The sixth installment to the Transformers franchise, Bumblebee, was met with many positive reviews and went on to make $468 million at the box office. John Cena made his Transformers debut in the movie as Agent Burns. Fans loved the character and after his change of heart in the film, they were hoping to see him return for the next movie.
However, the release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts put the hopes to rest as John Cena did not reprise his character, even for a cameo. This might appear to be a bit strange as the wrestler/actor was once very excited to return to the franchise, especially since Bumblebee performed so well.
John Cena Wanted to Return to Transformers
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In an interview with CinemaBlend back in 2019, John Cena was asked if Jack Burns would be returning for a sequel to Bumblebee. In his answer, Cena seemed quite hopeful and he was looking forward to working with director Travis Knight once again. He stated,
“I hope so. I really enjoyed working with Travis, but I love the movie and it looks like it’s going to make a lot of money too, so hopefully we’ll be able to do it again.”
When asked if he has a specific arc in mind for Agent Burns should he return for a sequel, Cena stated that he is not “selfish” and just wants the movie to be good as a whole.
“Oh, I’m not, I’m not selfish in that regard. The one thing I’d like to see is that it be just as good of a story. I think if I get too involved with what I’m doing rather than what the movie is doing, the movie suffers. I think as long as the movie reads as good as Bumblebee then we’ll be off to a good start.”
As for why Cena did not return for Rise of the Beasts, the answer is unknown. However, it is possible that scheduling conflicts kept Cena from being a part of the seventh installment. The production of Rise of the Beasts and the filming of Peacemaker happened almost side by side. While Peacemaker began filming on January 15, 2021, Rise of the Beasts began filming on June 07, 2021, a month before Peacemaker’s production was wrapped up.
Transformers Producer Wants John Cena to Return
Talking to Screen Rant, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura put down a fan theory that stated Cena’s Bumblebee character was just Duke from G.I. Joe. While doing so, di Bonaventura expressed his desire to work with Cena once again and bring him back for future installments to the franchise.
“I can deny that [Cena’s character in Bumblebee is Duke from G.I. Joe], but I could see why you’d feel that because he does have some of that energy if you would. I’d love to work with John again. He is fantastic, and hopefully, we can bring him back into the series.”
Given the fact that Rise of the Beasts is set in a different time and location than Bumblebee, Agent Burns’ absence makes absolute sense. However, we sure hope he returns sometime in the future!
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is currently in theatres.
Source: CinemaBlend
