Before Peacemaker, John Cena And Robert Patrick Teamed Up For This Awful Action Movie

Auggie "White Dragon" Smith was never going to be an easy role to play. Christopher "Peacemaker" Smith's father had to come across as so very vile that he'd stand out as the worst thing on "Peacemaker," a show that features a planet-ending alien threat and centers on the most clueless and duplicitous character from "The Suicide Squad." Fortunately, James Gunn chose the perfect guy: "Peacemaker" star Robert Patrick does a great job as the horrible human being that is Auggie. 

Patrick cemented his place as an unforgettable antagonist as the shape-changing T-1000 in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991) and has enjoyed a late-career renaissance in recent years, thanks to projects like "Perry Mason" and "1923." Apart from playing a decidedly repulsive white supremacist villain, "Peacemaker" had another curveball in store for him. Patrick had to be able to convey a believable (and wildly toxic) father-son relationship with John Cena's Peacemaker, which called for a very specific chemistry. As anyone who has seen the series can attest, Cena and Patrick pass this test with flying colors — which may or may not be because this isn't the first time they've worked together. 

In 2006, Patrick played the villain in Cena's very first starring vehicle, an action film called "The Marine." Cena/Patrick fans who find themselves keen to see how the pair fared during their first time sharing the screen shouldn't get too excited about anything related to nuanced acting, though. Directed by first-timer John Bonito (whose second and, to date, final movie was the forgettable 2011 crime thriller "Carjacked"), "The Marine" is a messy action piece you won't find on any list of best John Cena movies thanks to its underwhelming 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  

An early effort from pro wrestling juggernaut WWE's film division, WWE Studios, "The Marine" features Cena — still a full-on wrestling superstar at the time — as ultra-capable U.S. Marine John Triton, who returns home and finds himself on a collision corse with an equally capable jewel thief ring, led by a man known only as Rome (Patrick). Both the plot and the surprisingly even late-game fight between the physically mismatched pair play out roughly like one might expect. 

At this point in time, Cena was an expert in the wrestling ring but an inexperienced movie star. He spends the film in lantern-jawed hero mode without as much as a glimmer of his now-signature comedic stylings, which frankly isn't a good look for him. The movie has its allures in the same way Arnold Schwarzenegger's brutal "Commando" has its charms, especially since Patrick knows exactly the kind of movie he's in and makes the most of it. However, at the end of the day, "The Marine" is no "Commando," and is likely destined to spend its days as a trick answer to trivia questions about Cena and Patrick's shared screen time. (In case someone reading this is presented with that question, the two have also worked together on a 2012 episode of "Psych.")

Plagued by bad reviews, "The Marine" made slightly over $22.1 million at the global box office against a $15 million budget. While far from a smash hit, those numbers did little to stop "The Marine" from jump-starting a bona fide movie series. To date, the movie has had a grand total of five sequels, with WWE star Ted DiBiase Jr. playing new hero Jake Carter in "The Marine 2" and Mike Mizanin inheriting the role for the subsequent films.

Patrick and Cena didn't simply appear in "The Marine" together, they also bonded quite a bit, and the mentor/mentee relationship they developed can't have hurt while filming "Peacemaker." In a 2022 interview with /Film, Patrick spoke fondly of his experience working with Cena:

"I'm trying to think back on how long I've known John, but John's a great guy. We met on 'The Marine,' and it was his first film, and he had a lot of questions, very approachable. John and I had a great time working together, let's just say that."

Later in the interview, Patrick told us just how easy it was to reunite with Cena for "Peacemaker," thanks to their pre-existing relationship. While filming their big fight scene in "The Marine," Patrick accidentally roughed Cena's elbow up with a length of pipe, and the two immediately picked up on that story when they met on set. In fact, Patrick feels that the rapport the two actors have built was the secret sauce that allowed them to build the relationship between Auggie and Peacemaker with very little behind-the-scenes work: 

"We did not get into too much backstory. I felt and feel, and I bet [Cena] would back me up on this, I feel like there's a chemistry we have and it must be because we have known each other for this amount of time and have interacted over the 15 years. Not like we're best buddies or anything, but we know each other. We have a mutual respect for each other."

"Peacemaker" season 2 premieres on HBO Max on August 21, 2025.