Dwayne Johnson is officially returning to the Fast and Furious franchise after years of infamously feuding with its star and producer Vin Diesel.
After years of an infamous feud with Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson is officially back in the Fast and Furious franchise with Fast X. Johnson made his franchise debut with Fast Five as DSS Agent Luke Hobbs on the hunt for Diesel’s Dom Toretto and his family in Brazil, with later sequels seeing the two together against a variety of threats. This camaraderie didn’t continue off screen, however, as Johnson and Diesel memorably butt heads with one another on The Fate of the Furious, leading to his exit, save for the spinoff Hobbs & Shaw.
Ahead of the film’s wide release, this week saw the world premiere of Fast X in Rome, where star/producer Diesel seemingly revealed a Fast and Furious 12 was in the works. Now, The Wrap is reporting that Dwayne Johnson’s Fast and Furious franchise return is official as he reprises his role of Luke Hobbs in the post-credits scene of Fast X. No details of the scene itself have been shared at the time of writing.
Why Fast X Is Perfect For Johnson’s Fast & Furious Return
Given the film sets up Johnson’s return as a post-credits tag, it may not come as much of a surprise that his Fast X appearance has been kept under wraps throughout its production, which itself was plagued with its original director leaving after creative differences and a budget balooning to the highest of the franchise. It may come as a surprise he is back at all, however, considering the heated nature of his and Diesel’s public feud, which included Johnson rejecting Diesel’s plea on Instagram for him to return.
Though it’s unclear whether the two have brought their disagreements to a close, Fast X is still ultimately the right film to bring Johnson back to the mainline franchise. The upcoming sequel largely acts as a follow-up to Fast Five, where Johnson’s Hobbs debuted, with Jason Momoa’s Dante seeking revenge for the death of his father at the hands of Dom and his family. Though Dom and Hobbs may not have been partners in the film, their later team-ups likely have painted Johnson’s DSS agent as a target as much as the former bank robbers.
The other major element necessitating Johnson’s Fast X return is the inclusion of Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, who was last seen in F9: The Fast Saga‘s post-credits pitting him against Sung Kang’s Han, as well as his and Johnson’s Hobbs & Shaw spinoff, whose sequel is languishing in development hell. If Diesel’s tease of a third part of the finale is true, it would not only be fitting for Johnson to be a major figure in it again, but even use one of the next films to set up Hobbs & Shaw 2.
