James Gunn might be calling fans “racists,” but it turns out audiences are calling him something else entirely: irrelevant. The new season of Peacemaker — once hailed as the bridge to Gunn’s new DC Universe — is flopping so hard in the ratings that it’s not even charting on streaming.
Peacemaker Nowhere to Be Found on Nielsen
According to multiple reports, including data compiled by Nielsen and SambaTV, Peacemaker Season 2 is a non-factor on the streaming charts. The show hasn’t cracked Nielsen’s Top 10 and, as CosmicBook.News notes, “not a single episode has shown up” since its debut.
Nielsen Ratings for September 1-7 2025 – Nielsen
Even SambaTV, which tracks viewership across millions of smart TVs, shows the series slipping fast — falling to #16 among original streaming shows by Episode 4.
We took a look: #Peacemaker landed at 16 in this week’s streaming top 10
— Samba TV (@samba_tv) September 19, 2025
That’s a massive drop-off for what Warner Bros. Discovery was reportedly positioning as the connective tissue between Gunn’s Superman film and his new “Gods and Monsters” slate.
When a show tied directly to your cinematic reboot can’t even appear in the same charts as The Great British Baking Show, something has gone seriously wrong.
Critics Love It, Viewers Don’t
Hollywood trades and entertainment blogs have been eager to describe Peacemaker as “edgy,” “bold,” and “uncompromising.” Gunn himself bragged in GQ that he had virtually no oversight from Warner Bros., saying he could “do whatever I want.”
Maybe that’s the problem.
James Gunn and John Cena introduce the Red Band Trailer for Peacemaker Season 2 – YouTube, DC
Audiences didn’t tune in for political commentary or heavy-handed messaging. They wanted superheroes, not lectures. Instead, Gunn filled Peacemaker Season 2 with bizarre moral parallels — linking Christianity to fascism, equating alternate-Earth dictatorships with modern America, and turning once-fun characters into mouthpieces for his own worldview.
What might have been quirky fun in Season 1 has now become a political statement that alienates the very viewers DC needs to win back.
The Superman Connection Backfires
CosmicBook.News put it bluntly: “The logic that Superman would feed Peacemaker simply doesn’t add up.”
Gunn’s grand plan was that Superman would funnel audiences into his broader DC Universe, starting with the continuation of Peacemaker. Instead, viewers didn’t follow.
David Corenswet and John Cena in costume as Superman and Peacemaker in a selfie on the set of Peacemaker – X, @CultureCrave
If this was supposed to be the warm-up act for the DCU’s future, the audience just left the theater early.
The Fallout of Fan-Blaming
It’s impossible to ignore how this collapse ties into Gunn’s own words. When Peacemaker Season 2 started facing backlash online, Gunn didn’t respond with humility or openness.
He told GQ: “I have a few racists that have called me polarizing, but I’m okay with being polarizing and letting racists fall to the wayside.”
James Gunn introduces the trailer for Peacemaker Season 2 – YouTube, DC
That single quote sums up Hollywood’s ongoing fan-blaming playbook — dismiss critics as bigots, deflect accountability, and double down on arrogance. But that tactic doesn’t work forever.
Audiences have options, and when they feel insulted or misrepresented, they simply walk away.
Where Does This Leave DC?
Warner Bros. Discovery has been betting big on James Gunn as both creative architect and brand savior. But after The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman 2 (films that were in production before Gunn took the reigns), the company needed a win. Superman was a modest theatrical win and Peacemaker was supposed to be the TV ratings smash this fledgling universe needed.
A screenshot of John Cena as Peacemaker in the show Peacemaker – Youtube, DC
Instead, they’re getting silence — no viewership celebrations, no record-breaking headlines, no marketing victory lap. Just the quiet thud of a once-promising property disappearing from the charts.
If Peacemaker can’t hold attention and ratings now, what happens when audiences are asked to invest in another 10 years of Gunn’s DC storytelling?
Final Thoughts
For months, James Gunn has presented himself as a fearless creative unbound by oversight. But the truth is clear: audiences are the only oversight that matters. And they’ve delivered their verdict with the click of a remote.
A screenshot from the intro to Peacemaker Season 2 – YouTube, DC
When a franchise can’t keep viewers, calling them names won’t change the numbers.
How do you feel about these abysmal Peacemaker ratings? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
This is vindicating to me. I keep saying James Goon is a hack with no talent and no clue what he’s doing. Goon fanbois and virulently anti-Snyder types keep accusing me and everyone else of liking Snyder (Newsflash! I hated his work, too).
No, it’s like I keep saying. WB picked the wrong horse to bet on. Now I’m hoping Ellison does buy out WB and gives Goon the axe. For someone with his porcelain ego, it would be the ultimate insult.
I’m with you. I wasn’t a fan of Snyder, but right now, I’d take him over James Gunn and his juvenile sense of humor.
It would help if not everything was “JAMES GUNN PRESENTS:” or “JAMES GUNN’S:” or “FROM JAMES GUNN!”
As an aside, Man of Steel is one of my favorite superhero flicks. Almost all the rest of the DCU was hot garbage, but MoS was pretty good, especially compared to Superman 2025.
[…] an embarrassing performance from Peacemaker, is not a good way to start building a franchise. And, as That Park Place points out, James Gunn is once again accusing those who don’t like some of the storytelling decisions he […]
Gunn called us Waycsit. Boycott him, give him heck with downvotes and backlash, everyone! He’s an unpleasant pervert from past tweets about innocents.