Veteran WWE Superstar John Cena will be part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.
This weekend, the official TMNT Twitter account announced that Cena will voice Rocksteady in the computer-animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” film, which will be released in theaters on Friday, August 4. Cena has joined an all-star cast, which can be seen in the video below.
“Mutant Mayhem” is the first animated entry in the TMNT film franchise since “TMNT” in 2007. This will be the first installment in what could be a franchise.
The movie was first announced by Nickelodeon in June 2020. Seth Rogen will play Rocksteady’s sidekick Bebop, but he will also serve as producer through the Point Grey Pictures banner, alongside Evan Goldberg and James Weaver. In his feature directorial debut, Jeff Rowe will direct the film, with Brendan O’Brien writing the screenplay. Director Rowe drew sketches in his school notebooks as a teenager, which inspired the design and animation. Cinesite (recent works include Matilda, Wakanda Forever, and Thor: Love & Thunder) and Mikros Animation created the animation (recent works include PAW Patrol in 2021 and 2023, SpongeBob on the Run).
The Turtle brothers set out to be accepted as normal teenagers while confronting a notorious crime syndicate and an army of mutants in the film. The film’s creators wanted to go deeper into the Turtles’ adolescence than previous films and TV shows had.
According to the official synopsis for the Paramount Pictures film, “After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtles set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a notorious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.”
Below is the full cast:
* Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo
* Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo
* Micah Abbey as Donatello
* Brady Noon as Raphael
* Jackie Chan as Master Splinter
* Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil
* Ice Cube as Superfly
* Seth Rogen as Bebop
* John Cena as Rocksteady
* Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko
* Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut
* Rose Byrne as Leatherhead
* Post Malone as Ray Fillet
* Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog
* Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom
* Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman
Cena will star in the action-comedy film “Grand Death Lotto,” which will begin production next week, according to Amazon Studios. Cena was recently announced as the star of another Amazon Prime Video film, the R-rated comedy “Ricky Stanicky,” which was scheduled to shoot in Melbourne, Australia last month and this month. Cena was also set to co-star with Idris Elba in the action comedy “Heads of State,” an Amazon Studios project described as “Air Force One meets Midnight Run,” with a focus on a mismatched pair, Cena and Elba, who are in over their heads in a high-stakes situation. Since its initial announcement in October 2020 and the follow-up in October 2022, details on this film have been scarce.
Cena’s next appearance will be in “Fast X,” in which he will make a return as Jakob Toretto. On Friday, May 19, the latest installment in the Fast and Furious franchise will be released in theaters. Cena’s other upcoming projects include the spy thriller “Argylle” for Apple TV, which will be released later this year, and “Honeymoon Friends,” a Hulu comedy that will serve as the sequel to “Vacation Friends,” which will be released in 2021. This film’s release date has not been announced, but it is expected later this year.
Cena will make his WWE TV return from his hometown of Boston on Monday’s RAW. He is then expected to face WWE United States Champion Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39.
Here is the Twitter announcement on Cena’s TMNT role:
John Cena (@johncena) is Rocksteady. #TMNTMovie pic.twitter.com/hekW6frWe5
— TMNT (@TMNTMovie) March 5, 2023
