John Cena’s Peacemaker Season 2 is at present airing on the 2025 TV schedule –additionally accessible to stream with an HBO Max subscription–and he’s so completely forged within the function it is laborious to think about anybody else below the helmet. However, you might have heard, James Gunn just lately revealed he initially wrote the function for an additional actor, his Guardians of the Galaxy collaborator Dave Bautista. Now, The Killer’s Sport star explains why he’s not mad about not touchdown the function, regardless of a ‘little bit of envy.’
The Final Showgirl co-star talked to ComicBook.com about his new mission, however took the time to provide Cena his flowers and defined why strolling away labored out. In his phrases:
It was a blessing in disguise that I didn’t try this, as a result of I’ve to say, I’ve to be sincere, there’s no method that I might have been in a position to do this function like John. He’s simply good for it, you understand, and I wouldn’t have performed it justice, and it wouldn’t have been as profitable.
The wrestler-turned-action-star doubled down on the honesty and pangs of envy, however nonetheless could not see a world the place he might do a greater job. Bautista continued:
So, look, and I’m, I’m saying that with a little bit of envy, you understand, I might find it irresistible. I simply wouldn’t have been capable of do the identical factor that John does to carry to that character. It wouldn’t have been the identical. It wouldn’t have been pretty much as good. I can truthfully say it wouldn’t have been pretty much as good.
Gunn shared that he wrote Peacemaker with Dave Bautista in thoughts for The Suicide Squad in a current episode of The Howard Stern Present. If schedules and cash had lined up, the Parachute performer would possibly’ve worn the chrome helmet by way of two seasons of Peacemaker, Superman, and even Man of Tomorrow. As an alternative, a conflict with Military of the Useless, which provided him a starring function and more cash, saved him out. However Cena stepped in, and the remaining, as they are saying, is DCU historical past.
It’s a remarkably wholesome take from a man who’s made a degree of chasing character-first roles. Bautista’s post-Drax period has been about stretching, not simply flexing, as he’s taken on all the things from Blade Runner 2049, Dune, and Knock on the Cabin. Proudly owning the concept that another person was merely “extra proper” for a task is the sort of grown-up profession math you don’t at all times hear in upcoming superhero film land.
And, truthfully, I agree with the Afterburn actor. Cena’s Peacemaker balances idiotic bravado with a weirdly honest, wounded core. That tightrope act is why the present hits. It has satire and coronary heart. And as good because the Knock on the Cabin lead has been in particular roles, like Drax, recognizing that he couldn’t have introduced what Cena has to the half doesn’t diminish him as an actor in any method. Nonetheless, it highlights how a lot casting influences the ultimate product. Frankly, had Bautista been Peacemaker, I doubt we’d have even had a spin-off collection, and the character would have remained useless as he appeared to be on the finish of The Suicide Squad.
Does this shut the door on The Military of the Useless actor within the DCU? Not essentially. He’s floated Bane as a dream function earlier than, although he’s joked the clock could also be working in opposition to him. Both method, he’s doing simply tremendous, stacking fascinating components and preserving his requirements excessive. However hey, if one thing reveals up within the new DC film panorama that the star could be proper for, I believe he appears pretty sport to hitch Gunn’s world.
Peacemaker Season 2 premiered on August 21, 2025, with new episodes releasing weekly on Thursdays. Subsequent up for Dave Bautista is a romantic comedy, The Romantic. Paramount Photos just lately acquired the movie and doesn’t but have an official launch date, however I’m excited to see the previous WWE star stretch his vary.