“It’s as big as all the other four episodes”

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of Peacemaker.]

In season 2 of the HBO Max series at eight episodes PeacemakerChristopher Smith (John Cena) discovered an alternative world where his father (Robert Patrick) and brother (David Denman) are alive and superheroes, forcing him to face his past and to reassess his own reality. At the same time, Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo), the new interim director of Argus, continued the peacemaker as threat after the death of his son, Rick Flag Jr. (Joel Kinnaman), with her hands, exerting pressure on Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) to betray him.

During this head-to-head interview with Collider, Show Creator James GunnWho also wrote all season, explained why Peacemaker should be titled ChrisHow far he thinks of the character’s journey, his 30 seconds to Mars Inip in the first episode this season, the pleasure of bringing the Kinnaman into the mixture, facing John Cena with John Cena, how great the final will be and how fans will react at the end of the season.

Collider: First of all, I mean thank you for season 2 of Christopher Smith. It is very appreciated. It’s weird to call this season Peacemaker Because it’s a deep emotional dive this season.

James Gunn: It’s true. I don’t know if you heard me say, but I think it should be called Chris.

Showrunner James Gunn has always known how the peaceful and Harcourt relationship would progress

“I always knew what he was dealing with.”

When you wrote season 2, how much did you also think about the next years of the character?

Gunn: part of this, I thought, and part, I did not do it. I really know where Peacemaker Go from here, so it was always a part of it. It was right, what is the road from A to B, and I understood it through season 2. I always knew what he was dealing with, and I knew the relationship between him and Emilia Harcourt and how it was going to progress and where his character was going. These are the basic things I knew.

Did you put the breadcrumbs that we should watch?

Gunn: I think that when you arrive at the end of the season, you will have a lot of answers. Many things where we are going with everything takes place in the last episode.

You have written these episodes and you made the first episode, so obviously, you are responsible for the 30 seconds in Mars Quip who is there with Harcourt by saying: “I am not on good terms with 30 seconds in Mars. How dare you.” How did it happen?

Gunn: Yes. I just felt bad about Spin’s doctors launched in there. I don’t think it’s too fair for us to say Spin’s doctors. Nothing bad with Spin’s doctors.

You did not have to transport Joel Kinnaman or Rick Flag of the original Suicide team Film in yours, but you did it, then you brought it in this season of Peacemaker. Why did you want to continue telling his story?

Gunn: I have always known, from the start. Jen [Holland] And I knew that Harcourt and Flag had a matter when The suicide team Things have happened. It was his reason for not having so much peacemaker, from the very beginning of episode one of Peacemaker. We knew that she had this relationship with him which was not only a sexual relationship, but it is just the way they deal with their business. It was really a friendship. And so, it was always a plan. And then, The addition of Geek Joel Kinnaman was the most funny I had. Joel is a good friend of mine. He’s an incredibly funny guy, and people don’t know. He is literally never in a comedy. And so, just allow him to go there and be this ridiculous character and Namby-Pamby was so fun for me. When I wrote it, I laughed, knowing that I would do Joel to do that. And then Joel did it perfectly. It’s so good.

Did you have to make sure that he was really able to do so before writing it?

Gunn: No, because I know him well enough so that I know that he could do it. I think he surprised me with the way he was able to do. He went there completely. The most frightening part was that I did not run this episode. This was achieved by Greg Mottola. Greg is the one I trust the other directors the most, so I thought it would probably be good with that. It’s great. I loved it.

In season 2, Peacemaker wonders if he lives in bad reality

“I knew it was going to happen.”

A dimensional portal that leads to 99 other universes in your room seems to be both a large and really terrible idea, because you could kill your other dimension and have to cut it and burn the pieces. Were you just looking for the right time when John Cena should murder John Cena?

Gunn: I was really not. It found itself in this way. This is fair where it led. I knew it was going to happen. I didn’t know it was going to happen so early in the season, when I had planned it for the first time, but it makes sense. It fuels Chris’ conviction that he is in the wrong world. He is, at the base, a pretty nice guy And this peacemaker is not, and yet everyone around this peacemaker is.

I loved you caching Freddie Stroma to help John Cena clean pieces of his own body. He just wants to be the best friend he can be.

Gunn: Yeah. And Freddie loves to do this. It is also very excited by an alternative dimension in which it can meet. He is delighted. We will see how it ends up going to him.

In episode 3, you have a shooting, you have bombs that are triggered and there is a helicopter exploding. What is it to remove all this in a single episode? Is it easier to do everything and do a ton of wild stuff in an episode because it is a program that you can balance with other episodes that are more based on characters and relationships?

Gunn: Totally, yes. When you see episode 8, it seems that it is as big as all the other four episodes. So, yes, you have to balance throughout the season on which you spend your money. Peacemaker is a wild beast to roll because sometimes it is very intimate and very personal. Two people in a speaking room. I think maybe our best scene of the season is with Jen and John who speak for 10 minutes. It is the much raer more raw emotional version of the Laws and Clark scene in Superman. But then, at the same time, some of the big things are also very wonderful. You just need to balance it throughout the season.

We see a Hawkgirl, Green Lantern and Maxwell Lord at the start of the season, and we see Rick Flag. Will there be more appearances before the end of the season?

Gunn: You will see another character from Superman. There is also a very great appearance of someone at the end of the season That I don’t think people will come.

Creator James Gunn says that the final of season 2 of the “Peacemaker” is “bit bittersness”

“Bittersweet does not even start to say how little to be soft.”

Image via HBO Max

You mentioned giving a lot of answers this season, but what do you think that people will say with the last episode? How do you think fans will react to the final of the season?

Gunn: Bittersweet does not even start to say how sweet he is.

Release date

January 13, 2022

Network

HBO Max, Max

Directors

James Gunn, Brad Anderson, Rosemary Rodriguez

Peacemaker is available to broadcast on HBO Max. Discover the trailer for season 2: