Will ‘Peacemaker’ Season 3 Happen? James Gunn Clarifies How S2 Finale of John Cena’s Series Sets Up Future of DCU, Including ‘Man of Tomorrow’ (SPOILER ALERT)

The finale episode of Season 2 of Peacemaker, which dropped on HBO Max (JioHotstar in India) on October 10, was an unconventional episode. Unlike how Season 1 ended, the finale of the second season was more character-driven than action-driven, as the episode focused more on mending the broken camaraderie within Chris Smith's gang, him getting somewhere with his love interest Emilia Harcourt, and Fleury, Judomaster, and Bordeaux joining them as they start their own agency, Checkmate. ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 Finale Review: Fans Left With Mixed Feelings After Watching How John Cena and James Gunn’s Superhero Series Ended – Find Out Why!

But there were grander plans also on display in the finale episode that would define the future of James Gunn's plans for the DCU. Even though Nicolas Hoult's Lex Luthor wasn't present in the episode as he did a couple of episodes earlier, his presence was felt as he guided Rick Flag Sr (Frank Grillo) in his mission to find accessible dimensional doors using Smith's portal device. After much struggle and losing personnel, he finally finds a dimension that is habitable for humans.

His plan - to send metahuman criminals there so that they cannot escape captivity and endanger their Earth. His first subject - Chris Smith himself, to complete the revenge for killing his son.

The final scene sees Smith in this unknown dimension, surrounded by unknown growling beast,s with his future unknown.

With such a major cliffhanger, of course, fans are anticipating the arrival of the next season to know the fate of Smith, when we will get to see John Cena, Jennifer Holland, and others next, and how the Peacemaker Season 2 finale shapes up the Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow.

Here are five things you need to know about the future of Peacemaker and how the finale plays into setting up James Gunn's vision of DCU (Inputs from Deadline).

'Peacemaker' Season 3

Bad news, Peacemaker fans! James Gunn has confirmed in a press meet after the season finale aired that his show won't be having a third season. He had said, "No, this is about the wider DCU and other stories in which this will play out right now. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be. I don’t want to never say never, but right now, no, this is about the future of the DCU. It’s an important character."

But that doesn't mean you won't see the characters of Peacemaker, at least the surviving ones, in the future of the DC Universe.

The Return of John Cena and Other 'Peacemaker' Actors

When asked if these actors would return for future projects in the DCU like Man of Tomorrow and Supergirl, Gunn replied, "Well, we’ll have to see. That’s a secret."

As for the character of Peacemaker, he said, "Peacemaker is an important character. I said from the beginning when we took on this job, it’s about really propping up and maintaining and repositioning. The big diamond properties that DC has, the Batmans and Wonder Womans and Supermans, and then creating diamond properties out of the smaller characters like Peacemaker."

A Dropped Deadpool Cameo

Did you know James Gunn had almost done the impossible - a Marvel vs DC crossover in the finale episode? As the portal opened doorways to multiple dimensions, he had planned that one such doorway would lead to a Marvel cameo - that of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool aka Wade Wilson. However, that's easier said than done, though Reynolds was game for the scene. Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool To Join The Avengers? Hollywood Star Sparks Social Media Frenzy With Cryptic Instagram Tease; Fans React, Say ‘Don’t Give Us Hope’.

Gunn said, "I wanted them to open the door and see Deadpool in a room. I talked to Ryan Reynolds about it and we’d have had to go through some pretty, pretty big hoops to do that. He wanted to do it. That’s all anybody’s going to talk about now is f*cking Deadpool in the other room."

How 'Peacemaker' S2 Leads to 'Man of Tomorrow'

The finale episode sees Rick Flag Sr having no qualms working with Lex Luthor and even implementing his idea of transferring metahumans to an alternate unknown dimension, though his first subject for his project happens to be a normal human - poor Peacemaker.

This is certainly going to play in Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel that would bring back David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, with Frank Grillo also most probably returning as Rick Flag Sr.

Speaking of Man of Tomorrow, James Gunn said, "On the one hand, I want everything is going to be okay to watch by itself. But also, there’s a bigger story being told that involves, say, Salvation and that story involves Rick Flag, it involves Lex and Superman. There’s those movies that I’m going to be directing. That’s the plan right now, at least. I may get so f**king tired that I can’t do it, because I’m pretty tired, but we’ll see. But there’s a plan that I’m going to do a couple more, at least."

'Creature Commandos' Season 2

Those who watched the Season 2 finale of Peacemaker would definitely end up hating Rick Flag Sr, who not only colluded with Lex Luthor but also ended up sending Peacemaker to the unknown dimension (albeit for him, this is his righteous revenge). Considering Rick Flag Sr is one of the protagonists for the animated series Creature Commandos, which is canon to the DCU, fans have been wondering how his storyline will continue in Season 2.

Gunn has an answer for how he is taking Rick Flag Sr's character ahead. He said, "That’s (Creature Commandos S2) being written now, and we’ve got the first couple episodes. We saw a guy in Creature Commandos, which, when you’re first watching that season, he seems like he’s the good guy, but he’s absolutely not. He screws up everything again because he thinks he’s smarter than Amanda Waller, which he isn’t, and he falls for this woman, and is kind of played by her from the beginning. The fun thing about Rick Flag is he’s not this. He’s totally imperfect.”

With James Gunn confirming there won’t be a Season 3 for now, the anti-hero’s future looks set to unfold in other DCU projects like Man of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Clayface and Creature Commandos S2.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 10, 2025 11:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).