One grappler replaces another.
Turns out you can see John Cena, at least in a Fast & Furious movie, anyway.
Following months of rumours, it is now official that the man who fought for years in the name of hustle, loyalty, and respect is joining up with Vin Diesel’s highly lucrative family.
Deadline reports that Cena has signed on the dotted line to be a part of the ninth instalment of the increasingly crazy Fast & Furious franchise.
Diesel first teased Cena’s involvement back in April via an Instagram post, with Universal confirming the move on Friday before the man himself expressed his excitement.
“For nearly 20 years, the Fast Franchise has entertained fans and created some of the biggest cinematic moments in history,” he said on Twitter.
“It’s an incredible honour to join this franchise and family.”
For nearly 20 years, the Fast Franchise has entertained fans and created some of the biggest cinematic moments in history. It’s an incredible honor to join this franchise and this family. https://t.co/7GFzDsX8sl
— John Cena (@JohnCena) June 7, 2019
As for who Cena is playing, that’s being kept top secret with the only detail being that said character is a “badass”, which doesn’t really tell you much of anything given that every role in this thing is generally larger than life.
One juicy piece of information that did slip through the net is that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson isn’t expected to be a part of the film, per Deadline’s sources.
That would mark Rock’s Luke Hobbs not appearing in an F&F adventure for the first time since his introduction in Fast Five.
Hobbs will of course take centre stage alongside Jason Statham in the imminent Hobbs & Shaw spin-off, but his apparent absence from 9 will do nothing to quell the talk that Rock and Diesel are no longer on speaking terms.
We are getting 10 of these, not counting spin-offs, so it’s probably not all said and done on that score.
As for Cena, this is just the latest high profile pivot from the squared circle to Hollywood, having recently been linked to the cast of the Suicide Squad sequel/reboot/whatever it is.
Fast 9 arrives on 22 May, 2020.
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