Finally, The Rock has come back to... (SPOILER)
Dwayne Johnson & Vin Diesel’s issues with one another are well-documented. But if you forgot about them or just never paid attention to gossip surrounding a movie franchise about a family of car-racing super-thiefs/spies, what you need to know here is that The Rock vowed never to return to the Fast & Furious films.
Turns out, pro wrestling isn’t the only never say never business DJ’s involved in.
The Wrap is reporting that Johnson’s Luke Hobbs character will return in a post-credit scene when Fast X premieres next Friday (May 19). Hobbs debuted in 2011’s Fast Five & appeared in the next three editions of the core franchise and, after Rock’s beef with series lead Diesel blew up, the 2019 spin-off Hobbs & Shaw. He skipped 2021’s F9 with his old WrestleMania foe John Cena, and didn’t think he’d be a part of this year’s installment... until this report.
It likely means Johnson will be back for more. Stingers after the main film ends are usually teasers for future movies, and Diesel’s telling the press he wants Fast X to be the start of a franchise-ending trilogy.
So what changed? Well, as The Wrap piece points out, Johnson’s time in the Fast films were a turning point for both his career and the franchise. Squashing beef for the sake of business... what a concept!
My personal conjecture? The Great One needed this more than Diesel & family. The middling box office and critical reaction to Black Adam, a movie Johnson had been hyping for years, and reporting about a subsequent failed attempt to get control of the entire DC Comics movie universe damaged The Rock brand more than anything has since he debuted as Special Agent Hobbs twelve years ago.
Buzz around that story also reminded people that Johnson doesn’t really have any other iconic film roles on his resume. Then his XFL relaunch did okay in its first season but not well enough that he hasn’t needed to do interviews about how he & his partners are playing the long game with their spring football league, and now his sitcom may be cancelled.
Those things may have given The Rock the taste for a new kind of pie. He needed a win. Time to bury the hatchet with Dom Toretto and make a return to his most popular role outside the squared circle.
Which also makes me wonder if this won’t make a WWE return more likely. Those ‘Manias with Cena came shortly after Fast Five, and helped fuel the heater Rock would go on for the next decade. Things that make you go hmmm...
Let us know if you’re excited about Hobbs’ return, and what you make of Johnson’s current pop culture standing, in the comments below.
Source: Cageside Seats
