It’s time to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and he’s all out of bubblegum.
First appearing in 1991, Duke Nukem was a huge success because he actually possessed a sense of humour when it came to wading through waves of evil aliens, as opposed to the voiceless heroes of Doom, Quake or Half-Life.
The games series would continue on strong, reaching a high-point with 1996’s Duke Nukem 3D:
Clip via Forsete
It all went to hell in a hand-basket when, after 15 years of development, 2011’s Duke Nukem Forever was one of the most disappointing releases of all time.
That hasn’t stopped Michael Bay’s production company Platinum Dunes from picking up the rights to the franchise, and have announced that they are looking for none other than John Cena to play the lead role.
Cena has oddly had a better career as a comedian (Trainwreck, Sisters, Daddy’s Home) than as an action hero (12 Rounds, The Marine), but Nukem would see a perfect combination of both of these traits.
Cena is currently in production on Bumblebee: The Movie, co-starring with Hailee Steinfeld in the 1987-set prequel to the first Transformers movie, which Bay is also producing, but directing duties is going to Travis Knight (Kubo & The Two Strings).
There has been no writer or director yet assigned to the Duke Nukem job, and Cena himself is only in negotiations for the part, but should he take it, you can be sure that Hollywood’s brightest new action crew will want to be a part of it.
Clip via Movieclips
