Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs didn't jump aboard the Fast and the Furious film series until 2011's Fast Five, but since then he's become one of the most important characters in these turbo-charged movies. Johnson returned alongside many of the other protagonists last year in The Fate of the Furious, and while the movie was one of 2017's biggest box office success, the filming of the eight installment drew attention for the feud between Johnson and Vin Diesel, who's appeared in all but one of the Fast and the Furious movies as Dom Toretto. Fast-forward to now, Johnson is getting ready to re-team with Jason Statham for the Hobbs and Shaw spinoff, and because of that, the actor isn't sure if he'll be back for Fast and Furious 9. As The Rock put it:
I'm not quite sure. Right now I'm concentrating on making the spinoff as good as it can be. But I wish [Vin Diesel] all the best, and I harbor no ill will there, just because of the clarity we have. Actually, you can erase that last part about 'no ill will.' We'll just keep it with the clarity.
Hobbs and Shaw marks the first time that the Fast and the Furious film series is branching off from the main narrative, and with the chemistry between Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw being among the best elements of The Fate of the Furious, it makes sense that Johnson wants to make sure that they can keep that going for the duo's next adventure. Plus, Fast and Furious 9 is arriving only a year after Hobbs and Shaw comes out, and since Johnson has a lot of projects on his plate (Black Adam, for instance), he may simply not have time to play Hobbs back-to-back. However, nothing's set in stone yet, so perhaps Johnson will find a way to fit Fast and Furious 9 into his busy schedule.
As far as the Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel feud is concerned, Johnson reaffirmed to Rolling Stone that their differences ultimately came down to different philosophies when it comes to approaching moviemaking and collaborating, and Johnson confirmed that as a result, they weren't in any scenes together in The Fate of the Furious. While it doesn't sound like these two are particularly chummy now, I would imagine that they're at a point where they can at least be civil towards one another if they're collaborating on another movie. In terms of what to expect from Fast and Furious 9, while no plot details have been revealed yet, Justin Lin is reportedly in line to direct (which would make this his fifth directorial contribution to the franchise), and Jordan Brewster is expected to reprise Mia Toretto.
Hobbs and Shaw will ride into theaters on July 26, 2019, and Fast and Furious 9 will follow on April 10, 2020. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news about this car-centric franchise, and check out what movies are on the way later this year in our 2018 release schedule.
