Exclusive: Dwayne Johnson In Talks For Fast 11 Return
Dwayne Johnson may return as Luke Hobbs in the final Fast & Furious movie.
Dwayne Johnson is currently in negotiations to return as Luke Hobbs in Fast 11, the currently untitled upcoming Fast & Furious movie. According to our trusted and proven sources, the Faster star might return to the Universal Pictures franchise, despite well-publicized friction between Johnson and series lead Vin Diesel. If Dwayne Johnson ultimately does lock down Fast 11, this will be his first appearance in the series since 2017’s The Fate of the Furious.
Dwayne Johnson potentially coming back for Fast 11 is both surprising and somewhat logical, given recent changes in Hollywood. The Central Intelligence star first appeared in 2011’s Fast Five, which was directed by Justin Lin and is generally considered a turning point in the series from a focus on high-octane street racing to the globe-trotting action heist genre. Famously, Dwayne Johnson referred to himself as “franchise Viagra” in this time period, due to his high-profile box office boost to waning film series like Fast & Furious, The Mummy, and G.I. Joe.
However, times have changed since 2011, and Dwayne Johnson may now need Fast 11 more than the franchise needs him. Until recently, Johnson was being positioned as the center of the post-Zack Snyder DC Extended Universe, with his film Black Adam being pushed as a soft reboot of the franchise and supported by a massive publicity campaign. For a period, it seemed like Dwayne Johnson was essentially going to be the de facto head of the DCEU and would finally get his long-desired showdown between Black Adam and Henry Cavill’s Superman.
But Black Adam did not perform as well as Warner Bros. Discovery had hoped, public perception of Dwayne Johnson began to turn after allegations of ego-driven demands began to surface, and James Gunn and Peter Safran were installed as co-heads of the new DC Universe. In short order, both Dwayne Johnson and Henry Cavill were cut from the DCU (though there are still conflicting reports of exactly how and when that went down), which leaves them both in need of a new mega-franchise.
While Dwayne Johnson may return as Luke Hobbs for Fast 11, he has already been confirmed to come back to the franchise for a sequel to 2019’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, one of the few major films to ever include two ampersands in a single title. That film has been in development for quite some time without much forward movement; interestingly, Henry Cavill has been reported to be joining the film, so we might get a version of that Johnson-Cavill beatdown after all.
Aside from Dwayne Johnson’s apparently diminishing commercial power, it would make sense for him to join Fast 11, as it is reported to be the final film in the series proper. While Universal is already prepping further spin-offs (a la Hobbs & Shaw), the final movie in the series would be a logical reason to bring back as many characters from the franchise as possible. If Fast & Furious is going to end, Dwayne Johnson will likely be there to see it out.
