Fans of the Fast and the Furious franchise may be disappointed to learn that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who has played the recurring character Luke Hobbs since the fifth film, Fast Five, won’t be appearing in the ninth installment of the series due to filming conflicts.
Co-stars Vin Diesel and Tyrese Gibson, however, may have differing opinions due to an ongoing feud with Johnson.
Rather than being a part of the ninth installment of the series, both Johnson and co-star Jason Statham have recently wrapped shooting on a Fast and the Furious spinoff film Hobbs & Shaw, the first spinoff film of it’s kind for the series.
In an interview with Joshua Horowitz at MTV News, Johnson stated that “as of now, we’re not in Fast 9 because they’re getting ready to start shooting,” referring to himself and Jason Statham.
“The plan has always been for the Fast and Furious universe to grow and expand,” Johnson explained. In other words, we may see some new characters in the ninth film in addition to this spinoff.
The on-set feud between Johnson and Vin Diesel
Though the beef between Johnson and Diesel started with a subtle hint on Johnson’s Instagram post, it quickly became apparent that there was more to it as multiple sources stated that both superstars were difficult to work with on-set.
Then, in another Instagram post, Johnson gave thanks to all of the people who helped make an impact in the filming of the eighth installment, The Fate of the Furious, leaving Diesel completely unmentioned. All of this led to a mostly unspoken feud, which TMZ reported was trying to be quashed through secret meetings between the two actors.