It’s hard to picture anyone but John Cena as Peacemaker in the current DC Universe, but the landscape of superhero cinema could have turned out very differently. The man now synonymous with the jingoistic anti-hero confirmed he once held talks about crossing over to the other side of the comic book aisle.
Speaking at Fan EXPO, Cena revealed some of the major projects he was considered for before landing his DC role, including a potential jump to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “There was a Duke Nukem thing for a while that was supposed to be going on. There was talk of me possibly being in the Terminator universe. There was talk of me in the Marvel universe.” (via Legado da Marvel)
For Cena, those near-misses are simply part of the business—a reminder that in Hollywood nothing is certain until the cameras are rolling. “We all get frustrated in life, right? Think of the last time you were frustrated and think of why. It’s always because we have expectations in our head and those expectations get moved or they don’t get met.”
That mindset fuels him whenever a project finally gets the green light, a strategy that has paid off with the success of Peacemaker, which premiered its second season just last month.
“When it comes to filmography, you’ve got to be easy on what you expect because nothing is guaranteed. Then when rubber hits the road and they say, ‘We’re making this,’ you’ve got to go hard and you’ve got to invest or you won’t get another chance.”