John Cena's Acting Debut Came In A Ludicrous 2006 Action Movie Streaming For Free

Over the past decade, WWE superstar John Cena has successfully made the leap from the ring to the big screen with roles in the "Fast & Furious" and the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchises. He's one of the pillars of James Gunn's DC Universe with "The Suicide Squad" and the "Peacemaker" television series. But before all of this, Cena made his screen acting debut with the 2006 action-thriller "The Marine." If you've never seen this silly ode to '80s action fluff, then you're in luck. It's just been made available to stream for free on Tubi.

After United States Marine John Triton (John Cena) disobeys a direct order during a rescue mission, he's honorably discharged and shipped back home. His wife Kate (Kelly Carlson) proposes taking a vacation in order to acclimate to civilian life, but a trigger-happy jewel thief and his crew have other plans. Upon being cornered by police, Rome (Robert Patrick) blows up a gas station and takes Kelly as a hostage. Try as they may, not even an explosive fireball can slow down Triton in his pursuit to rescue his wife and take out the bad guys. What follows is meathead cinema in its purest, yet dumbest form.

WWE Studios (formerly WWE Films) was built on the foundation that it would turn their wrestling talent into movie stars. The company tried their hat at making theatrically-released movies throughout the late 2000s before ultimately falling into the home video market. Despite flopping at the box office and garnering negative reception from critics, "The Marine" is easily WWE Studios' greatest success — given Cena's career trajectory as an actor.

It's hard to argue that "The Marine" is a good movie, but it sure is an entertaining one. The action extravaganza is clearly trying to emulate one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's best movies (1985's "Commando"), falling short of its ambition. While he would later hone his craft, John Cena is clearly a bit rough around the edges here.

The role was initially meant to go to Steve Austin, after all. But Cena excels when the film has to make good use of his physical stature. John Triton is introduced as a sledgehammer of violence for the US of A in an opening sequence that's so laughably jingoistic he could have been replaced by Leslie Nielsen's Frank Drebin, and nothing would be different. In that way, "The Marine" is a time capsule that captures the last few wisps of Bush-era excess.

The film, however, is cheekily aware that Triton is Marine Man every second of every day, which makes it easier to buy into his invulnerability. Nothing will prevent him from fulfilling his near-psychopathic thirst for killing. On top of all the fistfights, knife attacks and bodyslams, part of what makes "The Marine" such a curiosity in 2026 is that it's the first time Cena and Robert Patrick would be at odds with one another. They've famously gone on to play a father and son duo in both seasons of "Peacemaker." 

The strangest thing about all of this is the film's director, John Bonito. "The Marine" was his directorial debut and has only made one movie since: the forgotten 2011 action movie "Carjacked" with Maria Bello and Stephen Dorff.

It may seem like a low blow to praise a film based on its explosions, but boy, are these worth checking out. Everything in "The Marine" doesn't explode so much as super duper mega explode in a near-operatic ascension of flames and twisted metal. It's as if these places are loaded with three kegs of dynamite.

One of the film's most dynamically dumb sequences is Triton driving a stripped-down police cruiser into his hijacked Lincoln Navigator. He slips outside of the vehicle while it's being ripped apart by an absurd amount of bullets and exploding in a ball of fire, all before he or the car — airborne, naturally — ever hits the ground. Then the scene keeps going.

In spite of its overwhelmingly negative critical reception, "The Marine" garnered enough interest to warrant five direct-to-video sequels, albeit with a caveat: Cena is nowhere to be found. While he was off making the Renny Harlin-directed "12 Rounds" for WWE Studios, 2009's "The Marine 2" would instead be led by Ted DiBiase Jr. as a completely different character. From 2013's "The Marine 3: Homefront" up until 2018's "The Marine 6: Close Quarters," the titular American soldier would be consistently played by WWE wrestler Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.

You may not find high art in the rough and tumble of "The Marine," some of which has aged pretty poorly, but it's a fascinating look at how these kinds of movies can provide opportunities for wrestlers looking to get work outside of the ring. And it's silly fun.