For years, Warner Bros. struggled to find a consistent path for its DC characters on screen, often meddling with creative visions and abruptly changing the direction of projects mid-stream. This era of uncertainty gave way to a new sense of hope with the establishment of DC Studios, led by co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran, who were tasked with building a cohesive cinematic universe. The initial chapters of this new saga, the animated Creature Commandos and the blockbuster film Superman, were met with widespread success, suggesting the DC Universe was finally heading in the right direction. That momentum continued with the second season of Peacemaker, which built a larger and more passionate audience with each new episode, earning critical acclaim and fan devotion. Unfortunately, after a season of buildup, the highly anticipated Peacemaker Season 2 finale left many fans disappointed.
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“That wasn’t good TV at all,” stated user Reddeath10168 bluntly on Reddit, just minutes after the finale premiered. The sentiment was echoed across numerous threads on DC-centric communities, where the initial excitement quickly curdled into frustration. “This is the downside of watching shows weekly, the disappointing moments just hit hard,” added user MY-SECRET-REDDIT in the main discussion thread on the r/DCU_ subreddit. User Afromedes was even more blunt: “The show literally did the ‘I don’t wanna play with you anymore’ meme to the ENTIRE F-CKING PLOT of the first 7 episodes.” Warning: Spoilers for the Peacemaker Season 2 finale follow.
The core of the backlash stems from a feeling that the episode prioritized setting up future projects over providing a satisfying conclusion to its own story. New threads are rapidly appearing on Reddit to voice specific complaints, focusing on how the show seemingly abandoned the alternate Earth X storyline, rushed the formation of the Checkmate agency, and ended on a cliffhanger designed to lead into the upcoming Man of Tomorrow film instead of giving Christopher Smith (John Cena) and the 11th Street Kids a conclusive arc.
Are Fans Right to Be Angry with Peacemaker Season 2?
The frustration from the fanbase is about a potential betrayal of the new DCU’s foundational promise. James Gunn has been vocal about his strategy, emphasizing that each project is designed to be a self-contained story that can be enjoyed without needing to follow every single chapter of the franchise. This principle was successfully demonstrated in both Creature Commandos and Superman. While those projects certainly left narrative threads for future installments to pick up, they first and foremost delivered complete and entertaining stories with satisfying conclusions for their central characters.
The Peacemaker Season 2 finale, however, seems to commit the very sin that Marvel Studios has been increasingly criticized for in recent years. Instead of focusing on resolving the emotional and narrative arcs established throughout the season, the final episode of Peacemaker dedicates its crucial last minutes to setting up multiple storylines for the future. This leaves the season feeling less like its own distinct story and more like a lengthy prologue for something else.
This approach could have been avoided by simply wrapping up the season’s primary conflict with the Earth X dimension, or at least giving the Checkmate team the chance to stand up against ARGUS, allowing the characters some closure before teasing what comes next. By making future hooks the main event, the finale of Peacemaker Season 2 risks reducing the entire season to homework for the next movie, rather than the rewarding experience fans had come to expect.
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