The Suicide Squad’s John Cena says he’s ready to fight former WWE rival, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, in a DC Extended Universe movie. Best known for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, writer/director James Gunn is bringing a very different group of misfits to the DCEU via The Suicide Squad on August 6th. As a sequel and spiritual reboot to its 2016 counterpart, The Suicide Squad welcomes newcomers to Task Force X, including Cena’s “douchey Captain America,” Peacemaker.
As seen in various promotional material, Peacemaker doesn’t care how many “men, women, or children he needs to kill” in the name of peace, justice, and the American way. Both Cena and Gunn are clearly having a lot of fun with the role as Cena has been wearing his costume everywhere, and Gunn helmed a Peacemaker prequel/spinoff series—which will premiere on HBO Max in early 2022. It would seem that Warner Bros. is cementing Peacemaker as a part of the larger, albeit, inconsistent DCEU, despite Gunn not knowing The Suicide Squad’s place within it.
In an interview with ComicBook, Cena said he thinks a DCEU confrontation between his Peacemaker and Johnson’s Black Adam is inevitable. While admitting his character doesn’t really stand a chance against Black Adam, Cena said he’d love to fight his former co-worker on-screen down the line. Read Cena’s full response when asked about a potential showdown below:
"You know me. Ready, willing, and able. And answering the phone whenever it rings. I'm good,” said Cena. "I think that the excitement is starting to build with fans, whether you talk about the conversation of Fast, or you talk about now the DC Universe. I don't want to say we're on a crash course and it's inevitable. I want to, because I'm a fan. But we'll see. We'll see what happens. Tell me what he says."
Cena recently wrapped filming on Peacemaker and Johnson finished Black Adam earlier this month. On top of that, Cena played Dominic Toretto's (Vin Diesel) long-lost brother in F9: The Fast Saga, a franchise Johnson helped to revive but has since left behind. Johnson has been attached to the role of Teth-Adam/Black Adam long before Cena ever put a toilet seat on his head. As an Egyptian slave who is granted superpowers by the ancient wizard, Shazam, Black Adam is one of DC’s most powerful characters. Originally, Johnson's character was supposed to cameo in Shazam! but he will instead be introduced in the origin film set for a 2022 release.
Peacemaker will explore its titular character's origin story as well. Given Gunn’s previous statements regarding The Suicide Squad’s death toll, Cena’s comments bode well for his character’s survival. As Cena and Johnson's careers appear to be on a collision course, it’s certainly easy to imagine Peacemaker and Black Adam (briefly) butting heads. While the former is all about peace, the latter has a history of being a tyrant. However, both characters kill at will. Black Adam’s antics will lead to an encounter with the Justice Society of America and presumably spearhead a new chapter for the DCEU, whether his film is part of the SnyderVerse or not. Johnson has previously expressed a desire to fight Henry Cavill’s Superman—who would prove a much fiercer, yet less humorous opponent than Cena’s Peacemaker.
Source: ComicBook
