John Cena, who starred as the patriotic mercenary Christopher Smith in James Gunn’s “Peacemaker,” recently said that he understands why the show is no longer a top priority for Gunn, who served as the TV series’ writer, creator and showrunner.
In an interview with “Happy, Sad, Confused” podcast host Josh Horowitz, the actor first answered the question of if audiences had seen the last of the fan-favorite anti-hero. “You need a different guy in this chair,” said Cena, ostensibly referring to Gunn. When asked if he’d been in costume since Season 2 wrapped, Cena replied, “No,” adding, “When I put that helmet on, I told James, I’m like, ‘Dude, I’ll put this helmet on as long as you need me to.’ He makes me a better performer, so I love being around him.”
Cena continued, noting that when Gunn wrote what would become “Peacemaker,” he had just done “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and then “got invited to DC. He had one crew to mess around with: the Suicide Squad. And then COVID hit, and he was really bored, so he wrote ‘Peacemaker.’”
Cena’s character debuted in 2021’s “The Suicide Squad,” and Season 1 of “Peacemaker” premiered in 2022 on HBO Max before returning more than three years later in Oct. 2025 for Season 2.
Between the two seasons of the show, Gunn and Peter Safran were hired as co-CEOs of DC Studios and rebooted the new DC Universe with “Superman” and “Creature Commandos.” When David Ellison officially closed the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger to form Skydance Corp., he announced that Gunn and Safran would continue as co-heads of DC Studios at the new company.
“Now, this dude gets to play with a whole box of toys, and because you get the whole box of toys, you have to address the really valuable ones first – and I understand that,” Cena said, referring to other “valuable IPs” like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. “I’m not in a leadership spot, but if I was, I’d be making those plays first,” he added. “That’s OK.”
Cena stars in “Matchbox: The Movie,” which hit theaters on Friday.