Although John Cena has released plenty of movies recently, none of them can compare to his two-part sci-fi show for HBOMax. HBOMax can’t be faulted for ambition. From the upcoming Harry Potter reboot, which is set to be one of the most expensive shows ever made, to House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones spinoff that broke budget records with its first outing, the streaming service isn’t averse to making big gambles.
Of course, the eagerly awaited House of the Dragon season 3 proves that these gambles often pay off, but this isn’t the entire picture. HBOMax is also the streaming service that brought viewers 2023’s universally reviled Velma, an R-rated Scooby-Doo re-imagining that ranks among the lowest rated TV shows of all time. Thus, there was a chance that HBOMax’s darkly comic John Cena vehicle, which was also a dark and gory small-screen version of a beloved family-friendly media franchise, could have suffered a similar fate.
Luckily, James Gunn’s Peacemaker was a massive two-season success. A pitch-black superhero comedy in the vein of Prime Video’s The Boys the series follows Cena’s titular vigilante, Chris Smith, the so-called “Peacekeeper” first encountered in 2021’s The Suicide Squad reboot. Forced to join the black ops unit “Project Butterfly,” Peacekeeper spends season 1 hunting parasitic aliens alongside Danielle Brooks’ younger wannabe superhero Leota Adebayo. Season 2 of the series sends him to an alternate reality where he is a universally beloved superhero.
Peacemaker Is Far Better Than John Cena’s Recent Movie Releases
A violent, jingoistic nationalist, Peacemaker’s commitment to supposed “Peace” at any cost gives him carte blanche to savagely attack civilians and criminals alike, something he learned from his father, Robert Patrick’s white supremacist supervillain White Dragon. As the above synopsis implies, Cena’s character is no ordinary superhero, and the role requires a level of complexity from the star that displays his full dramatic range. Cena finds a tragically vulnerable humanity in the monster, and mines moments of dark humor from his arrogant attitude.
This might come as a surprise to anyone who has followed Cena’s recent movie career DQWD closely, since it has been a while since the star’s range has been reflected in his feature film choices. While Cena emerged as a major comedic star during the 2010s with supporting roles in Trainwreck, Sisters, and Blockers, the star has since struggled to recapture the easy charm of his early big-screen offerings. Critical failures like Argylle, Ricky Stanicky, and the Vacation Friends movies betray a real struggle with finding his feet as a movie star.
John Cena’s Movie Struggles Highlight An Awkward Reality
Peacemaker is a perfect addition to Cena’s screen career since his character is a larger-than-life self-described hero, a role that perfectly parodies Cena’s own professional origins as an iconic figure in professional wrestling. In contrast, Cena’s more purely comedic lead roles in projects like Ricky Stanicky and Vacation Friends have fallen flat with critics, while his attempts to blend comedy and action movies in projects like Freelance, Argylle, and Jackpot have scarcely fared any better.
Although 2025’s Idris Elba two-hander Heads of State fared better than most of Cena’s recent movies, it is still clear that the star doesn’t know how to capitalize on his screen persona outside of playing Chris Smith. The best answer could be to try out more projects that blend character drama with comedy and action, like Gunn’s series.
Peacemaker has a lot of outright comedic moments, but the show never loses sight of the tragedy at the core of its title character’s story. Peacemaker’s supposed hero is a deeply damaged and hateful person, and Cena’s ability to humanize the antihero of HBOMax’s hit show proves that the Peacemaker star needs to leave his comfort zone of action and comedy movies more often in order to shine.
- Release Date
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2022 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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HBO Max, Max
