John Cena has officially been revealed as Mermaid Ken in the Barbie movie.
Per DiscussingFilm, the former WWE Champion was unveiled as part of Barbie's all-star cast led by his The Suicide Squad co-star Margot Robbie at the Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon. Exclusive footage featured at the presentation teased the film's premise of a possible war between Barbie and Ken variants while the classic ones played by Robbie and Ryan Gosling cause trouble in the real world. Though many Barbie variants in Barbie Land were highlighted, including Kate McKinnon's "Weird Barbie," it was Cena's standout moment as a long-haired merman Ken that was the surprise of the presentation.
John Cena's Hollywood Takeover Continues
Considered one of the greatest wrestling superstars of all time, Cena began his WWE career in 2002 as a rookie babyface before turning heel as a rapper nicknamed "The Doctor of Thuganomics." His natural charisma on the mic along with his feats of strength in the ring helped to elevate Cena to the main event scene while winning over young fans around the world. Defying the adversity of older fans and proving his worth against such WWE legends as Shawn Michaels and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Cena accomplished a hugely successful career as a 16-time world champion as well as multiple mid-card and tag team titles.
Cena dipped his toe into movies starting in 2006 by appearing in the WWE-produced projects The Marine, 12 Rounds and The Reunion. As his in-ring career slowed down, Cena took on higher profile roles in major studio movies such as Trainwreck, Sisters and Bumblebee; however, it was his dark but satirical turn as Peacemaker in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad in 2021 that earned praise from critics and helped to shake his good guy wrestling persona. The popularity of the character led to his spinoff series Peacemaker on HBO Max in 2022.
Directed by Greta Gerwig and written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie stars Robbie as the titular doll in live-action form in a premise inspired by The Wizard of Oz. The iconic doll gets exiled from Barbie Land for being "less than perfect" and finds herself alongside Ken traveling to the real world where they encounter the CEO of Mattel (Will Ferrell). The film co-stars America Ferrara, Helen Mirren, Michael Cera, Issa Rae and Shang-Chi's Simu Liu.
Barbie arrives in theaters on July 21.
Source: DiscussingFilm