Vin Diesel Says Paul Walker Sent Him John Cena From Above To Star In ‘Fast & Furious 9’

The trailer for Fast & Furious 9 was released this week, dropping some major spoilers (three to be exact) right off the bat. The first saw the return of Mia Toretto, who many assumed was retiring from the franchise after the death of Paul Walker. The second shocker was the return of Han, who was almost certainly declared dead in The Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, and confirmed at the end of Fast & Furious 6. Perhaps the biggest shocker of the three was the reveal of John Cena’s character. Cena will be portraying Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) long lost brother, Jakob Toretto.

It was known for months that Cena was joining the mega-franchise, but what role he was playing remained a mystery until the trailer debuted just a few days ago. How Cena came to join the franchise has also been revealed, and according to Diesel, it was a casting that came from beyond, he admitted to Entertainment Weekly. The 52-year-old recently said that he believes Walker sent Cena into his life at the right time, in order to have him put in the movie.

“[Cena] came to meet me at my gym right before we were shipping out to make the movie, and I put a post on Instagram that said, ‘Thank you Pablo,’ because I felt like someone had brought me the right person to play Jakob,” Diesel remembered.

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In April of last year, Diesel alluded to Walker helping him out from above when he posted a video to his Instagram page.

“I know this sounds crazy but every blue moon, I feel like Pablo up there sends me someone. Another soldier for the fight for truth. And today, someone came by the Toretto gym that speaks to what Pablo would have brought me,” he said.

Diesel never clarified at the time that it was Cena who had walked into his life, but he was open with his followers about connecting with Walker to a certain extent.

Cena appears to be playing the villain in the newest installment of the car-themed franchise, but the world-famous wrestler has noted that it’s just “not true.” This could have been a misleading tactic to send fans in the wrong direction and have them pleasantly surprised when the movie debuts in a few months. Cena commented that moviegoers will have to decide who is good and who isn’t when the film comes out, suggesting a bigger twist to come.

Fast & Furious 9 hits theaters on May 22, 2020.