Guardians of the Galaxy Star Dave Bautista Wanted Peacemaker, But Even He Says John Cena Did It Better

File this under fascinating what-could-have-beens: Dave Bautista almost played Peacemaker. Yes, Drax himself was James Gunn's first pick for the helmeted chaos agent before John Cena took it and ran.

Bautista nearly suited up as Peacemaker

Bautista says Gunn literally wrote the character with him in mind, but the timing imploded. He was deep into shooting Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead, and they just couldn't make the schedules play nice. No drama, no studio conspiracy — just a classic calendar fight that Bautista lost.

"There is no way I would have been able to do that role like John. He's just perfect for it, and I wouldn't have done it justice, and it wouldn't have been as successful."

According to Bautista, he badly wanted the gig, and yeah, he's a little envious — but he also thinks it worked out exactly how it should have. In his view, Cena nails a very specific tone with Peacemaker that he couldn't match, and if Bautista had taken it, the show probably doesn't hit the same way.

• Gunn wrote Peacemaker with Bautista in mind.
• Bautista was locked into Army of the Dead, and they couldn't iron out the conflict.
• John Cena stepped in, debuted the character in The Suicide Squad, and headlined the spinoff series.
• Peacemaker season 2 is now rolling out.

Gunn is keeping season 2 secrets under lock and key

On the current season, Gunn is being unusually cagey about the back half. He joked that the hush-hush vibe could mean the episodes are terrible, but the real read is that the last three hours are loaded with twists he doesn't want spoiled. He has sent screeners for the first five episodes to a small group, but that's it — he says leaks were already a problem, and he won't even let his own publicist see the final three. His words: the god's honest truth.

So, if you care about surprises, maybe mute some keywords. If you just like chaos, well, you picked the right show.