One Unexpected Challenge James Gunn's The Suicide Squad Ran Into With John Cena's Peacemaker

John Cena in The Suicide Squad's trailer with his helmet

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With Zack Snyder’s Justice League out for a month already, fans are already looking forward to the DC Extended Universe’s upcoming blockbusters. Chief among them is James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, which will be an R-rated reboot/sequel from David Ayer’s 2017 original. There’s a ton of new characters debuting, including John Cena’s Peacemaker. But it turns out that the character did provide some very specific filmmaking challenges.

The Suicide Squad will include a handful of returning faces, but the massive cast is mostly made of newcomers. John Cena will be making his debut as Peacemaker in the DCEU, before getting a spinoff series on HBO Max. Clearly James Gunn likes the character, but it turns out that his helmet provided some speed bumps in production. As Gunn recently shared on social media,

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Well, there you have it. Although John Cena is extremely comfortable rocking his Peacemaker outfit, it seems the character’s signature helmet provided a set of new challenges for James Gunn and the folks behind the camera. But hey, at least he looks awesome

James Gunn responded to a question about Peacemaker’s costume over on his personal Twitter. Anticipation for The Suicide Squad is really heating up, as new trailers arrived ahead of its release this summer. Gunn is known for being extremely generous on social media, and is constantly fielding questions about his upcoming DC debut, as well as Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

The Suicide Squad will arrive in both theaters and HBO Max, which will also be the home of the Peacemaker series. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

In The Suicide Squad’s trailers, there are a few shots of John Cena’s Peacemaker in his full costume. While his suit shows of the wrestler turned actor’s tree trunk-esque biceps, he’s also rocking a shiny, reflective helmet. It’s so reflective that James Gunn and company had to edit out the crew, who would be visible in shots where the helmet is on.

Unfortunately for James Gunn, it looks like the challenges that came with Peacemaker’s costume will likely be continued on in his mysterious spinoff series. But clearly the filmmaker enjoyed working with John Cena, and writing for the bonkers antihero. What’s more, Gunn recently teased that he’s got even more DC stories to tell.

It should be interesting to see how James Gunn utilizes the ensemble cast of The Suicide Squad, particularly how he kills off various members of Task Force X. The movie’s R-rating should allow Gunn to not hold back, and the filmmaker has been clear that there’s been no pushback from the studio.

The Suicide Squad will arrive in theaters and HBO Max on August 6th. In the meantime, check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.