Up until just a few weeks ago, the chances of seeing Dwayne Johnson back in the Fast & Furious franchise were slim, as he’d made it clear that he had no interest in returning to The Fast Saga, and development on Hobbs & Shaw 2 seems to have stalled. However, it was revealed ahead of Fast X that The Rock would cameo in the movie, and we now have some big takeaways and theories on his mid-credits scene appearance. Now word’s come in that Johnson has a new Fast & Furious spinoff lined up, and to be clear, it’s not the aforementioned Hobbs & Shaw sequel.
Per The Wrap’s reporting, Universal Pictures is putting together a movie pointing the spotlight back on Luke Hobbs that will not follow up on 2019’s Hobbs & Shaw, nor will it be another spinoff. Instead, it’s described as a “direct continuation” of the main Fast Saga story that will be a “bridge” between Fast X and Fast X: Part II, i.e. a mid-quel. Chris Morgan, who’s written six of the franchise’s movies, is penning the screenplay.
After the initial news broke, Dwayne Johnson went shared the below Twitter video response. Longtime Fast & Furious fans know that The Rock’s longtime feud with Vin Diesel resulted in him initially deciding not to return to the main film series, but the actor laid out how he and Diesel put the past behind them, and he’s now focused on the “North Star” of strengthening the franchise and entertaining the fans.
Hope you’ve got your funderwear on… HOBBS IS BACK. And he just got lei’d 🌺😈 Luke Hobbs will be returning to the Fast & Furious franchise. Your reactions around the world to Hobbs’ return in Fast X have blown us away 🤯🙏🏾🌍 The next Fast & Furious film you’ll see the… pic.twitter.com/vvtBgTBOnlJune 1, 2023
Warning: Fast X SPOILERS are ahead!
Although Luke Hobbs sat out Fast X’s main events, he resurfaced in the mid-credits scene leading his agents into storming the abandoned theater that Jason Momoa’s Dante Reyes was using as a base. Finding a ringing phone on the premises, Hobbs answered it, and Dante informed him that he was his next target. After all, while Dominic Toretto was the one who led the heist that led to the downfall of his late father, Hernan Reyes, it was Hobbs who actually killed the man. Hobbs didn’t break a sweat hearing that Dante was coming after him, and in his video, Johnson said that “business is about to pick up” between these characters. So while not officially confirmed, it sounds like Momoa could appear in this Fast & Furious mid-quel too.
The revelation of this project’s existence opens up various questions. For one thing, will this mid-quel be classified as Fast & Furious 11 or be a separate thing? Is this how the conclusion of the Fast Saga will stretch out into a trilogy, like Vin Diesel teased? Perhaps most importantly, does this Hobbs movie mean that Hobbs & Shaw 2 has been shelved? Hobbs & Shaw’s ending left a few loose ends, so if that’s the case, I’m hoping that this new movie can be used to resolve them. Frankly, given that Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw disappeared in Fast X shortly after getting out of that sticky situation with Han, Roman, Tej and Ramsey, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he appears in this Hobbs movie to lend a hand… in which case why not just call it Hobbs & Shaw 2, but let’s not fall down that rabbit hole.
The point being, if you’re a fan of Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs, get ready to see him back in the spotlight in the coming years. Along with this Fast & Furious entry, The Rock also has Red One coming up, which Amazon Prime Video subscribers will be able to stream, and his latest starring movie, Black Adam, can be watched with a Max subscription.
