Peacemaker season 2’s new cast reveal means it’s going to be harder to follow James Gunn’s DC Cinematic Universe

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Full spoilers follow for 2021’s The Suicide Squad movie.

Peacemaker season 2’s first new cast member has been announced – and the reveal might make it even harder to follow the rebooted DC Cinematic Universe (DCU).

Taking to Instagram last Friday (May 10), DCU co-chief James Gunn confirmed that Frank Grillo, who readers might recognize from his small role in two of Marvel’s three Chris Evans-starring Captain America films, has joined the Peacemaker cast. 

Grillo will play Rick Flag Sr, the father of The Suicide Squad‘s Rick Flag (played by Joel Kinnaman), in the live-action show’s sophomore season. Grillo will also voice the character in the DCU’s forthcoming R-rated animated series Creature Commandos, which is expected to launch on Max (in the US) sometime in 2024 and officially kickstart DCU Chapter One. His appearance in Peacemaker‘s second season, then, won’t be Grillo’s first outing as the grizzled war veteran.

As Gunn alludes to, Flag Sr will be gunning for Peacemaker, aka Christopher Smith (played by John Cena), in the hit series’ next installment. Peacemaker murdered his son in cold blood – on Amanda Waller’s orders – in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) movie’s third act. Expect a vengeful Flag Sr to spend much of season 2 hunting down his son’s killer.

It’ll be interesting to see if Flag Sr comes after Waller in Peacemaker season 2, too. Waller put the Creature Commandos – a superpowered, black ops team – together under Flag Sr’s leadership decades prior, so Waller and Flag Sr have a history together. If Flag Sr learns of Waller’s involvement in his son’s death, though, that betrayal will further fuel his desire for revenge in Peacemaker season 2 or Waller’s own self-titled TV show.

Grillo’s upcoming appearance isn’t the only Peacemaker news to emerge recently. Per Variety, Gunn is set to direct three of season 2’s eight episodes, including the premiere. Previously, we only knew that Gunn had written one of the best Max shows‘ second seasons, so this is the first apparent confirmation we’ve received on whether he’ll direct any of its entries. 

Before he helms Peacemaker‘s sequel season, though, Gunn will have to complete his directing duties on his Superman movie, which might wrap filming in August ahead of its July 11, 2025 release date.

A messy situation

2021’s The Suicide Squad will impact Peacemaker season 2, despite the two projects existing in different cinematic franchises. (Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Grillo’s appearance as Flag Sr in a live-action DCU project shouldn’t come a total surprise. When he revealed the DCU Chapter One’s full line-up in January 2023, Gunn confirmed that fans would see some actors reprise their roles in animated and live-action productions in DC‘s new-look cinematic franchise.

However, Flag Sr’s appearance in Peacemaker poses a big problem for Gunn and his fellow DC Studios co-head Peter Safran. The pair have regularly stressed that the DCU is a complete reboot of Warner Bros. Discovery’s messy DCEU, but that effort continues to be hampered by the projects that straddle the line between the two.

You see, The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker season 1 were officially part of the DCEU. Now, Peacemaker season 2, which will pick up plot threads from that duo, is a narrative cog in the DCU machine – as is Creature Commandos, which, thanks to Flag Sr’s involvement, will now also tie into Peacemaker‘s second season and the aforementioned DCEU pair.

It’s little wonder, then, that audiences are baffled. Gunn and Safran can claim otherwise but, with plot points from DCEU projects impacting DCU ones, there’s no clean break between them, nor a hard reset to speak of. 

I have faith that Gunn and Safran know what they’re doing, and I hope that things (from narrative and cinematic universe perspectives) will make more sense once we learn more about Creature Commandos and Peacemaker season 2. 

Right now, however, the lack of clarity means that viewer confusion will reign supreme for a while yet. When you’re trying to relaunch a huge comic book franchise to rival the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), that’s not a good look.

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