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Peacemaker John Cena was once up for a role in the Terminator franchise, but he didn't lose his cool that it didn't happen
Years before he was the son of T2's unstoppable killing machine in DC Studios' Peacemaker, John Cena came close to joining the Terminator franchise
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Over the years John Cena has been in a lot of iconic franchises. He’s currently starring in the DC Studios television series Peacemaker, and he’s also had roles in the Fast and Furious franchise, as well as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and even Barbie.
It turns out he almost added Terminator to that list.
“There was talk of me possibly being in the Terminator universe,” Cena revealed during a panel at Fan Expo Boston 2025. That's not the only big franchise that the wrestler-turned-actor nearly appeared in: Cena added that he was also almost given a role in a Duke Nukem project, an MCU film, and Shazam.
“That’s the tough thing about film. You can’t get excited until rubber hits the road. There’s been a ton of stuff,” Cena explained. “You want to give your all to something, but you also have to hedge your enthusiasm. We all get frustrated in life. Think of the last time you were frustrated and think of the why. It’s always because we have expectations in our head and those expectations get moved, or they don’t get met. When it comes to filmography, you have to be easy on what you expect, because nothing is guaranteed, and then when rubber hits road and they say we’re making this, you got to go hard, and you got to invest, or you won’t get another chance.”
We should all learn from Cena's example. As he put it, “There have been things I’ve wanted to work out, but never anything that I’m fully invested in until it’s real.”
Incidentally, John Cena is currently starring in Peacemaker season two alongside Robert Patrick, who is famous for his role in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Terminator may be the role that got away, but if Cena’s current career trajectory is any indication, he still has many exciting projects ahead of him.
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