Initially, I wasn’t all that interested in watching a a spin-off of John Cena’s The Suicide Squad character. But then I watched season one of Peacemaker, and my disinterest instantly disappeared. Season two, I’m happy to say, continues along the same path.

What I appreciate most about James Gunn’s approach to superhero entertainment is how personal and often messy (even, occasionally, ugly) it is. With a few notable exceptions (Guardians of the Galaxy being one of them), I’ve never felt that the Marvel universe had any real weight to it. Everything is too big and generally too clean, too divorced from actual lived-in human experience. Peacemaker, on the other hand, is fully grounded in our chaotic world (well, maybe not our world, but one that’s somewhat recognizable to ours, if ours had meta-humans in it). Sure, it’s got spectacle and over-the-top moments (as well as a lot of crudely funny banter), but what really resonates are the moments that spring directly from its imperfect characters. Gunn never takes the easy or predictable way out – everything, from the big noisy action set pieces to the small interpersonal beats, is earned. This season also has the funniest gun-gag I’ve ever seen.