Here’s What to Remember Before Peacemaker Season 2

Your favorite peacemaking hero is about to return to the small screen.

Peacemaker season 2 is slated to hit HBO Max this month after nearly three years. James Gunn’s hilariously heartfelt comic book TV series is a delightful mix of dark comedy and high-octane fight sequences, along with a cast of colorful characters. John Cena truly owns the title role.

If, like me, you need a refresher for season 1, consider this piece your primer. So, grab a bag of Cheetos, crank up the ’80s hair metal, and grab your eagle sidekick as we break down what to remember before watching Peacemaker season 2.

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Our Cast of Characters

First things first, it’s important to remember our core players on the board. Our lovable group of ragtag misfits who save the world (even if no one gives them adequate credit).

Leading the charge is Christopher Smith, AKA Peacemaker, the titular antihero who gets roped into serving as a hitman for Project Butterfly on Amanda Waller’s orders. He’s all about maintaining peace, even if he must kill to get it. His BFF is Eagly, his pet eagle (but don’t tell Vigilante that). As for skills, Peacemaker boasts various helmets with different capabilities. He’s also adept at combat, with considerable strength and a mastery of weapons, to boot.

Peacemaker might be a lead in the show’s sense, but Clemson Murn is the true leader of Project Butterfly. He’s a stickler for protocol, awfully serious, and has a meticulous eye for detail. Murn also doesn’t put up with Peacemaker’s shenanigans. Oh, and he’s not who he appears to be, but more on that later.

Leota Adebayo is the daughter of Amanda Waller (Waller made her DCU debut in The Suicide Squad and has subsequently appeared in Peacemaker, Black Adam, and Creature Commandos). Adebayo is a sweet soul sans field experience, who struggles to adjust to this line of work. She slowly grows closer to Peacemaker throughout season 1.

Emilia Harcourt is an NSA agent who worked with Waller and A.R.G.U.S. to monitor the Suicide Squad in The Suicide Squad. Harcourt is a no-nonsense combat specialist with a knack for ass-kicking. She and Peacemaker develop romantic feelings for each other and eventually kiss in the season finale.

John Economos is a warden at Belle Reve, a prison for super-villains. He also worked with Waller in The Suicide Squad. Economos isn’t a fan of Peacemaker, and they often butt heads. (Peacemaker not-so-affectionately refers to Economos as “Dye Beard.”) Inevitably, though, the two develop a camaraderie by the end of the season.

Last, but certainly not least, is Adrian Chase, AKA Vigilante. Vigilante is Peacemaker’s self-proclaimed best friend. While Peacemaker was an inmate at Belle Reve, Vigilante took up a job as a busboy at a restaurant. His special abilities include combat, murdering with impunity, and blowing stuff up. Initially, he’s not part of the Project Butterfly team, but after tagging along as an unwanted guest on missions one too many times, he eventually joins the “11th Street Kids.”

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Project Butterfly

Spearheaded by Waller, Project Butterfly is a covert ops mission to eradicate butterflies, aliens who’ve infiltrated Earth and can hijack humans. Our heroes believe the butterflies want to wipe out humanity and take over the world for themselves.

We eventually learn that the butterflies left their dying homeworld for Earth. Initially, it was a peaceful coexistence. However, the leader of the butterflies (who seizes control of Senator Goff in the show) wants more. She leads an uprising and conspires with the other butterflies, breaking off from the less-violent aliens of their species.

Additionally, the butterflies transported a massive creature called a “cow” with them to Earth, which produces a honey-colored goo substance that’s their food source. No, it doesn’t look like a cow in the Earth sense, but it sure is cuter.

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Peacemaker and His Father

Like many comic book-based characters, Peacemaker has daddy issues. His father, Auggie Smith, is also known as the White Dragon. He’s a raging Nazi who leads a band of white supremacists. The character is often seen spewing racist rhetoric, and he displays an abundantly clear hatred of his son.

Season 1 delves into Peacemaker’s trauma regarding his dad. Auggie abused him as a child. In one flashback, we see Peacemaker with his brother when they were children. Auggie forced them to fight each other in a pit for money. Peacemaker inadvertently kills his brother when he punches the latter too hard. Auggie blames Peacemaker for his brother’s death, who was his favorite child.

Ultimately, Peacemaker does what the White Dragon insists he’s too “chicken” to do — he kills him. After Peacemaker murders his father, Auggie’s ghost haunts him. The season ends with a shot of Peacemaker sitting on his porch, drinking with the malevolent spirit of his father, a representation of the darkness still inside him.

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Murn and His Fate

Murn is more than the leader of Project Butterfly … he’s a butterfly himself. The shocking reveal at the end of episode 4 sees Murn consuming the goo that the butterflies go gaga over. Then, he tells his story to Adebayo in episode 5. He disapproves of the butterflies’ mission and their methods of commandeering human bodies.

In the season finale, the butterflies of the antagonistic faction share their side of the story. They saw how little humans cared for their planet. Disgusted by this, the butterflies decided to seize control of humanity to save Earth. Murn thinks this is wrong, even if it’s in the name of preserving the butterflies’ new home.

Murn sacrifices himself to save Adebayo and Harcourt, who are at his apartment when the evil butterflies descend upon him. They kill him, asserting that his refusal to join the cause led to his death.

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How Detectives Song and Fitz Factor into the Story

Detectives Sophie Song and Larry “Fitz” Fitzgibbons play a crucial role in Peacemaker season 1. Initially, the dynamic duo investigates a murder committed in the series premiere tied to Peacemaker. Our eponymous lead kills Annie Sturphausen, a woman with whom he had a one-night stand. However, she wasn’t entirely human – she was a butterfly with supernatural abilities.

At one point, Economos frames Peacemaker’s dad for the murder, resulting in Auggie’s temporary incarceration. When Song and Fitz discover the fingerprints at the crime scene are Peacemaker’s, they pursue him. Locke, a man inhabited by a butterfly, derails the murder investigation and assumes control of the precinct, eventually ensuring every officer, including Song and Fitz, becomes hijacked by butterflies.

Song and Fitz participate in the final battle at Coverdale Ranch – or, rather, their meat suits with their respective butterflies at the wheel. They die trying to protect the cow.

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Adebayo’s Betrayal

Waller orders Adebayo to plant a diary in Peacemaker’s trailer, implicating him in, well, everything Project Butterfly does. This will effectively send him back to Belle Reve after he serves his purpose. However, Adebayo struggles to do this since befriending Peacemaker. She eventually follows her mother’s orders, though, and Peacemaker finds out about her betrayal.

In the season finale, Adebayo kills the butterflies’ cow by plowing into it while wearing Peacemaker’s torpedo helmet, proving she’s willing to sacrifice her life to save Earth. This is crucial in defeating the butterflies. Without a food source, they’ll all die on Earth.

By the episode’s end, Adebayo and Peacemaker mend fences. She speaks to the press about Project Butterfly, including using the diary to frame Peacemaker for the death of Senator Goff and the massacre at Glan Tai. Adebayo also uncovers her mother’s doings at Belle Reve.

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The Fight at Coverdale Ranch

The overarching narrative culminates at Coverdale Ranch, the location of the cow. Our misfit heroes battle the butterflies in an all-out showdown. Harcourt suffers near-fatal injuries. Vigilante takes more than a few hits. Adebayo most definitely gets a concussion from exploding the cow. Dye Beard — erm, Economos — proves his mettle, too, on the battlefield. The fight at Coverdale Ranch is wall-to-wall action and gore, with well-crafted high stakes and tension.

Easily the highlight of the fight is the Justice League cameos. While Superman and Wonder Woman are only seen as silhouettes, Aquaman and The Flash appear in all their glory, having a full-on conversation with Peacemaker. Of course, they show up too late – the Project Butterfly team already saved the day. If you’ve seen the trailer, you know that Maxwell Lord, Green Lantern, and Hawkgirl will pop up in season 2, continuing this established arc from season 1.

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