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The Peacemaker Season 2 finale streamed on HBO Max on Thursday, October 9, 2025. With an IMDB of 6.8 out of 10 (for now), "Full Nelson" is one of the lowest-rated episodes of this season. Thus, it seems that people are disappointed because it seems that all major plotlines of the season culminated in the previous episode.
The biggest reason why many are probably disappointed with the season 2 finale is that James Gunn hyped up major things for episodes 6, 7, and 8 of Peacemaker Season 2. He did this for months, and the final product ended up being a relatively more grounded episode of the season. In a May 2025 interview, James Gunn teased a major cameo at the end of this season:
"You've seen what we call the QUC, the Quantum Unfolding Chamber, in the first season of Peacemaker, and we see more about that technology in Superman. The QUC is the center of the story in Peacemaker season 2... We see a lot of different characters from Superman in the [season], [including] Isabela and Nathan and Sean, and then we see 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."
But the season finale ended up being about Christopher Smith/Peacemaker reconnecting with the 11th Street Kids and how they and other A.R.G.U.S. agents like Sasha Bordeaux, Judomaster, and Langston Fleury come together and form a better agency called "Checkmate".
Fans believe that the Peacemaker Season 2 finale did not live up to what James Gunn hyped it up to be:
The r/DC_Cinematic subreddit saw a post in which a fan expressed their disappointment through a post. It read:
"For the first time, I think The Gunn jammed, that entire episode was just one big waste, I mean, we didn't even see Chris for half of it, the namesake of the show. What was James on when he wrote this, the set up to everything doesnt make any sense, you could literally take the entire middle out, and it would remain the same. I can get why Bordeaux joined the good guys, but Rip and Tim Meadows joining doesn't. It just doesn't fit in with the tone of the show at all and it just seems like James wanted it to be long for no reason. There's too many music scenes, like every 2 minutes there is a song and sometimes it doesnt even fit. Not only that but there's no emotion, it just feels hollow compared to previous episodes. I'm starting to worry about future projects..."
This post had some divisive reactions as many pointed out why Langston Fleury and Rip Jagger/Judomaster leaving A.R.G.U.S. and joining Checkmate made sense. They pointed out the two subtle moments where Fleury was not being his usual boastful self and was vulnerable.
The first one is in Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 5, as he tells John Economos that he did well by booking Christopher in the database to stop Flag Sr. from killing him. The second time we see Fleury's human side is when he mourns Kline's death in the Peacemaker Season 2 finale. Thus, the episode did a good job of building his disillusionment with A.R.G.U.S. The same can be said about Judomaster as well, as he is almost sucked in by a blackhole.
Peacemaker Season 2 finale completes Rick Flag Sr.'s downfall:
As more and more A.R.G.U.S. agents die in dangerous ways while exploring the multiverse under Rick Flag Sr.'s orders, he is celebrating with Lex Luthor's employees. Flag Sr. began this season as someone with an understandable grievance with Christopher. However, the more reasonable man from Creature Commandos is long gone in Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 8.
He is cruel and vindictive as he maroons Chris on the Salvation planet in the closing minutes of the finale. Speaking of which:
We do get a major VOCAL cameo in the season 2 finale:
As the QUC portal closes, Christopher Smith hears some demonic noises of unidentifiable origin off-screen. This is a huge set for the DCU as it seems James Gunn has taken inspiration from the 2007-2008 comic book storyline Salvation Run. In that comic book, A.R.G.U.S. maroons all the supervillains across the DCU on an alien planet, unknown to them is under DeSaad's (Darkseid's torturer) control.
Many believe that the noises we hear in the Peacemaker Season 2 finale might be that of the parademons. Furthermore, we also hear a whirring sound that may belong to the boom tube, the preferred way of transportation for Darkseid and his minions. If the creatures in Salvation are indeed linked to Apokolips and Darkseid, then Gunn did deliver on his promise of a major cameo in the season 2 finale.
James Gunn explains the season 2 finale:
The season 1 finale was action-packed with a major cameo with the DCEU Justice League. This is what many fans were expecting from Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 8 as well. However, this couldn't have been farther from the truth as the second season did not have many fight scenes and the hyped up cameo, according to the fans, ended up being that of Foxy Shazam.
James Gunn addressed the season 2 finale in a Deadline interview that was published on Friday, October 10, 2025. Explaining that the Peacemaker Season 2 finale was more emotional, Gunn said:
“I always thought the first season is about Peacemaker. The second season is about Chris Smith. We saw in the first season where Chris was dealing with the repercussions of his actions in many ways, but also the presence of his own trauma, and a trauma that he had never seen in his life, that was affecting all of his thoughts, all of his decisions, everything he did, and he just wasn’t aware of it. By the end of Season 1, he becomes aware of this trauma, and I think in Season 2, he’s aware of it, and it actually makes his life a little bit hard. As anybody who’s done a lot of therapy knows, sometimes that can also make your life harder, at least temporarily, because you’re dealing with all this stuff in your life that you didn’t even know was there, and you’re doubting things about yourself that you never doubted. This second season is about that internal journey of Christopher Smith.”
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The entire Peacemaker Season 2 is currently available to stream on HBO Max.
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