Earlier this year, around the time that John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was in theaters, a rumor popped up that Keanu Reeves would be appearing in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. It turns out that was never true, according to director David Leitch, who previously worked with the actor on the first John Wick. However, just because he didn’t appear in Hobbs & Shaw doesn’t mean Keanu Reeves won’t ever appear in a Fast and Furious movie. In fact, he’s had talks about joining the franchise.
That’s according to the writer of Hobbs & Shaw, Chris Morgan, who spoke about bringing Keanu into the fold. Chris Morgan recalled:
I sat down with him and we’re talking about. I wanted him to be in the Fast universe for a very long time. We’re just trying to find... the hardest thing is always time and competing schedules and then designing the right thing together. My fervent desire is to bring him into this franchise for sure.
Chris Morgan doesn’t just want Keanu Reeves to join the family of the Fast & Furious franchise, he’s actually already had talks with the actor about that very thing (which is why the rumors were out there). So clearly there is some interest on both sides about bringing the internet’s boyfriend and iconic action star to the highly successful action franchise.
This isn’t a new goal either. As he told ScreenRant, Chris Morgan has wanted to bring Keanu Reeves into the Fast & Furious franchise for some time. Chris Morgan is a long-time writer on the franchise, having written the scripts for every entry since The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and having served as a producer on the films since Fast & Furious 6. So Chris Morgan has some real power to bring Keanu Reeves in, it’s just a matter of making it work.
It sounds like one of the reasons that Keanu Reeves hasn’t sipped a Corona and lived life a quarter-mile at a time yet comes down to two factors: scheduling and finding the right role. Now, more than perhaps ever, Keanu Reeves is in high demand, and between stuff like The Matrix 4, Bill & Ted Face the Music and future John Wick films, he’s got a full plate.
So working out the schedule to get him into a Fast & Furious movie, mainline or spinoff, is no easy task, especially considering that these ensemble films already require coordinating schedules for a lot of actors. Beyond that, it seems like it’s about designing the right role for the actor. If you bring in Keanu Reeves, you want it to be for something good, something that excites him and fans of the franchise.
Chris Morgan also seemingly wanted it to be a role that wouldn't just be a one-off. The initial rumor about him being in Hobbs & Shaw had him as the big bad who Idris Elba’s Brixton was working for. That big bad went unseen in the movie, so in theory Keanu could still play him in a sequel, and it would be cool to see the guy who often plays the hero as a menacing bad guy.
It may not have happened yet, but Chris Morgan really wants it to, and there will be plenty of opportunities to make it happen in the future. Fast & Furious 9 is on the way, on which Chris Morgan is also a writer, and after the success of Hobbs & Shaw, this could be a two-pronged franchise moving forward. Or maybe we’ll get a John Wick/Fast & Furious crossover, who knows.
Fast & Furious 9 hits theaters on May 22, 2020 and you can next see Keanu Reeves in Bill & Ted Face the Music, in theaters on August 21, 2020. Those are just two of the big movies you can look forward to next year. Check out the rest in our 2020 Release Schedule.
