It might be a goldmine for memes, but there really is a genuine sense of family running through the Fast & Furious franchise. The first installment called action all the way back in the summer of 2000 so Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster have all known each other for a long time.
Tyrese and Ludacris have been involved in the series for close to 20 years, and it’s been fifteen since Sung Kang and Justin Lin made their respective debuts in Tokyo Drift. These guys are a very tight knit group, one that’s been brought even closer together since the tragic death of Paul Walker. You have to get along with the family to stick around, something that Dwayne Johnson evidently has no interest in given his reignited feud with Vin Diesel, but John Cena is happy to be part of the crew.
As WWE’s locker room leader for the best part of fifteen years, Cena knows what it’s like when a new face walks into a place where there’s an established hierarchy and dynamic, so it’s no surprise that he knew what he was getting in for when he stepped onto the set of F9 as Jakob Toretto for the first time, admitted that the veterans were wary of the new kid on the block.
“They were kind of apprehensive to me being there, just like we are in WWE like, ‘Who is the new kid?’. But then when the new kid does something good or like when you have good open conversations, it’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re alright’.
Based on how the ninth installment ended, it would appear as though Cena will be hanging around for the tenth and eleventh chapters that look set to bring The Fast Saga to a gloriously unhinged close, so he clearly played nice with Diesel, Rodriguez, Brewster and the rest of the old guard. Jakob’s story is only just beginning, and he’s one of the good guys now.
