Apparently, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad only has room for one famed wrestler turned actor, as it seems that Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista is no longer in the running for the upcoming DC flick.
Earlier today, Variety broke the news that John Cena is in talks for a role in Gunn’s follow-up to 2016’s Suicide Squad. Shortly after the article went live, reporter Justin Kroll took to Twitter with a couple more details he forgot to mention.
Firstly, it’s said that Cena’s potential part was originally meant for Bautista, but the actor had to pass because of his packed schedule. Indeed, seeing how the star has already signed on to appear in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, before reuniting with Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, we can certainly buy that Bautista might be a little too busy to take on another major franchise role.
The second detail that Kroll offered is that he believes Cena is in talks to play Peacemaker. And while the reporter also said that he couldn’t confirm the claim, it does line up very neatly with a Collider report from last month, which mentioned that Gunn wanted Bautista in the role.
In any case, we’re starting to get a pretty good picture of the cast that Gunn will be working with for his next feature. Returning players are thought to include Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, while Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is looking more likely than not. Meanwhile, with Will Smith exiting from the role of Deadshot, Idris Elba is set to take his place, albeit playing a new character.
We’ll see how the new line-up stacks up against the old team when The Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 6th, 2021.
