“Fast & Furious 5” breathed new life into the Fast series and brought Dom’s extended family from previous films together in Rio for a spectacular assignment. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a newcomer as Agent Luke Hobbs, then still a muscular opponent, until Dom and his crew earned Hobbs’ respect.
However, there can be no talk of mutual respect when it comes to the behind-the-scenes relationship between Johnson and Vin Diesel. The exact circumstances of their disputes never came out, as every version of the story was later revised, but one thing is certain: Diesel and Johnson don’t like each other.
So it happened that the two actors in “Fast & Furious 8” hardly had any scenes together and Johnson then left the series to shoot the spin-off “Hobbs & Shaw” with Jason Statham. A return in “Fast & Furious 10” seemed unlikely and all remaining hopes were now dashed by Johnson.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Johnson was supposed to talk to Emily Blunt about the Disney film “Jungle Cruise”. However, the reporter addressed recent remarks by Vin Diesel that Diesel wanted Johnson to play “Tough Love” better and find his way into his role as Luke Hobbs. Johnson’s reaction to this:
I’ve laughed and I’ve laughed a lot. I think everyone could laugh about it. And I’ll leave it at that. And I wish you all the best. I wish you all the best with Fast & Furious 9. And I wish you the best of luck with Fast Furious 10 and Fast & Furious 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious films that are made without me.
Dwayne Johnson on Vin Diesel’s recent testimony
The last sentence by Johnson in particular causes speculation. We will certainly not see Johnson again in parts 10 and 11 of the Fast series, but does Johnson also exclude participation in any upcoming Fast productions? Just a sequel to “Hobbs & Shaw” seemed likely after the film ended on a cliffhanger.
It is possible that the beginning story of “Hobbs & Shaw” with Jason Statham’s return to the regular Fast franchise is simply covered in the two remaining Fast films. In that case, however, it should be explained why Agent Luke Hobbs suddenly disappeared from the scene.