The launch of the new DC Universe has created a complex canonical puzzle for returning projects, and few are in a more unique position than Peacemaker. While its second season will be an official entry in James Gunn’s new canon, the first season now exists in a “soft canon” space. However, despite the timeline reset, Gunn is bringing back all the main characters from the 11th Street Kids, including John Economos (Steve Agee), whose place in the new DCU was already cemented by his appearance in the animated series Creature Commandos. The ARGUS agent served as the tech support and resident dye-beard expert for the team, but he also proved his mettle in multiple battles, even killing a rampaging gorilla with a chainsaw. ComicBook recently sat down with Steve Agee at Comic-Con, where the actor weighed in on the canonicity of what is arguably Economos’ single greatest feat.
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“We have a podcast now where we rewatch Season 1, and we talk about what’s canon and what’s not,” Agee said. “I never thought to ask about the gorilla. I’m going to say yes. I think I still have [gorilla blood in my hands]. I think of all the people in the show, I have the lowest body count. So I want to keep it as high as I can.”
“It’s funny because we shot Season 1 out of order,” Agee added, sharing a fascinating behind-the-scenes story about his gorilla-killing career. “There’s a scene where we’re shooting in an animal hospital. And there was a newspaper that Props had made, just on the table, where the magazines in the waiting room would be. And there was one about a gorilla that had been killed. I didn’t put two and two together until we actually filmed the episode where I killed the gorilla. I’m like, ‘Oh my god, I was the killer of that gorilla!’”
In addition to cementing the gorilla murder as canon, Agee confirmed that the relationship between his character and Christopher Smith (John Cena) will have evolved since their last encounter. The first season ended with the team fractured but bonded by trauma, and it seems that dynamic will carry forward. “I think in Season 2, Peacemaker and I are a lot cooler with each other,” he teased. “I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s definitely a better relationship.”
Everything We Know About Peacemaker Season 2
The second season of Peacemaker is set a couple of years after the events of Project Butterfly, allowing the world of the DCU to have reacted to Leota Adebayo’s (Danielle Brooks) public exposure of Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) clandestine operations. This time jump strategically places the series within the new timeline that has already been established in Creature Commandos and the recently released Superman.
Alongside Cena and Agee, Season 2 of Peacemaker is also bringing back Brooks as Adebayo, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, and Freddie Stroma as the fan-favorite sociopath Vigilante. Nhut Le is also confirmed to return as Judomaster. The new season will also heavily feature a multiverse plotline, which allows for the return of Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith, Peacemaker’s abusive and deceased father. Trailers have revealed an alternate reality where Auggie is wearing a blue White Dragon suit, fighting alongside a variant of Peacemaker and his brother, who is alive in this dimension.
Rounding up the cast, Frank Grillo will appear as Rick Flag Sr., the father of the soldier Peacemaker killed in The Suicide Squad. As the new head of ARGUS, Flag Sr. is driven by a personal vendetta to hunt Christopher Smith down, promising a grounded and intense conflict. The cast is further bolstered by the addition of Tim Meadows, David Denman, and Sol Rodriguez in undisclosed roles. The series is set to continue its blend of violent action, irreverent humor, and surprising emotional depth as it finds its new place within the DCU.
Peacemaker Season 2 will debut on HBO Max on August 21, 2025.
What Season 1 moment do you hope is still canon in Peacemaker Season 2? Let us know in the comments!
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Image Courtesy of Paramount -
Image Courtesy of Big Finish Productions.
