Peacemaker is still cooler than Superman (critic)

Season 2 arrives on HBO Max and proves that James Gunn is more comfortable when he is in the Rock N’roll superhero.

James Gunn does not take a lot of vacation.

While Superman still ended his career in theaters (he is $ 600 million in global revenue), the Boss of the DC Universe brings his Peacemaker to the front of the stage. We still had to wait three and a half years (!) Before seeing season 2. But that’s it, she arrives on HBO Max (in France from August 21) and she will not disappoint you.

Just as brutal and absurd as the first, this second salvo of 8 episodes explodes everything. Each episode is absolutely crazy (special mention to the eagle which alone decimates a squad of Argus). Exhilarating. Exciting. Whether in his physical waterfalls – and they are legion – or in his emotional moments, Peacemaker manages to play on all tables.

Because this season is much more serious, personal and intimate, while remaining completely wacky. James Gunn retains his eccentricities and his humor punk-rock without filter, with an omnipresent Heavy metal soundtrack which acts as a doping product on each scene, starting with the new openness credits and its new euphoric choré on Foxy Shazam (“Oh Lord”).

Gunn also shows how a franchise can tackle multiverse – thanks to the narrative invention of the quantum unfolding chamber – while retaining its irreverence and its black humor. Because Chris “Peacemaker” Smith is this time immersed in alternative realities, offering sequences that are both surprising and offset. Material of choice for John Cena, perfectly cut for the role, as funny in bruit beta as it can be touching.

And then for fans of the DC Comics universe – in any case those who follow – Peacemaker 2 brilliantly succeeds in the transition from the DCEU to the new DCU. A real little tourism-to-scope-scenarism tour de force! The series manages to deal with both the consequences of the film Superman a few weeks after its release in theaters (the story of season 2 takes place a month after Metropolis events and does not fail to refer to “the Luthor incident”) while continuing the business of The Suicide Squad (Gunn’s film released in 2021). Joel Kinnaman even makes an appearance.

We do not yet know if Peacemaker 2 goes further and also makes the bridge towards future projects of the DC Universe (such as the Supergirl and Clayface or the Green Lantern series) since only 5 episodes were given to the press. But while waiting to see the DC Universe being built brick by brick, it is clear that the naturalness of James Gunn is to fart everything at the sound of electric guitars. And here he comes back to the Galloping Fucking!