Crossovers are basically a way of life these days. Thanks to the chunky and perpetual dominance of nerdy properties like Spider-Man and Peacemaker in pretty much every form of media, it seems as though every other project involves some sort of mash-up between 2 or more separate entries. Between Star Wars, Marvel, and DC, one would be hard-pressed to find a new film or series that doesn't feature some sort of cameo, and that's just within the bounds of each individual franchise.
But realistically, how long will it be until these 3 different powerhouses start actually crossing over into each other? It's one thing for Spider-Man: No Way Home to feature characters that predate the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But it would be another can of worms entirely if, for example, John Cena as DC's Peacemaker showed up in that same movie. Sounds like a fever dream, right? Well, somebody has definitely seen that after one too many Coronas, sure. But one fan decided to visualize how such a magnificent occasion might look.
Taking one of the already gasp-worthy scenes from Spider-Man: No Way Home, a particularly clever Twitter user changed things just a bit to add none other than Cena's titular peace-loving mercenary to the shot. Originally, the scene shows Spider-Man/Peter Parker's friends Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and MJ (Zendaya) opening up a magical portal to try and find Peter, only to discover the portal has actually found another "version" of him (in this case, the iterations played by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire). But now, thanks to some video magic, things get a little more musical.
Instead of Spider-Man, the portal opens up to reveal the addictively catchy Peacemaker intro sequence, featuring Cena in character pulling off those perfectly awkward dance moves to Wig Wam's "Do You Wanna Taste It." The edit is funny enough as is, but then Ned's next line turns it from clever to guffaw-worthy, as he quips, "It's just some random guy." Funnily enough, it almost seems like that line would play out exactly as is if this cameo was real, which makes it all the more hilarious.
Peacemaker series creator and The Suicide Squad director James Gunn, being the eternal Twitter presence he is, naturally got wind of the original tweet, jokingly adding, "I can't believe they cut this." Gunn has always been a good sport about this sort of thing, usually playing along with the joke himself. Given how much he interacts with fans, particularly back during the Peacemaker watch parties he would put on, it's no surprise to see him appreciate the effort in this case too.
Still, it raises the question once again of whether audiences will see a genuine Marvel and DC crossover anytime soon. At this point, it almost seems more like a matter of "when" rather than "if," purely based on how huge both franchises are. The monumental logistics aside, even just a scene like this would arguably be pretty worth the trouble.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now available digitally and Peacemaker is available on HBO Max.
Source: Stream the Vote/Twitter