Transformers Fans All Agree This John Cena Scene Is One Of The Series' Best
The "Transformers" franchise is admittedly a mixed bag. On the one hand, getting a blockbuster film series about giant robots in disguise is a dream come true for kids who adored the Saturday morning cartoons. On the other hand, the list of questionable "Transformers" franchise decisions made to justify jokes and story beats is ... really long.
Despite this, the series has gone strong over the years, consisting of several mainline films as well as a spinoff centered on Bumblebee. This spinoff, appropriately titled "Bumblebee," brought a surprising burst of joy by casting John Cena in a prominent role. While still well known for his wrestling days, Cena has made waves by bringing his own flavor of comedy to everything he touches, including the HBO Max original series "Peacemaker."
In this way, "Bumblebee" is no exception. While the film stars Hailee Steinfeld across from the titular Transformer, it's Cena who injects his blunt brand of silliness into the scenes that need it the most. Here's the moment fans feel is not only Cena's best in the film but the best in the franchise overall.
John Cena calls it like it is
In a subreddit dedicated to all things "Transformers," u/act1989 posted a photoset of John Cena's role in "Bumblebee." It came along with a caption, which read, "One of the best [scenes] in ANY of the movies." The scene in question depicts John Cena as Jack Burns, a former U.S. Army Colonel and active agent of Sector 7 (a fictional military branch that handles extraterrestrials). In the scene in question, he's in a high-level government meeting in which Dr. Powell (John Ortiz) is pleading for the U.S. to aid the Decepticons on their quest to find a "fugitive" aka Bumblebee. In response, Burns proclaims, "They literally call themselves Decepticons. That doesn't set off any red flags?" It's an excellent moment for Cena's character because it's pretty much the only time in any of the movies that anyone points out how innately evil the term "Decepticon" sounds.
Interestingly, in "Transformers Prime," an animated series from 2010, Megatron actually has a response to this particular criticism, and it would've been an incredible bit of dialogue to see transferred into the (sort of) live-action franchise. When asked why his armada bore the name Decepticon, Megatron said, "Another craven Autobot scare tactic. The name was meant to demonize us. Instead, we wear it as a badge of honor, for if speaking the truth is deception, then we are gladly guilty." Sounds kind of like a real quote from a real politician, doesn't it?
Imagine the kind of clapback John Cena could've come up with if Jack Burns had to suffer hearing that kind of drivel. This article would've been about a completely different scene.