During his time in WWE, John Cena was one of the most prominent superstars in the business. Moreover, pro wrestling fans will still love to witness him in the ring. However, it seems like he doesn’t see sports entertainment as a career option now.
Last year, John Cena caught the attention of the media as well as fans after his series “Peacemaker” got released. Before Peacemaker, the 16-time World champion already worked in numerous movies. However, he never received the similar applause he attained for the DC movie.
Peacemaker is better than 90% of MCU shows and the intro alone is a huge factor for that pic.twitter.com/mgjskAo2Up
— lily 🌺 (@mandolilis) June 21, 2023
On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, John Cena revealed that he has also suffered from the hardships of the casting process. He disclosed that he had given auditions for Shazam earlier. In addition to that, he also tried his luck with Ryan Reynolds starring Deadpool. However, what he kept getting was rejection.
“I can’t tell you how many superhero roles I’ve been rejected for. Shazam is certainly one. There was a brief try at the Deadpool universe, rejection,” said The Cenation Leader while talking in the podcast.
Consequently, the 16-time world champion also admitted that he was interested in playing the role of Shazam, which is currently played by Zachary Levi. However, The Cenation Leader was unlucky enough not to get his hands on the role.
Zachary Levi, who plays the role of Shazam also once disclosed on a talk show that he thought Cena would be the perfect fit for the role. Sharing a similar story, he also said that he wasn’t the first choice to do the role on James Gunn‘s list.
John Cena got the role of Peacemaker by accident
While talking in the podcast, John Cena also shed light on his casting as the Peacemaker. He revealed that director, James Gunn had a huge list of actors before his name who would have potentially played the role. Thus, when Gunn called him to talk, he thought that he would be rejected for another role.
“And the crazy thing was, I wasn’t first on the list for Peacemaker. James [Gunn] had a long list, and it happened by accident, too. He’s like, ‘Hey, I’m in Atlanta, I’d just love to come and talk to you for a second,’” Cena shared.
No need to be worried on behalf of #Peacemaker. Our friend will still be making lots of peace in Season 2. 🕊☮️🧜♂️ https://t.co/6z1vnfITug pic.twitter.com/LsNXTD6rJS
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) August 7, 2022
Consequently, when Gunn told Cena “I think you should do it,” he shockingly asked him, “So I’m not rejected?”. During those days, rejection was a common thing for the Powerhouse. Thus, finally getting the role of a superhero was a dream come true for the 46-year-old.