Like plenty of other blockbuster franchises before it, the Fast & Furious series has been largely defined by its action sequences and the camaraderie between the heroes rather than delivering a steady stream of top tier villains.
The only antagonists that were even vaguely memorable are arguably the Shaw brothers, if only because Jason Statham’s Deckard has gone on to become an integral part of the mythology having turned to the side of good in the eighth installment before headlining his own spinoff alongside Dwayne Johnson.
Charlize Theron’s Cipher is also in with a shout, but that’s more to do with the actress’ level of star power than her actual performance in The Fate of the Furious, which was relatively tame and muted given her status as one of cinema’s premiere action heroes. However, in a recent interview, F9‘s John Cena boldly declared himself as the greatest big bad The Fast Saga has ever seen.
“I certainly didn’t overlook the responsibility of the opportunity. I get to reap the rewards of this family who has poured the foundation and built the structure of a global delivering blockbuster. I get invited into the ninth installment to share the last name Toretto and to be Dom’s greatest adversary of all time. That is not lost. I think it has to start there. It has to start with respect.”
Cena plays Jakob Toretto, Dom’s long lost brother that hasn’t been mentioned once over the last 20 years, who comes back onto the scene and just so happens to be a master thief, deadly assassin and precision driver all wrapped up into one large muscular bundle, and he’s also in the employ of Theron’s aforementioned Cipher for good measure.
The most recent trailer certainly paints him as a major threat, but in all honesty, Cena doesn’t have to do all that much to be considered one of the all-time best Fast & Furious villains when the competition is largely made up of forgettable figures like Rick Yune’s Johnny Tran, Cole Hauser’s Carter Verone, Brian Tee’s Takashi, John Ortiz’s Arturo Braga and Joaquim de Almeida’s Hernan Reyes.