Make sure you have plenty of baby oil, cause The Rock is (back) in the building!
Following last night's Rome premiere, The Wrap has confirmed (and decided to spoil) that Dwayne Johnson reprises his role as Luke Hobbs in the upcoming Fast X, which opens in theaters next Friday, appearing in a massive post-credits sequence that sets up the eleventh installment in the long-running franchise.
Considering how publicly Johnson swore off the franchise and leading man Vin Diesel during the production of 2017's The Fate of the Furious, it's certainly a surprising and unexpected development, but also undoubtedly a welcome one for fans who would like to see as many of the Fast Family return to the screen before the series rides off into the sunset in 2025 - unless, of course, Diesel wasn't bluffing when he stated yesterday that Universal had already asked for a Fast & Furious 12.
While Diesel and Johnson were engaged in a war of words for several years, it's believed the pair had mended fences sometime last year, although Johnson still declined Diesel's public offer to return. However, with the cold streak Johnson currently finds himself on with Black Adam, DC League of Super-Pets, and Jungle Cruise all underperforming at the box office, and his Netflix release Red Notice being a complete dud, it seems as though The Rock has had a change of heart.
Further details on the context of his scene are being kept under wraps, but it's believed to have been added during reshoots, and will presumably play a major role in setting up the franchise's endgame.
Johnson now joins a massive ensemble cast featuring Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto), Michelle Rodriguez (Letty Ortiz), Tyrese Gibson (Roman Pearce), Ludacris (Tej Parker), Jordana Brewster (Mia Toretto), Nathalie Emmanuel (Ramsey), Sung Kang (Han Seoul-Oh), Charlize Theron (Cipher), Jason Statham (Deckard Shaw), John Cena (Jakob Toretto), Jason Momoa (Dante Reyes), Brie Larson (Tess), Alan Ritchson (Aimes), Daniela Melchior, Scott Eastwood (Little Nobody), Michael Rooker (Buddy), Rita Moreno (Abuelita Toretto), Helen Mirren (Magdalene Shaw), Luis Da Silva Jr. (Diogo), and Leo Abelo Perry (Brian Marcos).
The end of the road begins.
Fast X, the tenth film in the Fast & Furious Saga, launches the final chapters of one of cinema’s most storied and popular global franchises, now in its third decade and still going strong with the same core cast and characters as when it began.
Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who’s fueled by blood revenge, and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves, forever.
In 2011’s Fast Five, Dom and his crew took out nefarious Brazilian drug kingpin Hernan Reyes and decapitated his empire on a bridge in Rio De Janeiro. What they didn’t know was that Reyes’ son, Dante (Aquaman’s Jason Momoa), witnessed it all and has spent the last 12 years masterminding a plan to make Dom pay the ultimate price.
Dante’s plot will scatter Dom’s family from Los Angeles to the catacombs of Rome, from Brazil to London and from Portugal to Antarctica. New allies will be forged and old enemies will resurface. But everything changes when Dom discovers that his own 8-year-old son (Leo Abelo Perry, Black-ish) is the ultimate target of Dante’s vengeance.