Different WWE legend was first choice for John Cena’s Peacemaker role
One of John Cena’s most popular Hollywood roles came about because a different WWE legend passed on the job.
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, director James Gunn said Dave Bautista — who he worked with on Guardians of the Galaxy — was his first choice to play Peacemaker in the Suicide Squad movie. With Bautista being offered other roles that were better financial options, Gunn moved on to Cena.
“It was Dave Bautista, who’s a good friend of mine,” Gunn said about his first choice for Peacemaker. “Obviously, he plays Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. And I wrote the character of Peacemaker for him and we offered him the role, but he was offered two other movies and we weren’t paying him a lot, and so he had to go where the money was.
“And I had always been a fan of John since Trainwreck especially. I thought he was so, so funny in that movie that I met with him. We talked. We became instant, instant friends. And since then, I’ve worked with him more than any other actor.”
The Peacemaker character — which originated in DC Comics — has been spun off into its own HBO Max show starring Cena. Season two of the series is currently airing.
Gunn praised Cena as a fantastic guy and fantastic actor and said they’ll be doing more projects together on top of what they’ve already done.
Bautista had his final WWE match in 2019. While the temptation to come out of retirement is there, he knows his time in the ring is over and refuses to tarnish the great ending his career had.
The end of Cena’s in-ring career is only three months away. He has eight WWE appearances on his retirement tour, which will conclude on Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.