Rejection is part of being a movie star, even if you’re John Cena. The former WWE champion has shared that he’s been turned away from some major roles, including Cable in the action movie Deadpool 2.
During an interview with SlashFilm, Cena talked about the amount of characters he didn’t get before landing Peacemaker in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. These include another attempt at the DCEU for Shazam, and some Marvel projects. “I can’t tell you how many superhero roles I’ve been rejected for. Shazam was certainly one,” he says. “There was a brief try at the Deadpool universe, rejection.” Interview asks if this was Cable, which Cena confirms.
He goes on to say that “There was a few in the Marvel universe”, but he kept trying despite all the negative answers. Things have certainly worked out for him, landing not just a great thriller movie role in Peacemaker, but getting his own spin-off TV series on streaming service HBO Max as well. Sometimes getting turned down is a blessing in disguise.
Josh Brolin did a sterling job as Cable in Deadpool 2, but it’s fascinating to think what Cena would’ve brought to the character. He’s proven, thanks to his Fast and Furious outing in F9, that he can do sullen and self-serious, as well charismatic and over-the-top. We’ll just never know!
Who knows what MCU roles he was up for. Perhaps Moon Knight, for the Disney Plus series? Or Jude Law’s Yonn-Rog in Captain Marvel? We could speculate wildly. In any case, Cena is now starring in Peacemaker, and he’s made his interest known for coming back to Fast and Furious, so it might be a while before he’s available again to darken Marvel’s doorstep.