A little over a year ago, John Cena said that it was "be a dream" to join the FAST & FURIOUS franchise, and several months ago, Vin Diesel teased that Cena would soon be joining the FAST & FURIOUS family. Universal has now confirmed that John Cena has officially joined the cast of FAST & FURIOUS 9.
There's no word on just what type of character John Cena will play, only that he'll be a "bad-ass." Is there any other FAST & FURIOUS character type? "For nearly 20 years, the Fast Franchise has entertained fans and created some of the biggest cinematic moments in history," Cena said in a Twitter post. "It’s an incredible honor to join this franchise and this family." Production on FAST & FURIOUS 9 is slated to get underway later this month with Justin Lin directing from a script by Dan Casey. One person who won't be returning for the ninth installment of the long-running franchise is Dwayne Johnson, who will instead be taking the lead of the first FAST & FURIOUS spin-off alongside Jason Statham. FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW will find Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Statham) being forced to team up in order to take on Brixton (Idris Elba), a genetically engineered super-soldier with cyber enhancements. HOBBS & SHAW will hit theaters on August 2, 2019, with FAST & FURIOUS 9 slated for a May 22, 2020 release.