Streaming: Peacemaker, Churchy and Long Story Short

This week in television delivers superheroes, satire, and spirituality in equal measure. John Cena’s Peacemaker is an exploration of violence and identity wrapped in superhero absurdity. KevOnStage’s Churchy is a Texas-sized comedy about faith, ambition, and the chaos of running a church. Bob-Waksberg’s Long Story Short is an animated reflection on the strange intersections of adulthood and tradition.

This trio offers a chance to see stories of self-discovery told through wildly different lenses. Whether you want a bullet-riddled dive into the DC Universe, a comic take on megachurch drama, or an animated show that tugs on your heartstrings while delivering LOL moments, August television has you covered.

So far 2025 has been an interesting year for the unseen one known as John Cena. Cena is in the midst of his retirement tour from World Wrestling Entertainment, but that hasn’t stopped him from stacking up headlines in and out of the ring.

Earlier this year he won a record-breaking 17th World Championship at WrestleMania, a crowning moment made even bigger thanks to Houston native Travis Scott helping him win the title (yes, that happened much to the WWE Universe’s dismay). Cena also made a splash in DC Studios’ relaunch of their connected universe with Superman, the highest grossing Superman film of all time under the direction of James Gunn. Cena only appeared in a single scene, but it was the kind of scene DC fans live for, him slipping back into the gaudy, gleaming, and gloriously over-the-top attire of Peacemaker.

Audiences first saw Cena don the ridiculous helmet in 2021’s The Suicide Squad. That performance was strong enough to earn the character DCU’s first ever television spinoff, Peacemaker. The series arrived ahead of Colin Farrell’s transformative turn in The Penguin, a role that pulled Emmy nominations. Peacemaker wasn’t just a novelty either, the first season scored a powerful 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, proving critics could laugh, cringe, and cheer all at once.

Season 2 of Peacemaker finds the titular antihero squaring off against the strangest opponent of all…himself. A Comic-Con trailer revealed Christopher Smith face to face, gun to helmet, with an alternate version of his own character. While Marvel has been busy twisting itself into a multiversal pretzel, Gunn’s series is taking a different tack. This isn’t a sprawling web of infinite timelines. It is a singular alternate dimension, designed to force Peacemaker into something scarier than another villain: emotional growth.

That choice keeps the show grounded. The new season emphasizes character development over cameo stunts or fan-service chaos. It’s a darker, more intimate story, still armed with the foul-mouthed bravado and outrageous violence from the mind of James Gunn that made season one such a cult favorite.

Peacemaker Season 2 begins streaming on HBO Max on August 21.

If Peacemaker is redefining the superhero comedy, Churchy is putting a spotlight on religion, ambition, and the fine art of keeping a straight face in a megachurch.

KevOnStage (Kevin Fredericks), the wildly popular comedian with millions of followers, proved his creative chops last year by producing, writing, creating, and starring in season one of Churchy on BET+. The streamer has now brought the show back for a second season.

Fredericks, an El Paso native, sets his series in Lubbock, Texas, where his character Corey Carr Jr., the son of a megachurch leader, is passed over for leadership and strikes out to start his own ministry. Season 2 finds Corey inheriting Bethlehem Temple. But with the pulpit comes not just responsibility, but an Everest of debt. He must shepherd his flock while fending off a rival determined to bulldoze the sanctuary and replace it with, of all things, a trampoline park.

It is a setup that lands somewhere between the satirical sting of Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. and the unholy hilarity of HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones. Both of those titles thrived on poking fun at the spectacle of faith while still finding humanity in their characters. Churchy follows the same path, giving Fredericks plenty of space to lampoon megachurch absurdities while keeping Corey Carr Jr. surprisingly sympathetic.

CHURCHY Season 2 begins streaming on BET+ on August 21.

Meanwhile, Netflix, still the streaming king of the 21st century, continues to prove it will try just about anything once. From anime adaptations to Marvel side projects, the platform has built an empire by covering every genre. In recent years it has been shining a particular spotlight on adult animated comedies.

Next month brings Haunted Hotel, the story of a single mother who inherits a haunted property and runs it with the ghost of her brother and an unruly squad of other spirits. Also arriving soon is Fixed, an R-rated animated feature directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and starring Adam Devine as a dog who learns he will be neutered the next day and decides to live out one last wild night.

But the most intriguing new entry is Long Story Short, a series from Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the creator of BoJack Horseman. The show follows a middle-class Jewish family navigating everyday adult struggles while reflecting on their strict orthodox upbringing. It is voiced by Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson, Paul Reiser, Dave Franco, and Nicole Byer.

Bob-Waksberg explained that a lot of the connective tissue in his shows comes from instinct rather than spreadsheets. “A lot of it is math in my head,” he said, recalling how he once tried to create a color-coded Google Doc of story arcs during BoJack’s first season, only to realize neither he nor his writers needed it. He later added that the beauty of animation is in its flexibility. Episodes can evolve well into production, with foreshadowing dropped in after the fact. “We might be working on episode eight and realize it would be great to set something up in episode one,” he said. “If Abbi Jacobson is already coming in to record another line, we can just add it. Animation lets you connect things after the fact.”

That ability to revise and stitch together layers, he explained, means there are constant opportunities for subtle Easter eggs. “At every stage, whether it is writing, recording, animatic, or editing, you have another chance to weave details back in,” he said. Long Story Short looks ready to carry the tradition of BoJack Horsemen forward.

The series streams exclusively on Netflix beginning August 21.