John Cena unveiled in 'Fast & Furious 9' character posters

Universal has released a new wave of character posters for Fast & Furious 9, including a first look at the mysterious character portrayed by WWE legend John Cena.

The plot of the upcoming film is entirely shrouded in secrecy and there has been little clue as to who Cena will play other than the fact he’s going to be a “badass”.

Now we know he’s a serious-looking man in a t-shirt who looks a lot like John Cena, so we’re still very much in the dark.

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The former wrestler has made the move into Hollywood in recent years, taking on major roles in movies including Transformers spin-off Bumblebee, Playing With Fire and comedy Blockers.

His addition to the Fast & Furious “family” will definitely mark his biggest movie gig to date, along with his upcoming role in James Gunn’s reboot The Suicide Squad.

As well as a look at the previously unseen Cena, the new trove of posters provide a chance for the usual suspects of the franchise to shine — complete with colourful, smoky backgrounds and very big cars.

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Notable by their absences are Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, who are due to sit out this entry after starring in last year’s spin-off adventure Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw.

There’s also no poster for Charlize Theron either, who will return to the franchise with a drastic new look as Cipher — the villain of the previous movie.

The movie, which will be known in North America as F9: The Fast Saga in a continuation of the franchise’s anything-goes approach to sequel titling, will see the return of director Justin Lin to the series.

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Lin helmed the third, fourth, fifth and sixth entries in the Fast franchise, overseeing its rise from street race saga to world-in-peril box office juggernaut.

He will also return to direct the upcoming 10th movie in the series.

The franchise is a monster cash cow for Universal, with 2017’s The Fate of the Furious — or Fast & Furious 8 in the UK — scooping $1.24bn (£948m) at the global box office.

F9 arrives in UK cinemas on 22 May, with Fast & Furious 10 due to follow in April 2021.