DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn and other Peacemaker crew members seemingly found out Warner Bros. Discovery would be bringing back the HBO Max name while filming promotional material for Season 2 – and their reactions are priceless.
Minds were boggled when HBO’s parent company revealed it would be reverting its streaming service rebrand earlier today. It’s a move that will see apps ditch the Max name in favor of the original HBO Max banner this summer, and if you thought that was confusing, just know that some of the biggest names at DC have been left scratching their heads, too.
The soon-to-be-renamed Max’s official X account shared recorded reactions from Gunn and Peacemaker star John Cena shortly after its announcement today. The pair appears to be reading from a teleprompter encouraging audiences to watch Peacemaker Season 2 when it debuts August 21.
As Gunn is telling viewers where to watch, we get to see him react to the name change in real time. Gunn is taken aback when the script he’s reading from says HBO Max and not MAX. He’s informed that it’s not a mistake and will be announced at the Upfront.
That’s good actually. pic.twitter.com/b3WNWOsyT2
— Max (@StreamOnMax) May 14, 2025
“God, we’re calling it HBO Max – what?” Gunn teases. “We’re calling it HBO Max again?”
At this point, we hear other crew members, including DC Studios Co-CEO Peter Safran, chime in. It’s a confusing (and hilarious) moment caught on film, but Gunn, at least, says he’s happy with the change: “That’s good, actually, but I didn’t know that was happening.”
Cena, meanwhile, is firmly in the loop. Instead of the footage showing the wrestler-turned-actor finding out about Warner Bros. Discovery’s latest streaming service rebrand, his video actually sees him breaking the news to some of the people behind the camera.
All of this could, of course, just be an elaborate publicity stunt orchestrated by the HBO Max team. Either way, it’s too funny seeing some of the most important names at DC Studios reacting to the streamer’s latest rebrand.
POV: finding out about the rebrand from @JohnCena pic.twitter.com/eyQxhTcJrs
— Max (@StreamOnMax) May 14, 2025
HBO Max originally launched in 2020 and served as a hub for a variety of content to stream. It’s name stuck until 2023, when the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would be ditching the HBO portion of its name in favor of Max. Now, after subscribers spent two years slowly working the one-word name into their vocabulary, the company has decided HBO Max is actually a great name.
No specific release date for the new rebrand has been announced. While we wait for an update on both HBO Max and Peacemaker Season 2, you can check out the most notable DC projects coming in 2025. You can also read up on our biggest takeaways from Peacemaker Season 2’s latest trailer.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
