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HUGE NAME SAYS HE WON'T BE AT WRESTLEMANIA

During an interview today with Sports Illustrated, John Cena says he will be missing Wrestlemania 37 as he is slated to be filming Peacemaker for HBO Max in Canada through the summer and would not be able to travel for WWE's biggest event of the year this April.

Even if Cena could somehow wrangle his shooting schedule in order to appear, obviously the COVID-19 quarantine protocols would be the major factors preventing a quick in and out to hit Florida and then return to the set of the DC series.

“Currently, I’m in Vancouver shooting Peacemaker, the series for HBO Max,” Cena told SI's Justin Barrasso “Given the quarantine regulations, if I were to leave Canada, upon return I would have to quarantine for another two weeks. Essentially, that would shut production down. Strictly based on the letter of the law right now, there is no logistical way I can be there. We film now until July.”

In September 2020, HBO Max ordered an eight-episode first season for the character starring Cena with James Gunn, the writer and director of Squad and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy returning to write and direct the series.  The series will explore Peacemaker's background before the Suicide Squad film.  In promotional material for the film, Cena has described this take on Peacemaker as a "douchey Captain America."

Cena's portrayal of Peacemaker will be the first ever live action incarnation of the character, a soldier and super-hero who loves peace so much he is willing to kill for it.  The character was originally created by Charlton Comics but acquired by DC in the mid-80s.   The series began production last month.

The Suicide Squad film is slated for a August 6, 2021 release and is the second Squad film, based on the DC Comics series with the premise of the United States government forcing incarcerated super-villains to go on suicide missions under threat of death.   There is no word yet on when the Peacemaker series will debut.

Cena last appeared for WWE as a competitor, at Wrestlemania 36, facing Bray Wyatt in the Firefly Funhouse Match, a bout where Cena literally disappeared from WWE storylines.  He popped up several weeks ago as part of WWE's announcement of three future Wrestlemania events through 2023.

Unless there is a change in COVID protocols (obviously unlikely), it would make Wrestlemania 37 the first Mania PPV since Wrestlemania XIX in Seattle back in 2003 to not feature Cena "in person."  Unless WWE devises a way to have him appear through special effects or even via video, 2021 will become the first year fans literally "can't see" Cena on the company''s biggest stage of the year.

To read the complete interview, click here.

 

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