John Cena is one of the most successful WWE stars to jump into the acting game. The current WWE champ is officially wrapping up his career in the ring this year, but there will certainly be elements of that time that will follow him forever. Chief among them is his classic “You can’t see me” catchphrase. Cena seems to embrace those continued quips as they come, though his Peacemaker collaborator, James Gunn, isn't much of a fan, to Cena's amusement.
Cena’s WWE line has ended up on t-shirts and has become a meme in its own right that often takes the statement literally, suggesting that Cena is in pictures where he is not, but is actually invisible. While CinemaBlend was in the audience during the Peacemaker Season 2 panel at SDCC, Cena revealed Gunn's disdain for the catchphrase, and he proceeded to initiate in entire bit in order to troll the DC Studios co-head. Check it out:
Cena’s discussion of being “invisible” came following a question regarding the fact that he will play multiple versions of the Peacemaker character during Season 2 of the HBO Max series. It does not appear that any of the versions of the character will actually be invisible, if only for the reason that James Gunn writes the show and he doesn’t think the jokes are funny.
It can’t really be argued that the "You Can’t See Me" jokes aren’t incredibly silly. However, it seems that Cena doesn’t mind that. For whatever reason, it’s not entirely clear why Gunn doesn’t love the gags so much. While Gunn is laughing through the exchange, he certainly doesn't look like he doesn’t thinks it’s that funny.
As somebody who does find it all funny, I love the meme -- and I think I also love that James Gunn hates it. It honestly makes the entire thing funnier. Not everybody in Hollywood dislikes the joke. John Cena’s Barbie co-star, Simu Liu, leaned into the meme for Cena’s birthday last year. The comments on our Instagram post also clearly find it funny, as many of them are making jokes about James Gunn doing the Peacemaker Season 2 panel without Cena in attendance.
Whether the meme will ever die remains to be seen. John Cena has officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling at the end of 2025, which means that part of his professional life will become history. It means he won’t be actively associated with that character anymore, though it certainly doesn’t mean it will be forgotten. We still make jokes about smelling what The Rock is cooking today, although the answer is usually a massive cheat meal.
While James Gunn may not find invisible John Cena funny, he clearly thinks John Cena is quite funny. Peacemaker’s first season was a delight, and Season 2 has every reason to be just as good, if not better. The one thing that can be certain is that throughout the next season, we'll alweays be able to see John Cena.
Check out the second season of DC's Peacemaker when it premieres on HBO Max on August 21 amid the 2025 TV schedule.
