The Barbie cast is always baffling me. Every single time a new person is announced as part of the ensemble my jaw gets a little closer to the floor, and this time, after watching the Barbie trailer a bunch, there was one new name that threw me off-guard. While we’ve known about surprising casting decisions like Will Ferrell and Michael Cera for a while, the addition of John Cena came as a shock to me. While I’m still processing the fact that his name is in the trailer, I must admit, I love this for him.
Admittedly, it took me a while to realize the former WWE star’s name among the list of actors involved with Greta Gerwig’s film on the 2023 movie schedule. Up until the trailer’s release many of us didn’t even know the Peacemaker actor was a part of the Barbie movie, he wasn’t promoting it, he didn’t appear on the character posters (not even the fan-made ones), and he’s not shown in any trailers. However, his name is right there, as clear as day in the second teaser, and I'm thrilled about it.
While shock is the first emotion I felt, I've come to the conclusion that Cena's involvement in the Barbie movie makes perfect sense. From the moment I saw the actor interact with The Suicide Squad cast as Peacemaker (alongside Margot Robbie, I might add) I’ve been sold on the idea of the wrestler-turned-actor taking on left-of-field, wacky projects. I was shocked by how genuinely funny he was in Peacemaker, and I wanted to immediately see him in more comedic roles like the comic book character. Now, it appears he’ll be bringing that stellar sense of humor over to the world of Barbie as another Ken, according to IMDb.
Along with his name popping up in between Sharon Rooney and Kingsley Ben-Adir in the trailer, Cena also took to Instagram to post his character poster, which he is hilariously not on, check it out:
Clearly, his role is being kept under wraps, and I think it’d be fun if we his character remained a secret until the whole movie comes out in July. All we know at the moment is Cena will be playing a Ken, which makes perfect sense, have you seen his physique? However, I feel like there has to be more to it.
Release Date: July 21, 2023
Director: Greta Gerwig
Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Emma Mackey, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Kate McKinnon, and more.
Every time I think about Barbie's potential plot I keep coming back around to The LEGO Movie, where we find out it’s just been a kid playing with toys the whole time. I feel like something like that could happen here, considering Kate McKinnon’s Barbie in the splits looks like a child gave her a haircut and drew on her face. What if John Cena is coming in as a different type of doll, like an action figure or a G.I. Joe? Based on the fact that the actor has literally been made into a WWE action figure on many occasions, I think it’d be hilarious if he and Gerwig decided to turn him into a Ken that is like the action figures he’s inspired in real life. However, I'm probably far off with this theory, because everything revealed about Barbie so far has been surprising.
All we can really do between now and July 21 is prepare to expect the unexpected. With every peek into this movie, I’ve been more shocked. And I just know whatever Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie have up their sleeves, including John Cena's role, is going to be a surprising, meta and likely poignant take on the dolls many kids grew up playing with.
