James Gunn and John Cena React to HBO Max Rebrand

DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn and other Peacemaker crew members apparently learned about Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to revive the HBO Max name while shooting promotional material for Season 2 – and their reactions are pure gold.

Minds were left reeling earlier today when HBO's parent company revealed it would reverse its recent streaming service rebrand. The move will see apps drop the Max name and return to the original HBO Max brand this summer. If you found that confusing, rest assured that some of DC's top figures were equally baffled.

Shortly after the announcement, the official X account of the soon-to-be-renamed Max shared video reactions from Gunn and Peacemaker star John Cena. The duo appears to be reading from a teleprompter that urges audiences to tune in for Peacemaker Season 2, premiering August 21.

As Gunn explains where viewers can watch the show, we witness his real-time reaction to the platform’s name change. He looks genuinely surprised when the script he’s reading mentions HBO Max instead of simply Max. He's quickly told that it’s no mistake – 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?” Gunn jokes. “Seriously – we’re going back to HBO Max?”

At this point, other crew members – including DC Studios Co-CEO Peter Safran – join the conversation. It’s a confusing yet hilarious moment captured on camera, though Gunn at least seems pleased with the reversal: “Honestly, that’s good news. I just had no idea it was happening.”

Cena, on the other hand, seems well-informed. Rather than showing the wrestler-turned-actor learning about the change, his video clip features him breaking the news to some of the crew members off-camera.

Of course, this could all be an elaborate publicity stunt by the HBO Max team. Either way, it’s entertaining to see key DC Studios personalities reacting to the streamer’s latest rebranding efforts.

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” part and rebrand the service as Max. Now, after subscribers spent two years adjusting to the shorter name, the company has decided that HBO Max was actually the stronger brand.

A specific release date for the rebrand hasn’t been announced yet. While we await updates on both HBO Max and Peacemaker Season 2, explore the most anticipated DC projects arriving in 2025. You can also catch up on our key takeaways from Peacemaker Season 2's latest trailer.