John Cena dodges questions about his character in The Suicide Squad
By Eric Bartsch
The consensus of suspicions is wrestler John Cena plays Peacemaker in The Suicide Squad, but he’s not telling.
At first, well-known pro wrestler and former champion John Cena was only rumored for James Gunn’s Suicide Squad line-up as a replacement for rival grappler-turned-actor Dave Bautista. When Gunn unveiled his full and rather crowded cast, Cena’s name was there, removing any doubt, but there remains a question of what hero or antihero “The Champ” will play.
Cena was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live last week, and he talked, albeit evasively, about The Suicide Squad and what part he plays. Kimmel, looking for the inside dirt, asked Cena point-blank if he was portraying Peacemaker. Unfortunately, he pled the fifth on that one, as he was unable to reveal anything at the moment.
Cena answered this way with a jocular nervous expression:
"“I can’t confirm or deny anything about Suicide Squad. I can tell you I’m right in the middle of filming it. The DC people are always watching.”"
His status as Peacemaker is alleged but unconfirmed. Set photos surfaced on the web showing Cena’s character is in prison, but that’s all we know. Regardless, ask anybody — even IMDb — and they will peg him as Charlton’s esoteric pacifist crusader.
When Kimmel mentioned the Internet reports that think Cena is Peacemaker, the WWE Superstar replied, “I do believe the Internet has also pronounced me dead on seven or eight occasions.” He added you can’t trust the veracity of everything online.
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Peacemaker originated with the defunct Charlton Comics and was acquired by DC. He was a diplomat in everyday life named Christopher Smith. Guilty over his father’s Nazi past, Smith sought peace at any cost, employing non-lethal weapons against a rogues gallery of dictators and warlords.
These days, Peacemaker is a tattooed mercenary who favors motorcycles and fast cars. From time to time, he shows up in the pages of Blue Beetle, another former Charlton property.
The Suicide Squad stars the returning Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. The cast has ballooned to include Diana Melchior as Ratcatcher, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, and Idris Elba, Nathan Fillion, Pete Davidson, Peter Capaldi, and comedian Flula Borg in undisclosed roles.
Next. Stephen Dorff wouldn’t mind returning in Marvel’s Blade reboot. dark
The Room writer and director Tommy Wiseau campaigned to be in it by reworking the poster art of names James Gunn tweeted last year. Wiseau hinted he wanted to play every character. Needless to say, Gunn didn’t bite and compared the prospect to Eddie Murphy’s Nutty Professor movies.
In production now, The Suicide Squad will open in theaters on August 6, 2021. If you are keeping score, that’s almost exactly five years since the release of the previous film directed by David Ayer.
John Cena can next be seen, or rather heard, in Dolittle. Out now, it co-stars Robert Downey, Jr.