John Cena was rejected for ‘Deadpool 2’, ‘Shazam’ before landing Peacemaker role

‘The Suicide Squad’ actor detailed the difficulties of getting cast as DC, Marvel characters

With John Cena’s Peacemaker series by DC making waves with its recent release, the wrestler-turned-actor has revealed that the superhero isn’t his first foray into the world of comic book characters, just the only one that has been successful so far. 

Speaking on the podcast Happy, Sad Confused, Cena delved into the details of how difficult it is to land a Marvel or DC role, listing down his own set of rejections. The actor revealed that he had previously auditioned for the role of superhero Shazam in the 2019 film, with the part going to Zachary Levi instead. 

Cena shared, “I can't tell you how many superhero roles I've been rejected for. Shazam is certainly one. I think like a child, so Shazam was super interesting to me.”

He also revealed that he had previously auditioned for the role of Cable in Deadpool 2, with the role eventually going to actor Josh Brolin, who also played Thanos in the MCU. However, Cena shared that he did not give up hope. The actor explained, "There was a brief try at the Deadpool universe, rejection. There were a few in the Marvel universe, rejected. But you know, I keep trying.”

“I read all those scripts, and I read all those parts, and I was like, 'Man, I really think I could add to this,' and just rejection after rejection after rejection after rejection," he shared, adding, "But I guess that… the lows make the highs high.” 

Cena finally landed a stint as a superhero with James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, getting cast in the role of Peacemaker. The character was also picked up for a spin-off series with HBO Max, with the first episode premiering earlier this week. 

Speaking about his collaboration with Gunn, Cena said, “The crazy thing was, I wasn't first on the list for Peacemaker. James had a long list, and it happened by accident, too. He's like, 'Hey, I'm in Atlanta, I'd just love to come and talk to you for a second.' We sat down in his pre-production office, which was literally like a war headquarters where you could see the whole movie in posterboard taped around his office, and he started talking about Peacemaker, and he's like, 'I think you should do it.' So I'm not rejected? They usually say, like, 'Hey, love you man, but we're just going in another direction.'"