Earlier this month, Superman star David Corenswet shared a photo of himself and John Cena in costume as the Man of Steel and Chris Smith.
Superman and Peacemaker season 2 were in production at the same time, but it still ignited speculation about the possibility of Corenswet appearing in the HBO Max series. After all, James Gunn has repeatedly teased a huge cameo in the show's secretive final few episodes.
GQ recently caught up with Cena for what proved to be a fascinating, insightful conversation with the WWE Superstar and DCU star.
While he chose his words carefully when pushed on a possible appearance from Superman in Peacemaker, the former Undisputed WWE Champion told the full story behind their meeting and explained why he wanted to meet Corenswet.
"Well, I won't bury the lead, you're talking to the wrong guy because, man, I could write my own story of where I think it's going and all that does is set up expectations that might not be met. And that's just not something that I do in life. I can tell you the story behind David and I, and that photo where I'm dressed as Peacemaker, is I knew that they were finishing up filming Superman and I desperately wanted to meet David."
"I wanted to meet the new Superman and just lend my services, like, 'Hey, man, your life is about to change and I've heard that you've been doing an incredible job. I want to thank you because if you suck, that means DC sucks, which means we got a bigger hole to dig out of. So thank you so much for giving this your all. As someone who has been far more exposed to the media than I have formal acting training, if I can help you in any way, please, here's my number, let me know.'"
"And David couldn't have been nicer. He's an absolute class act, and James couldn't have made a better choice. I'm so glad everything went well [with Superman], because he had earned that. I don't use the word 'deserve.' He has absolutely earned whatever success and future opportunities he's been given. I really wanted to meet Superman and offer my help and services in any way."
"David is Superman. That's not something you take lightly. Peacemaker is a new guy, [or] an unknown character coming from the annals of wherever. James himself was like, 'Don't read the comic. I'm going to make this guy my own.' So, completely clean slate. But there are names in the superhero realm where you just can't fake it. They have a weight of importance before you even say your first word, and Superman is certainly one of those. So I really just want to meet Superman."
Recently, we learned that Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista was Gunn's first choice to play Peacemaker in 2021's The Suicide Squad. He ultimately had to pass on the role due to scheduling conflicts, leading the filmmaker to another professional wrestler in Cena.
Asked for his thoughts on that, Cena replied, "Well, I mean, first of all, I could care less about being anybody's first, second, third or fourth pick. Opportunity in life comes to you in a myriad of different ways, and if I wanted to be salty about like, 'Oh, I wasn't first pick, that's beneath me.' I wouldn't have ever gotten a chance. And keep in mind I got killed off in The Suicide Squad."
"I mean, in filming that movie with James, we developed a friendship and I think I checked a lot of boxes of people he likes to work with professionally," he continued. "And on top of that, we developed a relationship personally and we do stay in a lot of the same lanes."
"I think he saw nuance in the performance he was able to bring out of me,'" Cena said of how Peacemaker went from being a one-off to him having a recurring role in the DCEU/DCU. "'There's more to this guy. And as a storyteller and as someone who puts words on paper and wants to bring those words to life and be prolific and have depth, I think this guy can help me out and I'd like to try to work with him again.' So that's why I ended up in the hospital instead of the morgue."
Beyond Peacemaker season 2, the expectation is that Cena will return as Chris in the highly anticipated Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow. Whether we'll get a third season of his solo series isn't clear, though Peacemaker looks set to be a big part of the DCU, whatever happens.
You can watch a promo for next week's episode of Peacemaker season 2 in the player below.