DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn and other members of the Peacemaker team appeared to learn about Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to revive the HBO Max name while filming promotional content for Season 2 – and their reactions are absolutely priceless.
Audiences were left stunned when HBO’s parent company revealed earlier today that it would be reverting its streaming service rebrand. The change means apps will once again carry the original HBO Max banner this summer instead of the Max name. If you found that confusing, rest assured that even some of DC's biggest stars were left scratching their heads.
Shortly after the announcement, the official X account of the soon-to-be-renamed Max shared video reactions from Gunn and Peacemaker lead John Cena. The footage shows the pair seemingly reading from a teleprompter encouraging fans to tune in for Peacemaker Season 2 when it premieres on August 21.
As Gunn explains where viewers can watch the show, we witness his real-time reaction to the name change. He’s visibly surprised when the script mentions HBO Max instead of just Max. He’s then informed that it's not an error and that the official announcement will be made at the Upfront event.
That's good actually. pic.twitter.com/b3WNWOsyT2
— Max (@StreamOnMax) May 14, 2025
“Wait, we’re calling it HBO Max again? What?” Gunn jokes. “We’re really calling it HBO Max?”
At this point, other crew members—including DC Studios Co-CEO Peter Safran—join the conversation. It’s a genuinely amusing and slightly baffling moment captured on camera, though Gunn himself seems satisfied with the decision: “Actually, that’s good—but I had no idea that was happening.”
Cena, on the other hand, was already in the know. Rather than learning about the rebrand himself, the wrestler-turned-actor is seen breaking the news to the crew behind the scenes.
Of course, this could all be a clever marketing stunt orchestrated by the HBO Max team. Either way, it’s entertaining to see top DC Studios figures reacting so candidly to the streaming service's latest identity shift.
POV: finding out about the rebrand from @JohnCena pic.twitter.com/eyQxhTcJrs
— Max (@StreamOnMax) May 14, 2025
HBO Max first launched in 2020 as a streaming hub for a wide range of content. The name remained until 2023, when the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would drop the "HBO" from the title and rebrand the service simply as Max. Now, after subscribers spent two years adapting to the shorter name, the company has decided HBO Max was the right choice all along.
No specific launch date for the rebrand has been announced yet. While we await updates on both HBO Max and Peacemaker Season 2, be sure to explore the most exciting DC projects arriving in 2025. You can also dive into our key takeaways from the latest Peacemaker Season 2 trailer.
