While Dwayne Johnson has become one of the biggest stars on the planet, and Dave Bautista has impressed fans and critics alike with strong supporting roles in films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Blade Runner 2049, John Cena has been slowly building his own resume on the big screen and has become a major star in his own right as a professional wrestler turned actor.
Yesterday was a big day in the life of John Cena. It marked his 17th anniversary of the day he debuted on television with the WWE and it was also the day he began filming what may be his biggest film role to date in Fast and Furious 9. He marked the date with a special message to his fans, promising that he's not entirely done with WWE, but that a lot of changes will be in store for him with the new movie.
While John Cena spent a long time as the top star in WWE, those days are now mostly behind him and he spends most of his time working in film. He still makes the occasional return to the ring, and based on comments he's made in the past, including once to me when I had a chance to interview him, he plans to keep working in WWE to some degree for as long as he is able.
His movie career has been making quite big strides very recently. While he's found most of his success recently in smaller comedies, he made the jump to major franchises last year with the Transformers movie Bumblebee. Now, he's filming Fast and Furious 9 and the word is that he's in line to take a role in the new Suicide Squad movie as well, though nothing official has been reported on that one.
Nothing is known about about John Cena's role in the new installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, so whether he's coming in to join the family or whether he's the new villain is anybody's guess. The former seems more likely the way Cena has been presented alongside Vin Diesel. One assumes his role is a significant one in the story, but even that is unclear.
One thing that does seem clear is that John Cena may look a little different than how we're used to seeing him. Apparently a haircut will be part of this new role according to his comments on Twitter.
While Bumblebee was much better received by critics than the rest of the Transformers franchise, it didn't do the same level of box office that those films are known for.
That's unlikely to be an issue with Fast and Furious 9. The last couple films in the series have grossed over a billion dollars worldwide and there's no reason to believe that the next film won't do the same. As such, this film will almost certainly be the biggest of John Cena's career.
His WWE career took him all over the world, so the global audience probably already knows John Cena pretty well, but this might be the first time many of them actually see him on the big screen.
