You could tell that Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw really wanted to kick each other's asses during their time together on The Fate of the Furious. Both men had a history of ass-whooping, and a second round was destined to be. Only, by the time director F. Gary Gray's entry into the franchise ended, there was more of a trading of quick witted aggression and a well-placed laugh. In fact, it was a moment so well placed that it wasn't even in the script! Apparently an eagle eyed fan read the moment where Hobbs and Shaw share a big laugh after some trash talk as a true reaction. They were absolutely correct in their assumption, as Dwayne Johnson wasn't afraid to confirm through the following admission:
Now it's not hard to imagine both Johnson and Jason Statham having such great chemistry that they'd break each other's characters. It's as easy to believe as the feud between Johnson and Vin Diesel being real, especially after the throwdown they put onto the screen in Fast Five. Also, Johnson and Statham are both class clown bad-ass types that have shown equal parts menace and funnyman on the screen, so it was only a matter of time before a moment like this occurred. And all it took was the following joke from The Fate of the Furious to break the steady focus of the two leads. Luke Hobbs told Deckard Shaw after Shaw threatened him:
With all due respect, Captain, when this whole thing is over, we're going to find a location, and I'm gonna knock your teeth so far down your throat you're gonna stick a toothbrush right up your ass to brush 'em.
A line like that is typically corny at this point, but when it's used by someone like Dwayne Johnson, the delivery really makes it sing. Just ask Jason Statham, as he was supposedly the first to break in the moment. At least, that's how Johnson told the story on his Twitter feed. It's a chemistry that may or may not have lead to that infamous end credits tag being cut, so as not to undermine the "real" focus of the franchise. Which means that this only helps confirm something we've all felt for some time now: Hobbs and Shaw need their own arena to shine in, and a spin-off would be the perfect setting for such luminous entertainment.
The Fate of the Furious is in theaters now, and all the more enjoyable knowing that it generated such chemistry to produce a genuine moment of cinematic magic.
