Dwayne Johnson left his mark on the Fast and Furious saga, but what would have happened with the franchise had The Rock never played Hobbs?Dwayne Johnson was part of the main Fast and Furious films from Fast Five to The Fate of the Furious, and the history of the franchise would have been a lot different had The Rock never been cast as Hobbs. Curiously, The Rock was initially not supposed to play Hobbs in Fast Five, as the character was originally created for Tommy Lee Jones.
Vin Diesel eventually decided to bring Dwayne Johnson into the Fast and Furious family in the role of Luke Hobbs, a character that changed Fast and Furious forever both in front and behind the camera.While Dwayne Johnson was already making a name for himself in Hollywood, Fast Five helped cement The Rock as one of the world’s biggest action stars. Fast Five went on to claim $626.1 million at the box office, the highest-grossing film in The Rock’s career up until that point.
Dwayne Johnson would later star in other blockbuster movies, including in his own franchises, but the actor remained part of Fast and Furious for three other movies and a spinoff, Hobbs & Shaw.
The Rock did not return for F9 following his fallout with Vin Diesel, and, despite a solid box office, Hobbs & Shaw still hasn’t received a sequel. The Rock is also not expected to return for Fast X,
the first of a two-part story that will conclude the Fast and Furious saga.Initially brought into Fast and Furious as a villain, The Rock’s Hobbs became a Dominic Toretto ally already in Fast Five.
After chasing Dom and his crew in the middle of Rio de Janeiro, Hobbs realized that Toretto was not the real enemy – setting up Hobbs to become part of the Fast and Furious family. Considering how The Rock starred in four of Fast and Furious’
most successful movies, including the two that have crossed the billion-dollar mark, it is hard to picture what Fast and Furious would have been in the 2010s without Dwayne Johnson.
The Rock’s Hobbs was more than an antagonist turned into an ally – he was a symbol of how much the Fast and Furious movies had changed. Without The Rock, Fast and Furious’ transformation from street
racing movies to action-packed blockbusters might have never worked, and the franchise’s worldwide box office would have never become as big.