Gunn and starring David Corenswet as the superhero, marks the first movie in the retooled DCU and is considered the real start of the revamped franchise. That film is set after the events of Creature Commandos and before season two of Peacemaker.

Superman also features a cameo from Peacemaker, who’s seen criticizing the Man of Steel during an appearance on a talk show. Cena’s cameo not only serves as a precursor for season two of Peacemaker but functions as a connective tissue in the new DCU.

During the Peacemaker panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July, Gunn, the showrunner, revealed that season two takes place one month after the events of Superman.

Gunn also told Entertainment Weekly back in May that season two of Peacemaker takes place roughly “a couple years” after the events of season one.

The showrunner elaborated on the significance of the connection between Superman and Peacemaker at the NYC premiere of season two on August 13.

“Superman leads into this show and then we have the setting up of all of the rest of the DCU in this season of Peacemaker, it’s incredibly important,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

The teaser trailer for season two indicates that Superman characters Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn) are among the new DCU faces who will pop up in the show. They’re seen interviewing an eager Peacemaker, who’s interested in joining the Justice Gang. Unfortunately for him, they’re not impressed.

Gunn told EW that there will be “a bunch of other characters later on in the season from other parts of the DCU and from Superman.”

“There might even be one really, really, really big cameo near the end of the show,” he teased.

Cena, for his part, told THR that the new season isn’t about outdoing the first installment; it’s “about furthering the narrative” of the interconnected DCU.

“That whole DCU through line — it takes the 11th Street Kids through their next adventure, but it also has a lot to do with the DCU going forward.”

Season two of Peacemaker premieres on Thursday at 9 p.m. EST. The remaining episodes will release weekly, leading up to the season finale on Thursday, October 9.