It’s time to put on your best hair metal and grab your trusty sidekick, Eagly, because Christopher Smith—the one and only Peacemaker—is back.
But before you dive into the mayhem of Season 2, let’s revisit the wild, emotional, and shockingly poignant journey that got us here.
If you thought you knew Peacemaker from The Suicide Squad, you were only scratching the surface. The first season of the HBO Max series, a brainchild of director James Gunn, peeled back the layers on this jingoistic “hero” and revealed a deeply damaged man trying to find a place in the world. He got his chance, whether he wanted it or not, with a new mission: Project Butterfly.
The Mission: Project Butterfly
After recovering from his near-fatal run-in with Bloodsport, Peacemaker finds himself reluctantly recruited by a team of A.R.G.U.S. agents: the no-nonsense leader Clemson Murn, the tech-savvy John Economos, the tough-as-nails Emilia Harcourt, and the empathetic newcomer Leota Adebayo. The mission? Stop an alien invasion.
These aliens, dubbed “Butterflies,” are creatures that take over human hosts, effectively hollowing them out and replacing their personalities. Peacemaker and his team hunt them down, discovering that the Butterflies have infiltrated high-level positions, from politicians to industry leaders. But the mission isn’t what it seems.
The season is a rollercoaster of bloody battles and surprisingly heartfelt moments. Peacemaker grapples with his toxic past, which is haunted by the abusive relationship with his white supremacist father, Auggie Smith, aka the White Dragon. His journey is complicated further by the arrival of his biggest fan, a sociopathic vigilante known simply as Vigilante.
The team, at first a collection of mismatched personalities, slowly forms a makeshift family. They endure gorilla battles, chaotic shootouts, and some truly awkward conversations. But a devastating betrayal threatens to tear them all apart.
The Betrayal and the Showdown
Adebayo, under orders from her mother, Amanda Waller, plants a fake diary in Peacemaker’s home to frame him for the team’s illegal activities. When the truth comes out, it shatters the trust he had just begun to build. The team is fractured, and Peacemaker is on his own.
The season finale culminates in an epic showdown at the Butterflies’ base, Coverdale Ranch. The team, now reunited after Murn’s death, must destroy the “Cow”—the alien creature that produces the Butterflies’ food source—to starve out the invasion. Peacemaker faces a choice: help the Butterflies, who claim they’re trying to save Earth from humanity’s self-destructive nature, or stay true to his mission. In a final act of conviction, he kills the Cow, ending the threat and, in the process, killing the last remnants of his past, including his father.
In a stunning post-credits scene, the Justice League arrives, too late, and Peacemaker delivers a final, hilarious, and deeply fitting line that reminds us of the hero’s unique sense of humor. He and Adebayo reconcile, and she bravely exposes Amanda Waller and Task Force X to the world, clearing Peacemaker’s name.
The season ends with Christopher Smith at peace… almost. He returns home with Eagly and the sole surviving Butterfly (who’s still in a jar) but is haunted by a new ghost: a hallucination of his dead father, a visual reminder that true peace is something he may never achieve.
What to Expect in Season 2
Season 2 kicks off tonight, August 21, and promises to be an entirely new chapter. As the first “installment” of James Gunn’s new DC Universe, it will bridge the gap between the old and the new. Gunn himself has teased that the new season is his favorite thing he’s ever done and will deal with some of the canon issues head-on.
You can watch the new season every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max. With eight episodes on the way, the release schedule is as follows:
- Episode 1: “The Ties That Grind” – August 21
- Episode 2: “A Man Is Only as Good as His Bird” – August 28
- Episode 3: “Another Rick Up My Sleeve” – September 4
- Episode 4: “Need I Say Door” – September 11
- Episode 5: “Back to the Suture” – September 18
- Episode 6: TBA – September 25
- Episode 7: TBA – October 2
- Episode 8: TBA – October 9
Whether you’re a returning fan or a newcomer, the stage is set for a season of action, laughs, and, of course, a healthy dose of hair metal. Are you ready for the new era of the DCU?
