James Gunn Has Zero Regrets About Hyping Peacemaker Season 2's Finale

Spoiler alert: this dives straight into the Peacemaker Season 2 finale. If you haven’t watched it yet, save this for later unless you enjoy emotional damage with your morning coffee.

So yeah, James Gunn just detonated the season and walked away whistling. When things finally looked up for Chris Smith, Rick Flag Sr. showed up with the kind of twist that makes your jaw hit the floor and your group chat light up.

What actually happens in the finale

• Chris gets bailed out of prison by the 11th Street Kids, who link up with Sasha Bordeaux, Langston Fleury, and Judomaster to form their own operation: Checkmate.
• Meanwhile, Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) discovers a planet with an Earth-like atmosphere called Salvation.
• Rick’s plan is not subtle: he wants to stash every metahuman from Earth on Salvation, starting with Chris.
• A.R.G.U.S. agents snatch Chris right outside his place, deliver him to Rick, and trick him into the other world.
• They leave him there. Alone. Except for a nasty, not-at-all-Earthly growl echoing in the distance. Credits.

Gunn’s response: a smile and a shrug

Gunn posted a video after the finale and basically told everyone to cope. Not joking. He literally hit send on this and went about his day:

"Yes, that was the ending. No, I'm not sorry... No, you cannot DM me about it. Okay, fine, one DM."

If that reads like classic Gunn trolling to you, you’re not alone. Fans spent the weekend laughing, raging, and memeing it to pieces. Some called it peak chaos energy, some saluted the master of ragebait, and at least one person reminded everyone he once called The Flash a masterpiece, so maybe temper your expectations either way.

About that 'craziest episode ever' hype

On Peacemaker: The Official Podcast, Gunn had promised the next episode would be the craziest, wildest, most unhinged, and wonderful one they’ve ever made. Depending on how you felt about being marooned on Planet Mystery Growl, that either delivered in a 'wow, you actually did that' way or felt like a bait-and-switch. Either way, his video made one thing clear: that finale is the finale. Period.

Why Checkmate and Salvation were not a last-minute twist

Gunn told Deadline that two pillars of this season were baked in from the start: Checkmate and, especially, Salvation. Before he even sat down with the DC writers room, he’d mapped the broad strokes and pitched those elements. After he moved into DC and got in the room with the writers, they refined the details. He also said both ideas feed directly into the bigger, ongoing story he wants to tell in the rebooted DCU. Translation: this wasn’t a random curveball — it’s setting chess pieces he plans to use later.

Season 3? Not the priority right now

Cliffhanger endings usually scream 'see you next season,' but Gunn says that’s not where his head is at. Right now, it’s about the wider DCU and the other stories where this fallout will play. He did add a 'never say never' — just because Season 3 isn’t on deck doesn’t mean it won’t happen down the line.

As for whether John Cena or other Peacemaker folks pop up in films like Supergirl or Man of Tomorrow, Gunn played coy: that’s a secret. Which, of course, is an answer that is not an answer.

By the numbers

Peacemaker sits at 8.3/10 on IMDb. On Rotten Tomatoes, Season 1 is at 93% with critics and 87% with audiences; Season 2 is at 96% with critics and 80% with audiences. So the show is still very much a critics’ darling, with fans a bit more split after that ending.

Bottom line

Gunn built Checkmate, launched Salvation, stranded Chris, and told us to live with it. Annoying? Kind of. Effective? Definitely. If you’re waiting on answers, you might be waiting a minute — especially if those answers are scheduled to unfold across the broader DCU instead of a fast-tracked Season 3.

Peacemaker is streaming on Max. Feel free to drop your theories — is Chris stuck there for a while, or is that growl about to be his new best friend?