10 Best John Cena Movies, Ranked

It has become an increasingly prevalent trend for professional wrestlers to make the jump from the wrestling ring to the big screen in successful and lucrative Hollywood careers, with John Cena standing out as one of the most prominent examples. After spending over a decade at the forefront of the WWE as one of their biggest and most iconic stars, Cena successfully proved that he had what it takes to be an effective actor through various roles in Hollywood.

Initially starting with the occasional comedic role that would play off of his strengths and likeness as a professional wrestler, Cena would eventually mold and grow into his own niche and now acts in a wide variety of genres and franchises. While he’ll certainly always be tied to his past as a wrestling superstar, his newfound success in Hollywood has shown that there is much more to Cena than meets the eye, with audiences consistently excited about what he’ll do next.

10 ‘Tour de Pharmacy’ (2017)

Appeared as Gustav Ditters

A chaotic sports mockumentary focused on a fictional retelling of the 1982 Tour de France, Tour de Pharmacy acts as a look back on the truths of the event, and what led to nearly everyone involved being on performance-enhancing drugs. The film cycles between the archived footage and coverage of the event with modern-day interviews of the athletes involved and their reflections on the event, including all the chaos, death, and twists that occurred.

Cena plays the 1982 version of cyclist Gustav Ditters, an Austrian cyclist who had notably gained a considerable amount of muscle mass from last year’s race due to steroid usage. Gustav ends up being a part of the final five remaining cyclists in the race, before eventually being disqualified when the police raid his apartment and find that he’d been doping himself with cheetah’s blood. Cena relishes the chaotic and over-the-top nature of Gustav as a character, leaning into the absurdity of the film as a whole and holding nothing back in terms of engaging in comedic antics.

Watch on Max

9 ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ (2023)

Voiced Rocksteady

One of the latest and most critically successful iterations of the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mutant Mayhem tells the origin of the team, showing how they first became the teenage ninja protectors of New York City. As the young turtles set out to win over the hearts of New York City, they end up uncovering a mysterious conspiracy as they attempt to take down a dangerous crime syndicate. As it turns out, this crime syndicate is being run by a group of mutants just like them, making their jobs of heroism that much more complicated.

Cena voices the iconic character of Rocksteady in the film, the giant mutated rhinoceros that acts as the primary muscle for their team, alongside his partner in crime, Bebop (voiced by Seth Rogen). While the character is most often made out to be one of the turtles’ most prominent villains, Rocksteady and Bebop take a more unique approach, finding themselves actually aligning with the turtles and turning on their boss, Superfly. Even with a short amount of screentime, Cena leaves an undeniable impact and provides one of many exceptional voice performances in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film.

8 ‘Blockers’ (2018)

Appeared as Mitchell Mannes

One of many R-rated ensemble comedies that Cena has been a part of, Blockers follows a trio of overprotective parents who attempt to stop their teenage daughters’ pact of losing their virginities at prom. Their quest for celibacy sees them facing a wide variety of unexpected hurdles, such as obnoxious parties and infighting amongst themselves, as they attempt to do what they believe is right for their children.

Cena plays the role of headstrong father Mitchell Mannes in the film, whose overprotective nature and inner struggles with his daughter Kayla growing up make him a leading force for this parent trio’s quest. Cena is a comedic highlight in Blockers, willing to go the extra mile in terms of both witty dialogue-based comedy as well as chaotic physical comedy at his character’s expense. His character’s open dialogue and heart-to-heart moment with his daughter, Kayla, however, shows that even in a comedic setting, Cena has what it takes to deliver a compelling emotional core.

7 ‘Vacation Friends’ (2021)

Appeared as Ron

One of many streaming service original comedies that made massive waves and found an audience in the digital era, Vacation Friends follows a by-the-books straight-laced couple deciding to have an exciting vacation of relaxation and letting loose in Mexico. They soon find themselves bonding with a no-holds-barred couple that flows with the wind and is much more chaotic, an energy that they find to be refreshing while on vacation. However, their friendship soon transforms into being much more uncomfortable when the extravagant couple follows them back home to continue the zany antics.

Playing the zany comic relief to Lil Rel Howery‘s straight-man, Vacation Friends works as well as it does thanks to Cena’s exceptional comedic performance that allows him to tap into his greatest strengths as a comedic actor. Even as the film has its occasional downsides that come from a streaming service original comedy, Cena is a shining star and the clear highlight of the film, stealing the show in every scene he’s a part of. The film managed to be so successful that Hulu would release a sequel titled Vacation Friends 2, two years later.

6 ‘F9: The Fast Saga’ (2021)

Appeared as Jakob Toretto

As the Fast and the Furious franchise continued to up the ante and introduce more and more massive stars into its ever-expansive cast of characters, it was only a matter of time before Cena entered the fray in F9: The Fast Saga. The film follows Dominic Toretto and his classic crew as they are forced to face off against their most dangerous threat yet, a highly trained assassin and expert driver from Dom’s past that he never thought he’d see again, his brother.

Cena plays the main villain in the film and Dominic Toretto’s brother, Jakob Toretto, providing a performance that is built upon intimidation and the stern rivalry between these two brothers. Cena’s performance in the film is much more grounded and serious compared to his other, more comedic roles, showing the range and capability that he has to create tension and play a calculating villain. By the end of the film, he does end up joining Dom in stopping a bigger threat, as the character would return once again in the following film, Fast X.

5 ‘Ferdinand’ (2017)

Voiced Ferdinand

One of the last films to be created by the now-defunct Blue Sky Studios, Ferdinand follows a titular bull who would much rather live a quiet life instead of the rambunctious life of a bull used in bullfights. As he grows to be bigger and stronger, he is soon taken away from his simple farm life and mistakenly chosen to be sent off to a bullfight in Madrid. Before he ends up in the ring, Ferdinand must find a way to escape and return home to his wholesome life.

While Cena has been a voice actor in a variety of other animated films over the years, Ferdinand is the only case where he ends up voicing the main character of the film, the titular anxious bull himself, Ferdinand. The film overall finds a nice balance between quirky, animated animal humor and genuine emotion and caring energy, being able to maintain this balance thanks to the primary performance from Cena.

Watch on Disney+

4 ‘Trainwreck’ (2015)

Appeared as Steven

One of the first major comedic supporting roles that helped establish Cena as an effective comedic actor outside of his work in wrestling, a great deal of Cena’s modern career can be attributed to his role in Trainwreck. The film follows Amy Townsend (Amy Schumer), a woman who has come to believe that modern-day monogamy is simply impossible for her, as she’s too focused on her career to make any sort of commitment. However, her view suddenly changes when she finds an actual half-decent man in Aaron Conners (Bill Hader).

Cena plays Amy’s gym-addict boyfriend who is dating him at the beginning of the film before they break up over Amy’s sexual escapades with other people. While his time in the film is relatively short, Cena immediately makes an impact as one of the best comedic highlights of the film, with the sequences of him and Schumer yelling at the movie theater being comedy gold. This sequence, as well as Trainwreck as a whole, single-handedly proved that Cena was a comedic force to be reckoned with, and helped jumpstart his career in Hollywood in the process.

3 ‘Bumblebee’ (2018)

Appeared as Jack Burns

In what is easily considered the best of the live-action Transformers movies, Bumblebee takes the Transformers world back to 1987, following the titular Autobot as he attempts to find refuge in a Californian junkyard. He soon finds an unexpected connection with teenage girl Charlie, as she works to fix up the issues that are plaguing Bumblebee to help him either return home or reunite with the other Autobots.

Cena plays the role of Agent Jack Burns in the film, a Colonel for the U.S. Army and a member of Sector 7, a secret government agency that is tasked with monitoring extraterrestrial activity on Earth. While it’s certainly easy to paint and see Burns as a villain in the film, with him teaming up with the Decepticons to hunt down Bumblebee, Cena’s multilayered performance gives the character nuance and even gets the audience to understand his perspective. Cena effectively became one of the best human characters that the franchise has ever seen, as well as one of its most memorable villains.

2 ‘Ricky Stanicky’ (2024)

Appeared as Rod (Ricky Stanicky)

Cena has played a memorable part in numerous ensemble comedies over the years, but none has quite brilliantly made use of Cena’s wide array of comedic talents as Ricky Stanicky, which holds nothing back in putting him front and center of the film. The film follows three childhood friends who, for their entire lives, had an imaginary best friend named “Ricky Stanicky” that they would use as a get-out-of-jail-free card for any and all occasions. However, when their families begin to question the existence of Ricky, they hire washed-up actor Ron to come and play him at a gathering, a plan that quickly goes awry when Ron simply won’t go away.

Cena plays the titular role of “Ricky Stanicky”, also known as Ron Rimestead, in the film, a washed-up actor who sees this opportunity as his big break to prove he has what it takes, as one elongated scene of method acting. The film deeply understands Cena’s abilities as a comedic actor and gives him a wide variety of hilarious, instantly iconic moments, whether it be singing raunchy covers of classic songs or the pains of going cold turkey in the name of method acting. Ricky Stanicky harkens back to a simpler time for R-rated comedies, and it works as well as it does because of the undeniable comedic talent of Cena.

Watch on Amazon Prime

1 ‘The Suicide Squad’ (2021)

Appeared as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker

Easily Cena’s most iconic and memorable role in recent memory, it takes an incredibly memorable performance to be a highlight character in The Suicide Squad, a film filled to the brim with memorable and iconic characters. The film follows the titular team of rejected convicts as they travel out to the remote island of Corto Maltese, tasked with taking down everyone in their path and to ask questions later.

The Suicide Squad can easily be considered one of the best films of the DC Extended Universe, thanks greatly in part to its cast of wild and off-kilter characters, none more instantly iconic than Cena’s portrayal of Peacemaker. Cena’s portrayal of the oxymoronic soldier who will kill anyone and everyone to achieve peace has become synonymous with the character itself, bringing new heights and popularity for it as a whole. The character proved to be memorable enough to garner an entire spin-off series that, even with the DCEU movies being done and over with, is still receiving a season 2 in the new DC Universe.

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