San Diego Comic-Con parties can often prove to be a mixed bag. On one hand, you could have a well publicised, well-packed affair, swimming incomplimentary booze, superstar hobnobbing and crackling with electricity. On the other, the timing might not be right and the atmosphere of the whole thing may fall flat on its face. And if you’re running a offsite for the duration of something like San Diego Comic-Con, it’s very easy that you can catch both vibes under one roof.
Take ‘Peacefest’, one of the most lauded offsites this year set up to promote Season 2 of PEACEMAKER, held at Harcourt’s KO Corner Bar, which HBO Max has proclaimed became one of the most sought after, hot tickets of the entire weekend. Showrunner/writer/director James Gunn, along with show cast John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stromer, Steve Agee, Frank Grillo and more all rocked up to a glammed-up, ’80s-vibed celebration of everything cheesy about the series.
However, many fans had issues with the off-site before even a big-haired strummed, guitar power riff balred out of the speakers. The ticketing website suffered the traditional SDCC issue of not being able to handle the sheer weight of demand for tickets, crashing pretty much the second the website opened,. And for those that did make it through the door when the band wasn’t playing and the gun slamming out on stage, Many – including our own correspondent, Sarah Conaway – found the whole experience decidely lacking.
Judge for yourself. We’ve been sent promotional material by HBO Max, featuring a full crowd and a very enthusiastic band on stage. We’ve also Sarah’s images from the other end of the spectrum. I guess you just had to be there. And at the right time, it seems.
HBO Max Closes Out Peacefest Fan Experience With Exclusive Party In San Diego
On Saturday, July 26, HBO Max closed out “Peacefest” in San Diego with an epic invite-only VIP party. PEACEMAKER cast and creators showed up and showed out, including showrunner/writer/director and Co-Head of DC Studios James Gunn, John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, Frank Grillo, Sol Rodriguez, and Tim Meadows. The night featured live musical performances from Foxy Shazam, announced by James Gunn as the band behind the season two opening credits, and Steel Panther.
Taking place earlier in the day on Saturday, July 26, fans were treated to a “Peacemaker” cast panel in Hall H featuring James Gunn (showrunner/writer/director and co-head of DC Studios), John Cena (Peacemaker, executive producer), Danielle Brooks (Adebayo), Jennifer Holland (Harcourt), Freddie Stroma (Vigilante), Steve Agee (Economos), Frank Grillo (Rick Flag Sr.), Sol Rodriguez (Sasha Bordeaux) and Tim Meadows (Langston Fleury). The global trailer for season two of PEACEMAKER was released live during the panel, which was moderated by Josh Horowitz, host of MTV and the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.
“Peacefest” kicked off on Thursday, July 24 at Nova San Diego nightclub and gave fans a special opportunity to explore Peacemaker’s favorite alternate dimension. Guests were thrilled to experience all of Peacemaker’s favorite things including exclusive access to the Peacecycle from Season 2. Some lucky fans were selected to meet Peacemaker’s sidekick Eagly, in partnership with the American Eagle Foundation.
The immersive fan experience also allowed attendees to rock out to live musical performances, play themed games at Harcourt’s KO Corner Bar, check out Vigilante’s Hero S*** Merch Shop for exclusive merchandise, and step into interactive character themed booths such as Adebayo’s Hero Test Photo Booth and Economos’ Ops Mortal Kombat gaming station.
Gallery: SDCC 2025, Peacefest (HBO Max Press Materials)
ABOUT PEACEMAKER
The HBO Max series PEACEMAKER from DC Studios and Warner Bros. Television, created for television by James Gunn and starring John Cena, returns for its eight-episode second season THURSDAY, AUGUST 21 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO Max. In season 2, Peacemaker discovers an alternate world where life is everything he wishes it could be. But this discovery also forces him to face his traumatic past and take the future into his own hands. John Cena, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, and Robert Patrick return for season two. New cast members include Frank Grillo, David Denman, Sol Rodriguez, and Tim Meadows. James Gunn wrote all eight episodes of PEACEMAKER and directed three, including the first episode. Gunn, Peter Safran, and John Cena serve as executive producers.
Sarah Conaway’s take: “An offsite is a bit of a mystery box. You could be a fan of something, but the offsite is lame for assorted reasons (poor planning, representation, wait time too long for the actual worth of it), or it could be so amazing that even if you are not a fan, you end of being a fan of the event at least. Keeping the swag for years and even giving shows that you were not watching a chance, out of curiosity or respect.
You have to walk into the SDCC Peacemaker offsite, expecting a “bro” event with “bro” activities, and that is exactly what it was. You walk in the door, get your helmet mask, get greeted by a Peacemaker video – pretty cool, pretty basic, right? It was all very much par for the course, with the images of the scene areas are really well done. The armory of helmets, the motorcycle, the punching bags with quotes on it? Cool, amazing, who-hoo… to look at for maybe four seconds each. Well, that was fast.
The bar upstairs with Bud Light matched that energy; the alcoholic Arizona tea seemed a little out of place as an option, but I get it, public event, options are better. This would not be a bar that Harcourt would drink at, I’m sorry to say.
The darts area with standard electronic machines can be found at any bar or carnival. The neatest set up was the booths with Mortal Kombat, with all the custom skins you have to earn or buy. Unfortunately, not all of them were being used and, sorry boys, Mortal Kombat can literally be played anywhere, you have to take advantage of the aspects you don’t have on a daily basis. It probably didnt seem like the best sign that the only game I saw with Peacemaker being used, had him losing to Homelander… like, really badly losing!
I took five photos in a row of the screen and each image was literally a new ‘Defeat!’ pose – they just kept coming, followed by some creepy victory milk drinking. ‘Homelander is the worst, Peacemaker would agree…’ There was a photo booth which looked fun, but the line to get in was immense, as was the line for the video games, the line for the singular photo booth… sadly, that just meant there was two options open: the floor in front of the stage, or the area selling Vigilante’s merchandise. Obviously, a merch line isn’t something to write home about, especially it wasnt any different, with nothing anything slightly related to costumes or the show for sale, all t-shirts and clothing.
This leaves us with the concert floor. Unfortunately, no band was playing anytime we were in there. Was there maybe a schedule lost somewhere? Was it just intermittent timing? Who knows, because it was not enough to keep us interested and boring enough to leave. The ambiance definitely had the vibes of a death metal party, but the people and the interactions just over weighed it, turning it into another dull event of mostly lines with awkward photos.
You can kind of chalk up the results of an event based on how nerds treat the free swag afterwards. Do they keep it, collect it, find some way to carry it on any form of transit on the way home, with their already full suitcases and shopped goodies? Slap fight for missing pieces of a set? Sure. Or, like in this case, do you find four masks from the event in the corner trash can down street at the corner?
Insert “whomp, whomp” noise here, folks. I’m still watching the next season, even though the trailer in Hall H was mostly confusing. You can’t win them all!”
Gallery: SDCC 2025, Peacefest (Sarah Conaway)
