The Fast & Furious franchise is one of the most lucrative IPs in Hollywood and even created a successful spinoff with the Hobbs and Shaw film starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham as the titular characters. Now that the Fast & Furious movies are winding down, with a planned final trilogy of films, fans want to know if Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw will be returning to the franchise that created their characters in the first place for one last hurrah. The director of F9, Justice Lin, who is also overseeing the development of the finale trilogy, told Deadline that Hobbs and Shaw are still very much a part of the Fast & Furious family.
“I never really considered them gone, you know? To me, they’re still in this universe; they’re part of this family. Whatever we do, whenever we’re talking about the next chapter, I never feel like I have any restrictions, so I’m excited for what we build, and as we’re coming to this kind of final chapter of this saga, I think I’m excited to revisit … any character, in any situation, is up for discussion.”
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Family or not, the question of whether Hobbs & Shaw, particularly Hobbs, will return to Fast & Furious is more complicated than simply lining up the actors’ filming schedules. For a long time, it has been known that Johnson had some major problems with Vin Diesel, who plays Dominic Toretto, the lead of the whole Fast & Furious saga. Things got so bad that during the making of The Fate of the Furious, Johnson uploaded a post on Instagram that threw major shade at Diesel.
“My female co-stars are always amazing and I love ’em. My male co-stars, however, are a different story. Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t. The ones that don’t are too chicken s**t to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses. When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I’m not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling – you’re right.”
For his part, Diesel has been more diplomatic about the Fast and Furious feud, stating in 2017 that, “I don’t think the world really realizes how close we are, in a weird way. I think some things may be blown out of proportion. I don’t think that was his intention. I know he appreciates how much I work [for] this franchise. In my house, he’s Uncle Dwayne.”
The bad blood seemed to have been finally put to rest with the release of Hobbs and Shaw, which Diesel publicly praised and supported. In return, Johnson thanked Diesel in an Instagram post and hinted that Hobbs might indeed meet Dom on screen again at some point down the line.
“Lastly, but not least, I want to thank brother Vin [Diesel] for your support of Hobbs & Shaw. My goal was always, all these years, to come into the Fast & Furious world and help elevate the franchise in any way that I possibly could. And of course, all roads lead to one thing. I’ll be seeing you soon, Toretto.”
Directed by Justin Lin, F9 stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell, and Charlize Theron. The film arrives in theaters on June 25. This news arrives from Deadline.
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