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John Cena is one of the most accomplished wrestlers who have become actors to do so. A big turning point for Cena came when he was chosen as a peacemaker in the film in 2021 of director James Gunn “The Suicide Squad”. This, in turn, led to a derived series, entitled “Peacemaker”, which has since returned for a second season. But before the role was offered to Cena, another wrestler who became an actor – in the form of Dave Bautista – had to play the role. So why isn’t it?
In an interview with Comicbook.com, the man known best to play Drax in the films of “Guardians of the Galaxy” by Gunn tackled the situation while promoting his new film, “Afterburn”. As history says, Gunn wrote the role of peacemaker with Bautista in mind, but the latter had to refuse it. As Bautista said, he was too busy filming “the army of the dead” of Zack Snyder to say yes to his friend and frequent collaborator. Here is what he had to say about this:
“I must say that this one. I really wanted to do this part. He [Gunn] wrote this part for me, and it was intended for me, and it became something where I just couldn’t do it, because I was doing “Army of the Dead”. And so it was a planning problem that we just couldn’t understand. “”
Bautista, for those who do not know, were interpreted as the head of “Army of the Dead” of 2021, which was the first great film of Snyder after the debacle of “Justice League”. There is something of an irony to that, because Snyder was also the guy who started the extended DC universe now flooded with “Man of Steel” of 2013. Since then, however, Gunn has become the co-chief of DC Studios and launched the DC universe, after making the first DCU film, “Superman”.
Gunn, for his part, spoke in the same way that Bautista refused the peacemaker in a separate interview, explaining: “I wrote the character of Peacemaker for him and we offered him the role, but we offered him two other films and we do not pay him much, and therefore he had to go where the money was.”
Dave Bautista had other professional obligations to deal
If it was worth it or not? This is something that only Bautista could say. “Army of the dead”, in Gunn, probably paid well enough, because Netflix tends to pay its stars in advance because there is no bonus in the box office or anything like it. “Army of the dead” was supposed to obtain a suite entitled “Planet of the Dead”, but the franchise has died in the water for some time. In addition, not entering the spoilers here, but let’s just say that the character of Bautista, Scott Ward, would probably not have been involved anyway.
Meanwhile, Cena is part of the new DC universe, with season 2 of “Peacemaker” arriving at its extent. Anyway, Bautista has no grudge. Rather, he thinks that everything worked for the best, even if he is a little jealous. Speaking further in the same comicbook.com interview, the actor added:
“I think it was great. It was a disguised blessing that I did not do that, because I must say that I must be honest, there is no way that I could have done this role like John. It is just perfect for that, you know, and I would not have done it justice, and it would not have been as successful.”
“I say that with a little desire, you know, I would like it,” added Bautista. “I simply could not have done the same thing as John does to bring to this character. It would not have been the same. It would not have been so good. I can honestly say that it would not have been so good.”
Bautista has had a great career since his appearance in “Army of the Dead”, with “Dune”, “Knock at the Cabin” and “Glass Onion”, among other acclaimed films. In addition, there is still a chance that he can appear as another character in the DCU. Indeed, Bautista had previously spoken to Gunn to play Bane, although this has since been excluded. However, it’s a big universe, and Gunn could undoubtedly find something to make his friend on the road.
You can enter season 1 of “Peacemaker” on Amazon Blu-ray or DVD.
