WWE legend John Cena has made his mark on the entertainment industry by featuring in some key roles. One of those roles happens to be that of Jakob Toretto in the Fast and Furious franchise. After being cast for the first time in F9 as Dominic Toretto’s brother, questions arose as to why Cena, of all people, was cast as the anti-hero’s brother.
Dwayne Johnson left the franchise after the culmination of The Fate of the Furious amid differences with Diesel. The film’s other protagonist, Paul Walker, unfortunately, passed away during the filming of Furious 7. One can argue that both stars’ absence created a massive void that needed to be filled. Although it was initially speculated that Cena was brought in to fill in the void left by The Rock, that was not the case.
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During interviews prior to the release of F9, Vin Diesel was asked multiple times why he cast Cena in the role of Jakob Toretto. To the surprise of many, the answer did not have anything to do with his beef with Dwayne Johnson. The star replied that he saw John Cena’s arrival at the Dom shrine as an indication from Paul Walker.
During another interview, Vin Diesel also added that they wanted to go back to some of the origin stories of the characters, and exploring a character that they could connect to from before the first film of the franchise, seemed like an interesting idea.
“As we were developing the story, it was great fun to be able to revisit a past that pre-dates the first film,” Diesel said.
One may also understand that since the films always had Paul Walker play the brother role to Vin Diesel, it was an element that was missing. Cena’s arrival filled the void, as did fans’ curiosity about the Torettos.
John Cena recently commented on working in action scenes
WWE legend John Cena reprised his role as Jakob Toretto in the latest rendition of the franchise, Fast X. The star will once again be seen alongside Vin Diesel, with The Rock also reportedly making a comeback during the post-credits scene. During an interview with Today ahead of the release of the movie, the 16-time world champion stated action scenes in the movies are “much safer” than taking bumps in WWE.
“Oh! It is so much safer than WWE,” Cena said.
Photos of @JohnCena from WWE Gallery – Behind the scenes of WrestleMania 39: photos pic.twitter.com/qLpQ40JEiA
— JohnCenaCrews™ (@JohnCenaCrews) April 8, 2023
John Cena, 46, has also recently commented on returning to the WWE in the future. He stated that his body does not allow him to take bumps as he used to and that he preferred to stay away from the ring as he did not want to give the consumers a bad product. Cena’s last match for the promotion came at WrestleMania 39, in a losing effort to Austin Theory.
