RECAP: ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Episode 1 — “The Ties That Grind”

After more than three years since the first season’s finale, Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1 finally brings Chris Smith back to HBO Max. Writer/director/showrunner James Gunn came to play, immediately building off the groundwork laid for this new DC Cinematic Universe by Superman (2025). While there is plenty of fun world-building to be had in Peacemaker‘s second season premiere, “The Ties That Grind,” its virtues extend far beyond the machinations of DC Studios’ wider plans.

On the contrary, the return of Peacemaker nails and even ups the ante on the raunchy comedy of the first season, supplemented by a surprising pathos and an indication that this season’s plot-line could make the most thematically relevant use of the multiverse we’ve seen in superhero media. 

Since Peacemaker started as a sequel of sorts to Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, with the first season explicitly set in the former DC Extended Universe, the big question going into season 2 was “how is this series going to exist as part of the new DC Universe?” The answer turns out to be quite simple.

As part of the customary recap of the last season, we once again see one of the final scenes of the season 1 finale, where Christopher Smith/Peacemaker (John Cena) encounters the Justice League, including cameos from Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and The Flash (Ezra Miller). Only this time, the League has been swapped out with the Justice Gang, where we see the silhouettes of Superman, Mr. Terrific, Supergirl, and in-person cameos from Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion) and Hawgirl (Isabela Merced). It’s a simple, funny change that allows for the events of The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker to fit neatly into the new universe without ruffling too many feathers.

Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1 continues James Gunn’s new DC universe perfectly.

Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1 begins with Chris being awakened by his beloved pet Eagly in the middle of the night. Peacemaker follows Eagly into the quantum pocket dimension he has in his home, only for Eagly to be scratching at a mysterious door. Annoyed but curious, Chris walks through the door to find a nice home where a suped-up version of his costume, a blue version of his father’s White Dragon costume, and a mysterious third costume all sit together in a nice display.

Before Peacemaker can react, his father Auggie (Robert Patrick) walks out, happy to see his son in a way he never was when he was alive in Chris’ world. Terrified and confused, Peacemaker stumbles out of this alternative dimension back into his quantum storage area.

Before the viewer can process this wild setup for the second season, Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1 launches into its opening credits. Like the last season, the intro is a choreographed dance number where all the cast come out to show off their moves to a cheesy power ballad. The change this season is that the song playing this time around is Foxy Shazam’s “Oh Lord.”

The opening titles are less goofy and immediately iconic than the first season’s, yet still pack a wallop of personality. If anything, it’s more earnest, suggesting this season’s prioritization of emotional development for its title character.

Chris and everyone else are in some rough places as Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1 gets underway.

Six months have passed since Chris stumbled through the door into the alternate universe. He keeps in tenuous contact with his old team, “The 11th Street Kids,” though not as much as he’d like to. Adrian Chase/Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) is back to working as a busser at a restaurant, bickering with his manager. Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) has been left by her girlfriend and lives a lonely life, save for interactions with John Economos (Steve Agee).

Economos’ storyline is the one that ties in most with the wider DC Universe-building. John is still working for Amanda Waller’s outfit ARGUS, which is trying to keep the metahumans in check. He’s tasked with surveilling Peacemaker’s house, noticing some unusual activity that is reported directly to his superior, Rick Flag, Sr. (Frank Grillo). Concerned that John isn’t doing enough, Flag opts to bring in another agent.

That said, his motivations are quickly deduced by Economos as wanting to get revenge for Peacemaker killing his son (Joel Kinnaman) in The Suicide Squad. As intriguing a set-up as this is, it feels more like table setting than an integral part of the episode, so for now it feels extraneous until it’s elaborated on in future episodes.
Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) has it the worst of the whole crew.

Amanda Waller has made it difficult for her to get a job anywhere; she refuses a romantic relationship or even a friendship with Chris, let alone her friends, and is in anger management. Her issues come to a head when she goes to a bar and starts a brawl that ends up with her bloody, beaten, and thrown out on the concrete. Harcourt is clearly a punished character this season, with Holland sharpening the character’s edge.

The Superman (2025) cameos in Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1 tie everything together perfectly.

The imagery of her being beaten up by a group of men is loaded, and a line during Harcourt’s anger management meeting about her internalizing and “exuding toxic masculinity” indicates there may be a focus on her struggles with misogyny, though it’s too nebulous at this point to see how it’ll play out.

In a scene eerily similar to one from Deadpool & Wolverine, Peacemaker auditions for the Justice Gang, where Green Lantern and Hawkgirl reappear, joined by their bankroller, Maxwell Lord (Sean Gunn). As Chris makes his case for his inclusion in the team, the Justice Gang doesn’t realize Chris can hear them as they mercilessly make fun of him.

This scene shows the power of Gunn’s tonal grip, as a gag turns into something deeply upsetting, as Chris is attempting to pour his heart out to this corporate team that views him as an absolute joke. This is how you include the wider DC Universe in a way that enhances the title character’s arc. 

Chris has ups and downs in the other universe in Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1.

Upset, Chris does what anyone in his situation would: host an orgy. But even the gratuitous amounts of drugs and full-frontal nudity can’t cheer Chris up. He stumbles back into the pocket dimension and re-enters the alternate universe. There, he encounters not only his father again, but also his grown-up brother Keith (David Denman).

Instead of the abuse he suffered from Auggie as a kid—abuse that at one point led to Chris accidentally killing Keith—he’s instead met with warmth. In this world, the three work together as heroes, making a genuine change. In this universe, Chris even had a successful relationship with Harcourt at one point. 

Moved by his experience, Chris goes back to the pocket dimension where he’s confronted by that universe’s Peacemaker, decked out in a fancy jetpack. As the second Peacemaker viciously comes after him, he makes one fancy move too many and ends up getting impaled on the ceiling. One Peacemaker cradles the other, dying, then we cut to black. Now there’s how you start a season!

Peacemaker’s newfound multiverse opens up a lot of potential for the series beyond just fan service.

There’s undoubtedly a lot of place-setting when it comes to Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1 that can lead to some scenes slowing down the pace of an otherwise stellar piece of superhero television. Only slightly, however, as overall Peacemaker season 2’s premiere is as strong of a start as fans could possibly ask for. 

John Cena is showing new shades of Christopher Smith here. We’ve always known that Chris is the kind of guy who sees himself as perpetually stuck in an ’80s hair metal video, ignoring his bleak reality for a delusional glory. As this premiere shows, that delusion is starting to slip.

Now, Peacemaker is staring into the abyss, only with a potential fix to his problems. Having the alternative universe is a gateway, not for fan service, but for a genuine reflection on Peacemaker’s part on what his life could’ve been, and could possibly still be.

With everyone’s character in a rough spot in Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1, it’s hard not to imagine the newfound multiverse being abused by more than just Peacemaker. I’m hoping, though, that what this season will bring is a realignment of Peacemaker closer to his Charlton Comics roots, where he was introduced as a genuine pacifist who took extreme measures to preserve peace for all.

James Gunn is clearly not interested in keeping Chris a static character as Peacemaker continues.

James Gunn is clearly not interested in keeping Chris as a static character, and from The Suicide Squad until now, more layers keep being peeled back. I’m itching to see what lies at Peacemaker’s core. One thing’s for sure: the show’s going to look and feel great all the way.

James Gunn has not lost his step when it comes to visual design or fight choreography, with the fight between the two Peacemakers an extremely accomplished sequence to frontload the sequence with, especially set in as visually distinct a location as Chris’s personal pocket universe. Moreover, the most important aspect, the tone, is naturally evolving towards something more emotional and hard to swallow than Gunn’s attempt in the superhero genre. 

I’m glad that we have Peacemaker back. There are few superhero shows this idiosyncratic, let alone ones that nail exactly what they’re going for. I fully trust that, after Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1, the rest of the ride is going to take its audience on a journey that will be well worth the wait. 

Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 1 is streaming now on HBO Max, with new episodes every Thursday.

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