Despite the Rock’s issues with co-star Vin Diesel, he’ll return as Luke Hobbs following a surprise cameo in ‘Fast X’

Dwayne Johnson has gone from denying he’d ever return to the Fast and Furious franchise to getting his own standalone film.

Following the actor’s surprise cameo in a mid-credits scene in recent hit Fast X, Universal Pictures announced Thursday that his character, security service agent Luke Hobbs, will lead an untitled spinoff.

Johnson, 51, joined the action-packed franchise’s fifth installment, Fast Five, in 2011, and co-starred opposite Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw in 2019’s spinoff Hobbs & Shaw.

His reappearance may have come as a surprise to fans considering repeated comments he would not be returning as Luke Hobbs, citing ongoing issues with co-star Vin Diesel, who plays Dominic Toretto. In 2021, Johnson objected to an Instagram post in which Diesel, 55, publicly asked him to rejoin him onscreen.

“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,” Johnson told CNN. He also indicated the only reason he agreed to appear in 2017’s The Fate of the Furious was not having to share any screen time with Diesel.

Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. © UNIVERSAL PICTURES

But Fast X director Louis Leterrier has said he coaxed Johnson into making his cameo by showing the actor the film. “We sort of looked at each other from across the room and winked a few months back, saying, ‘We should work together,’ ” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “He came to see the movie and really loved it, and then we started talking.”

He also addressed his feud with Diesel head-on. “Last summer @vindiesel and I put all the past behind us,” he wrote. “We’ll lead with brotherhood and resolve – and always take care of the franchise, characters & FANS that we love.”

Variety has reported that the newly announced film will be produced by Johnson and franchise screenwriter Chris Morgan. The spinoff will serve to link the events of Fast X and 2025’s Fast X: Part II, scheduled to be the original franchise’s final bow — although Diesel has teased its final chapter may become a trilogy instead.

The rest of the cast for Johnson’s standalone film has yet to be announced. Featured alongside Diesel and Statham in Fast X are Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, John Cena, Helen Mirren, Brie Larson, Charlize Theron, Nathalie Emmanuel, and the series’ newest additions Jason Momoa and Rita Moreno. The late star Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow also makes a cameo.