DC Studios co-head James Gunn and other 'Peacemaker' team members appeared to learn about Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to revive the HBO Max brand while filming promotional content for Season 2 – and their reactions are pure gold.
HBO's parent company caused widespread confusion today by announcing a reversal of its streaming service rebrand. This summer, the apps will shed the 'Max' name and return to the original HBO Max moniker. If you find that baffling, you're not alone – even some of DC's top executives were left utterly perplexed.
Shortly after the announcement, the official X account for the soon-to-be-renamed Max shared captured reactions from Gunn and 'Peacemaker' star John Cena. The footage shows them reading from a teleprompter script promoting the Season 2 premiere on August 21.
As Gunn directs viewers on where to watch, we witness his real-time reaction to the scripted name change. He's visibly surprised when the teleprompter displays "HBO Max" instead of "MAX." After being assured it's not an error and that the change will be announced at the Upfront presentation, his disbelief is palpable.
That's good actually. pic.twitter.com/b3WNWOsyT2
— Max (@StreamOnMax) May 14, 2025
“Wait, we’re calling it HBO Max again?” Gunn remarks with a laugh. “Seriously, HBO Max?”
Other crew members, including DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran, can be heard chiming in off-camera. It's a genuinely confusing (and hilarious) moment preserved on film, though Gunn eventually admits the change has its merits: “That’s actually good, but I had no idea this was happening.”
Cena, in his segment, is portrayed as being fully informed. Rather than showing him learning the news, his video features him breaking the rebranding announcement to the production crew behind the scenes.
While this could be an elaborate marketing stunt by the streaming service, it remains highly entertaining to see key figures at DC Studios grapple with the platform'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 comprehensive streaming hub. The name remained until 2023, when the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery decided to drop the 'HBO' prefix and rebrand the service simply as 'Max'. Now, after subscribers spent two years adjusting to the shorter name, the company has concluded that the original HBO Max branding was the better choice all along.
A specific launch date for the reverted rebrand has not been revealed. While we await further updates on both HBO Max and 'Peacemaker' Season 2, you can explore the most anticipated DC projects slated for 2025. You can also dive into our key takeaways from the latest 'Peacemaker' Season 2 trailer.
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