Now we know how involved James Gunn was in the making of Peacemaker Season 2

Marketing campaign for the DCU series Peacemaker Season 2 is in full swing as the show gears up for its August 21, 2025, release date. Now, we also know how involved James Gunn is in the upcoming HBO Max series headlined by John Cena, who plays the role of the Peacemaker/Christopher Smith. Turns out, this time Gunn won't be involved as much as he was in the first season.

The reason for James Gunn's reduced involvement might be because of his increased responsibility as the co-CEO of DC Studios. While Gunn wrote all eight episodes of Season 1 and directed five of the episodes, he has directed only three episodes of Peacemaker Season 2, while writing all eight of its episodes. It is worth noting that production schedules for this show and Superman were also overlapping.

James Gunn himself confirmed that he was juggling the two productions last year, saying:

"I only have a few days on weekends for [Peacemaker] — other directors start soon. I’ll be directing some of the episodes (I’m directing today). But there are three other great directors joining me for the season."

Overlapping production is why Gunn is involved in a lesser capacity in Peacemaker Season 2

The first season concluded its eight-episode run in February 2022. While Gunn did confirm Peacemaker Season 2 immediately, it has been three years since season 1. John Cena and the Superman director addressed this three-year time gap in an Entertainment Weekly interview published on May 26, 2025. Cena said:

"Thanks for your patience. I know we've had a lot of fans that have been waiting with bated breath, but the DC universe went through a bit of a shift so I'm glad we're here now, and I think everything is done in the right perspective. I'm so grateful that the audience hasn't forgotten about us, and to have James not abandon ship and hang in there for whenever the time was right to get back to work, that's really good."

Peacemaker Season 2 showrunner James Gunn then took responsibility for the waiting period. The director explained that the back-to-back responsibilities of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Superman kept him busy. Gunn revealed that he was able to complete the writing on the second season:

Once I was done with Peacemaker [Season 1], I had to do Guardians 3, and then when I was about ready to jump [back] into Peacemaker, I got hired to be the head of DC. As soon as I got that job, I made a couple of calls, and the first one was to [Marvel's] Kevin Feige telling him that I'm taking the [job as] head of DC. The second one was to John Cena, and I said, 'I'm getting this gig, and I still want to do Peacemaker, but it's going to have to wait. We're going to have to get Superman working first.' "As soon as I was done writing Superman, I was able to write Season 2 of Peacemaker."

While we may feel that the waiting time for Peacemaker Season 2 was long, it must be noted that Gunn has been occupied for three years. Thus, from his perspective, time flew away between 2022 to 2025. This is a sentiment even James Gunn agrees with in the Entertainment Weekly interview, as he juggles between the post-production of Superman and Peacemaker's second season.

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