The entertainment industry was thrown into a whirlwind of confusion and amusement when HBO's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, announced the rebranding of their streaming service back to HBO Max. This decision, set to take effect this summer, caught even some of the biggest names at DC Studios off guard, including Co-CEO James Gunn and other members of the Peacemaker crew, who were filming promotional material for Season 2 at the time of the announcement.

The official X account of the soon-to-be-renamed Max shared recorded reactions from Gunn and Peacemaker star John Cena shortly after the announcement. In the footage, Gunn and Cena were seen reading from a teleprompter, promoting the upcoming Season 2 of Peacemaker, set to debut on August 21. The twist came when Gunn, mid-sentence, realized the script mentioned HBO Max instead of Max, leading to a moment of genuine surprise and confusion.

That's good actually. pic.twitter.com/b3WNWOsyT2

— Max (@StreamOnMax) May 14, 2025

Gunn's reaction was one of bewilderment, humorously questioning the change back to HBO Max, while other crew members, including DC Studios Co-CEO Peter Safran, also chimed in with their confusion. Despite the initial shock, Gunn expressed a positive stance on the rebranding, saying, "That's good, actually, but I didn't know that was happening."

In contrast, John Cena appeared to be well-informed about the rebranding. His video showed him breaking the news to some of the people behind the camera, adding another layer of humor to the situation. Whether this was a planned publicity stunt by the HBO Max team or a genuine moment of surprise, the reactions from the DC Studios team provided a light-hearted take on the streaming service's latest rebrand.

POV: finding out about the rebrand from @JohnCena pic.twitter.com/eyQxhTcJrs

— Max (@StreamOnMax) May 14, 2025

HBO Max initially launched in 2020, quickly becoming a go-to platform for a wide range of streaming content. The name remained until 2023 when Warner Bros. Discovery, following their merger, decided to rebrand the service to simply Max. After two years of adjustment to the new name, the company has now decided to revert back to HBO Max, much to the surprise of its subscribers and content creators alike.

While no specific date has been set for the rebranding, fans eagerly await updates on both the streaming service and the release of Peacemaker Season 2. In the meantime, you can explore the most anticipated DC projects set to release in 2025, or delve into our analysis of the latest trailer for Peacemaker Season 2.