With war breaking out between Russia and Ukraine, what the situation really needs right now is a peacemaker. At least, that’s according to Peacemaker himself, John Cena. In a textbook example of a celebrity spectacularly failing to read the room, the star of the recent hit HBO Max show decided now was the perfect time to plug his DC TV series on social media.
The former WWE champion took to Twitter today to joke (we think) that he wishes he could become Peacemaker for real in order to combat the Russia/Ukraine conflict. “If I could somehow summon the powers of a real-life #Peacemaker,” Cena wrote. “I think this would be a great time to do so.”
Cena’s post sure got a lot of attention, but not necessarily for the right reasons. Twitter users quickly took the wrestler/actor to task for his comment, which at best folks described as poorly timed.
Others blasted Cena for what they felt was him using the crisis to promote his show.
It was the use of the hashtag that did it for some people.
John Cena debuted as Peacemaker aka Christopher Smith in last summer’s standalone movie sequel The Suicide Squad before reprising his role in his own spinoff series, which just wrapped up its acclaimed first season earlier this month. The character, as pulled from the pages of DC Comics, is an ultra-violent self-proclaimed pacifist who, to paraphrase his own words, cherishes peace with all his heart — and doesn’t care how many men, women, and children he has to kill to get it.
Peacemaker, which is created by writer/director James Gunn and co-stars Danielle Brooks, Freddie Stroma, Jennifer Holland, and Steve Agee, was recently renewed for a second season at HBO Max.
