Dave Bautista is out and John Cena is in for DC's new "Suicide Squad" movie, with the former leaving the project and the latter in talks to join.
WWE wrestler turned film actor John Cena is the latest name associated with "The Suicide Squad," a 2021 DC comics movie about a team of misfit villains recruited to work for the government.
Having starred in action movies "12 Rounds" and "The Marine," alongside Amy Schumer in dating comedy "Trainwreck," and seen in a supporting role in acclaimed "Transformers" spin-off "Bumblebee," Cena is said to be in talks over the role of a gun-toting pacifist called Peacemaker, per Variety.
That's of particular interest as fellow wrestler turned actor Dave Bautista was thought to have landed the role, but the "Guardians of the Galaxy" man has now left the project for scheduling reasons, according to Variety writer Justin Kroll on Twitter.
Bautista is already on board for Zack Snyder zombie heist "Army of the Dead," Denis Villeneuve sci-fi remake "Dune," and James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
He was earlier linked with the Peacemaker role by a March character introduction from Collider.
Cena, should he make a deal for the role, would add it to a raft of upcoming movies that includes 2020's "The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle" and rescue comedy "Playing with Fire," and then action thriller and Robert Ludlum adaptation "The Janson Directive," and TV game show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"
He's also been linked with a film version of video game "Duke Nukem" and a Jason Bateman collaboration for Netflix.
Beyond WWE entertainment wrestling and "The Suicide Squad," Cena and Bautista also have Kumail Nanjiani buddy cop movies in common.
Bautista is co-starring with Nanjiani in July's ride-sharing actioner "Stuber," while back in 2017 Cena signed on for a different, untitled, undated project also with Nanjiani as co-star.
