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DC Studios president James Gunn originally wanted an actor other than John Cena for Peacemaker (but Cena won him over so much, he changed the character’s fate)
Peacemaker was originally going to die in The Suicide Squad, but James Gunn rewrote the ending because he loved what John Cena brought to the character
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Peacemaker season two is coming to HBO Max, which is amazing to think about because the DC anti-hero wasn’t supposed to have his own show. In fact, the character was supposed to die in the 2021 DC Extended Universe film The Suicide Squad. If that had happened, we never would’ve gotten a Peacemaker television series, or that insane dance sequence.
So, what made James Gunn and DC change course on Peacemaker? His name is John Cena…
“My favorite is Peacemaker, and I’ll tell you why,” Cena says during a panel at Fan Expo Denver 2025. “I was not James Gunn’s first pick and I like that. I like being the desperate last pick. I don’t like being anybody’s favorite. I was never first pick in the WWE. I had a great run and there was a point where if Cena wins we riot, but gosh I took ten years to inch towards, and I was never out of the chute being like, ‘Ah, you’re the guy.’ I always had to earn it.”
“James didn’t have me in mind at first. And then he killed me in The Suicide Squad. And we had so much fun making that movie, he broke his rule of never bring back someone you killed. So, for someone to expect very little out of me and choose me last, and for me to make such an impression on such a brilliant creative mind that he breaks a cardinal rule that he has, and for us to go on to do good work together and develop a great friendship, man, that’s one hell of a day at the office.”
Peacemaker season two premieres on HBO Max on August 21.
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