By: John M Jerva

Well it looks like Dwayne The Rock Johnson isn’t buying what Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel is selling and I kind of already suspected it. Diesel tool to social media back in November to try and warm Johnson’s heart in an attempt to get the star to come back to the F&F franchise and finish up F10 and F11. In his post, Diesel stated:

“The world awaits the finale of ‘Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes… but the time has come. Legacy awaits. I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo. I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10!”

Yeah it didn’t work as The Rock gave Diesel a resounding No while be interviewed by CNN. His answer was more like blunt force trauma so I fear this relationship is DOA.

“I told [Diesel] directly that I would not be returning to the franchise. I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return. Vin’s recent public post was an example of his manipulation. I didn’t like that he brought up his children in the post, as well as Paul Walker’s death. Leave them out of it. We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding,” Johnson stated in the interview.

Ouch. Sounds pretty concrete to me. When Diesel shared the Instagram plea, I felt it weird as well that he would use his children and the late, great Paul Walker as bait to lure him back. It almost seemed like Diesel was setting Johnson up to be the heel if he said no thus making him look like the man in the white hat.

We will never know what happened behind closed doors for real but from Johnson’s standpoint, it’s a done deal and Hobbs will only be back in Hobbs and Shaw follow ups with Statham. I would assume that other characters from the Fast franchise could appear once again with Johnson as it seems Diesel is the only one he has issues with and he made that clear on his next statement.

“My goal all along was to end my amazing journey with this incredible franchise with gratitude and grace. It’s unfortunate that this public dialogue has muddied the waters. Regardless, I’m confident in the ‘Fast’ universe and its ability to consistently deliver for the audience… I truly wish my former co-stars and crew members the best of luck and success in the next chapter.”

It’s a shame as I felt that the last Fast and Furious film F9 was sorely lacking with Johnson and Statham absent. The Stath did show up in the stinger scene at the end so it would appear that he is fine with appearing in the next installment but we shall see how that all plays out. I, for one, would love to see Shaw back even if it’s just him as the action and fight sequences would get a major upgrade. No offense to John Cena who made his debut in the last installment.

Universal Pictures delayed F10 from April 7, 2023, to May 19, 2023. No reason was given for that switcheroo but delaying a Fast movie is becoming expected nowadays.

Johnson and Statham are still expected to reunite for Hobbs and Shaw 2 at some point in the future but there has been no traction as of late with that one.

Keep it locked and loaded right here in 2022 as we are your destination for everything action!!!