Dwayne Johnson recently teased that he will not return as the character Hobbs in the main Fast and Furious franchise. The actor appeared in four Fast movies, and then led the spin-off Hobbs and Shaw with Jason Statham. Producer Hiram Garcia, who leads Seven Bucks Productions with Johnson, has not confirmed that the character will not appear in Fast 10 or 11, but will be back for another spin-off.
"After filming Fast 8, [Johnson] made the clear decision to close the Fast and Furious chapter for all the evident reasons," he told Collider. "He wished them all well and shifted our focus on to other storytelling avenues. So while he will not be in F10 or F11, that won’t in any way interfere with our Hobbs plans."
Garcia continued: "Obviously, all these characters exist in the Fast universe and we love to see all aspects of that universe thrive and succeed. We just have specific plans for what we want to do with the Hobbs character and I think the fans are going to love it. We’re working to deliver something very unique and fresh and we know the studio is eager for us to get into it ASAP!"
A little on those "self-evident reasons" – Johnson infamously fell out with Fast and Furious lead actor Vin Diesel while filming the eighth installment of the series. It appears the two have not quite patched things up...
Hobbs and Shaw 2 has been in development for some time, but Johnson's dance card is pretty full: the actor has recently been promoting Jungle Cruise, which was released by Disney, and finished filming the upcoming DC movie Black Adam. Up next is Red Notice, the Netflix movie co-starring Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. He's also set to voice the lead character in DC's Super Pets, appear in Robert Zemeckis' The King, reboot Big Trouble in Little China, and take on a San Andreas sequel. Phew.
In the meantime, the team behind Hobbs and Shaw 2 have been busy breaking the story. "At the moment we’re trying to figure out what that sequel is going to be, but we have some very big ideas," Garcia said.
While we wait for the sequel, be sure to catch up on the entire Fast Saga so far with our guide to the Fast and Furious movies in order.
