Fans of the Fast & Furious franchise rejoice, for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has confirmed that Luke Hobbs will return. Johnson first portrayed Hobbs in Fast Five and made his final appearance in The Fate of the Furious. During the filming of the latter, Johnson and Vin Diesel had a falling out, reportedly about Diesel's work ethic, but the two apparently buried the hatchet last year.
Johnson would go on to star in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (the first live-action spinoff in the franchise) with Jason Statham, but since then, there has been radio silence. The Rock doesn't like candy-ass lazy people, and that was that. Rumors about his return started swirling earlier this year, and The Rock himself turned to Twitter to confirm it.
The franchise will be shoehorning another Hobbs movie between the events of Fast X and Fast X: Part II, which will only hit cinemas in 2025.
The second standalone outing of Johnson's character is expected to serve as an intro to the final Fast & Furious movie. "The next Fast & Furious film you'll see the legendary lawman in will be the Hobbs movie that will serve as a fresh, new chapter and setup for FASTX: Part II," Johnson wrote on Twitter.
You'll note in the statement above that Johnson is not confirming another Hobbs & Shaw movie. It's just Hobbs who gets a nod, and that means Jason Statham's involvement is not confirmed. That said, he didn't play a huge role in the latest film, and perhaps this spinoff is why. Those looking for new of a Letty solo outing will just have to wait.
While we don't want to spoil anything, the fact that Johnson is returning is a pretty big spoiler. Whether you've seen the movie or not, you probably know that Hobbs appears in the Fast X stinger. Jason Momoa's Dante is out to get revenge on Dobbs because he nonchalantly executed his dad in a pretty cool scene in Johnson's Furious debut.
Johnson also confirms that the action starts directly after that stinger, so the most likely plot is The Rock going up against Khal Drogo in a standalone movie, feeding directly into the final Fast & Furious movie(s). If Hobbs survives the encounter, he's almost guaranteed to be in the finale, whether that's one movie or two.
Is it a cash grab? Probably. But that doesn't mean we can't like it. You know precisely what you're getting if you watch a movie starring The Rock. He'll probably drive a Bronco Raptor, punch Dante in the face, and then meet up with the Fast crew for a barbeque.
Formulaic but entertaining nevertheless.