The Fast and Furious franchise is not Olive Garden: When you're here, you're not automatically family. John Cena had to pass some kind of respect test for Fast and Furious 9, but it sounds like he managed it. Guess he's not a candy ass!
Fast & Furious 9 is winding down filming right now, and John Cena opened up on his "really special" filming experience:
The global connection the franchise has with its fans and the respect that the franchise has for its fans is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It allowed me to really look at the absolute analytics of the project through the people who have been working some 20 years on this. It really is a family atmosphere, there’s a lot of respect for the franchise, there is that expectation to deliver for the fan base, and it’s been like no other experience I’ve been on. You kind of have to earn your respect in so many ways, but once you do you are absolutely, unexpectedly welcomed into the family. It’s been really, really special, and I’m very fortunate.
Nice. It's clear in his comments to EW that he loved filming Fast & Furious 9, and we'll have to see if his character continues into Fast 10.
It's interesting that WWE's John Cena joined the Fast franchise right when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson looked like he was too busy to return for Fast 9. It's not clear yet whether that's still the case, but there was bad blood over Johnson's Fast 8 set comments and then the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff delayed production for Fast 9. But Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson seem to have made up, and the feud is over. John Cena also apologized for his own beef with The Rock.
So maybe we will see both The Rock and John Cena in Fast 9, if The Rock shows up for a cameo instead of just returning for Fast 10? Not sure about the plan yet.
John Cena started filming his mysterious "badass" role in Fast & Furious 9 on the 17th anniversary of his WWE journey. He was shown to be part of the "family" through photos on set, like this birthday post:
John Cena's not at the center of the action -- he's looks like the neighbor who just dropped by for free cake -- but presumably after he proved his stunt and performance worth, he was welcomed into the fold.
Halfway through filming for Fast & Furious 9, Vin Diesel teased an intense scene he was shooting that day with John Cena. It looked like they got along pretty well.
John Cena definitely seems to be following in The Rock's footsteps when it comes to going from wrestling to major action movies. Cena had a streak of comedies, including Blockers, but now he's in the franchise zone with the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, Fast & Furious 9, and James Gunn's The Suicide Squad movie.
Fast & Furious 9 has a big cast of new and returning characters. The movie is currently scheduled for release on May 22, 2020.
