UPDATE: Variety's Justin Kroll is now reporting that John Cena is up for the role of Peacemaker, the part originally offered to Dave Bautista. This is clearly horrible news, as it means John Cena will not—I repeat, not—be playing King Shark. Original story below:
Dave Bautista isn't the only grappler-turned-actor being considered for James Gunn's Suicide Squad sequel. Variety reports that Hollywoods widest human John Cena is being eyed for a role in the Warner Bros. comic book team-up flick.
No word on who Cena would be playing—please be King Shark, please be King Shark, please be King Shark—but it's yet another tasty bit of info from what is quickly shaping up to be WB's most intriguing project coming down the pipeline. Gunn came aboard the project after being ousted by Disney from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. (The filmmaker has since been rehired to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy 3.) Since then, Warner Bros. has been discussing the film as less of a sequel to David Ayer's much-maligned 2016 movie and more of a total reboot of the franchise.
Idris Elba was cast in the film—which may or may not be officially titled The Suicide Squad—back in March. Initial reports had the actor replacing Will Smith as Deadshot, but it's since come to light that Elba will be playing an entirely new character. Margot Robbie is expected to reprise the role of Harley Quinn, as is Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. Collider got the scoop on a few other new DC characters Gunn could be playing around with, including odd-ball names like Ratcatcher, Polka-Dot Man, and Peacemaker. (And King Shark! John Cena as King Shark!)
Cena has been putting together a pretty eclectic resume since stepping mostly away from the wrestling ring. Last summer saw him take on a key role in the Transformers spin-off Bumblebee and show off some pretty impressive comedic chops Kay Cannon's Blockers. The Suicide Squad would be Cena first major foray into the comic book genre, which is a move that honestly seemed pretty inevitable.
