John Cena says he's been 'blown away' working on James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad'

John Cena, a cast member in the upcoming film "Playing with Fire," addresses the audience during the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon 2019, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) at Caesars Palace, Thursday, April 4, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
John Cena (Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

John Cena has said that he's been bowled over by director and writer James Gunn while working on forthcoming DC movie The Suicide Squad. He’s playing Peacemaker in the supervillain team up movie.

Gunn was drafted in to make the superhero sequel after becoming, ahem, suddenly available for work last year.

Cena told Collider: “I was blown away. The first 10 pages are like a movie in itself. It’s really, really special. That’s because the guy steering the ship [Gunn] is committed to narrative and committed to creating characters that we connect with and sending them on an awesome journey.

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“I mean what he did with [Guardians of the Galaxy] is really special. You want go to work with people who jump out of bed every day and want to go to work.

Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt and James Gunn on the set of <i>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2</i>. (Disney)
Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt and James Gunn on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. (Disney)

“[Gunn] is the epitome of that. He cares so much about what he’s doing and I think especially when he’s put in a position to write, develop, and do this by his rules essentially... He kind of dictated his terms and now he’s really betting on himself and I hope everybody enjoys seeing it as much as we’re enjoying making it, because it’s awesome.”

As you may recall, Gunn found himself seeking employment after offensive tweets he'd sent more than a decade ago were found and republished by a right-wing activist.

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Disney then sacked him from directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so he defected to DC to make The Suicide Squad, the follow up to David Ayer's financially successful but critically pounded first instalment.

Latterly, Disney reinstated the director, and he'll be back on board Guardians 3 once he's done with The Suicide Squad.

Margot Robbie will reprise her role as Harley Quinn, alongside Viola Davis's Amanda Waller, Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag and Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang.

Will Smith won't be back as Deadshot, but David Dastmalchian will play Polka-Dot Man, alongside other new cast members including ex-Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi, Idris Elba, Michael Rooker and Taika Waititi.

It's set to land on 6 August, 2021.