The Fast & Furious franchise is about to get another major injection of muscle: John Cena is officially in the cast of Fast & Furious 9, joining Vin Diesel and company for their next mission, according to Deadline. Universal officially confirmed to the outlet that Cena will be in the cast, which comes months after Diesel teased his addition on Instagram.
That also means Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is out. Deadline reports that Johnson “will not be in Fast & Furious 9.” Johnson’s absence doesn’t mean he’s done with the series, though. Johnson is starring in the first-ever Fast series spinoff, Hobbs and Shaw, this summer with Jason Statham, and that will likely become a franchise itself if it performs well at the box office.
The addition of Cena will help fill the void for Johnson, who first joined the franchise back in 2011 for Fast Five. Cena’s role is being kept under lock and key, but sources told Deadline that Cena plays “a badass.”
Cena has followed in the footsteps of Johnson, as both were WWE superstars before heading to Hollywood and becoming movie stars. Cena appeared in the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee in 2018 and the comedy hit Blockers in April 2019.
Fast 9 and Fast 10 are being planned as the finishing chapters of the main Fast & Furiousfranchise, although more spinoffs and connected movies are likely expected in the future after the series has grossed over $5.1 billion worldwide since starting in 2001.
