One of John Cena's most famous movie and television roles is Peacemaker, the anti-hero of the DC Comic Extended Universe, who made his first appearance in the second iteration of "The Suicide Squad" before getting his own show on Max. Despite his performance being so well-received he got his own spinoff, Cena revealed on an episode of the "Happy, Sad, Confused" podcast that he actually had been rejected from numerous superhero roles before landing Peacemaker. He revealed he was rejected from a role in "Shazam," a film he really wanted to do, as the childish nature interested him. He also tried his hand at auditioning for the "Deadpool" Marvel/Sony series as Cable, a role that went to Josh Brolin.

On the podcast, Cena said he doesn't chase roles, but he made an exception for director James Gunn because of his reputation as a storyteller. Cena explained he got the role by accident, as the pair were both in the same place at the same time. Gunn invited Cena for a chat in his pre-production office and offered him the role, to Cena's surprise.

Despite the re-tooling of the DCEU following Gunn's hiring, Cena's Peacemaker character and season two of the show remain safe – unlike Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam – as season two of "Peacemaker" is set to hit Max in the summer of 2025. During the studio's restructuring, Gunn confirmed that season two will be canon with season one, despite one major scene at the very end of the first season, so Cena fans who haven't seen "Peacemaker" may want to catch up before the next installment drops this summer.