The 10th entry in the Fast & Furious series \u2013 Fast X<\/a>, pronounced \u201cFast Ten\u201d, like fast-ten your seatbelts\u2026 no, we\u2019re not kidding<\/a> \u2013 packs plenty of surprises, not least the return of presumed-dead Gisele (Gal Gadot). But the film one-ups itself mere moments after that miracle resurrection (which serves as the movie\u2019s \u2018final\u2019 scene, prior to the credits), delivering a mid-credits sting featuring a twist that no-one could have seen coming.<\/p>\n Fast X is closely linked to 2011\u2019s Fast Five<\/a>, introducing Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) \u2013 son of that film\u2019s antagonist, drug lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), and a psychopathic terrorist who uses his seemingly limitless resources to pursue revenge against Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel), the man responsible for his father\u2019s death.<\/p>\n Well, partly responsible\u2026<\/p>\n The film ends on a cliffhanger, with the fate of Dom, his son and indeed the wider Fast family appearing grim (read more about the Fast X ending<\/a>) but the mid-credits scene reveals that another character, the man who in fact delivered the killing blow that finished off Hernan Reyes, is also in Dante\u2019s sights.<\/p>\n The sequence sees Dante\u2019s lair infiltrated by a team of masked men in paramilitary gear. Dante himself is nowhere to be seen \u2013 he\u2019s in Portugal, battling Dom \u2013 but a phone starts to ring and is answered by the squad\u2019s leader. It\u2019s Dante on the line \u2013 and he makes it clear that the vengeance he\u2019s unleashed on Dom will be dealt out to this man also.<\/p>\n The masked figure reveals his face\u2026 it\u2019s Luke Hobbs<\/strong> (Dwayne Johnson), who\u2019s been MIA from the Fast & Furious franchise since 2017\u2019s The Fate of the Furious<\/a> (not counting the 2019 spin-off movie Hobbs & Shaw<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cI ain\u2019t hard to find, you sumbitch!\u201d Hobbs growls, before abruptly ending the call by crushing the phone in his fist<\/em>.<\/p> From a narrative standpoint, the return of Hobbs to the franchise at this juncture makes perfect sense \u2013 as Dante correctly points out, while Dom was indirectly responsible for Hernan\u2019s demise on that bridge in Brazil, it was in fact Hobbs who pulled the trigger and ended the villain\u2019s life (in retaliation for Reyes\u2019 men having previously executed Hobbs\u2019s own squad).<\/p>\n Not only that, but had Hobbs\u2019s absence from the series continued, it would\u2019ve raised questions as to why he wasn\u2019t joining the fray to aid Dom and the Fast family as he has previously. (The same question poses itself for the character of Brian O\u2019Connor, who remains \u2018retired\u2019 even when his family is in desperate need \u2013 though given the passing in 2013 of actor Paul Walker, there\u2019s not a great deal to be done about that. The films produced since his death have managed an impossible situation about as well as they ever could.)<\/p>\n Now, though, Hobbs\u2019s brief spell away from the main series can be explained as his having been caught up in the events of Hobbs & Shaw and their aftermath \u2013 having been occupied alongside Jason Statham\u2019s Deckard Shaw battling a cyborg supervillain played by Idris Elba (seriously), he\u2019ll now rejoin Dom\u2019s family in their hour of greatest need.<\/p>\n All that being said, the character\u2019s return is a hugely surprising twist \u2013 not because of what\u2019s occurred on-screen, but because of what has been reported to have happened off it.<\/p>\n Back in 2016, having wrapped shooting on The Fate of the Furious, Dwayne Johnson made a post on Instagram in which he alleged that certain (unnamed) male co-stars didn\u2019t \u201cconduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals\u201d.<\/p>\n In a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone<\/a>, Johnson elaborated on this, suggesting that he and Vin Diesel \u201chave a fundamental difference in philosophies on how we approach moviemaking and collaborating\u201d. Their differences were serious enough that while both men appear in The Fate of the Furious, they filmed separately for any scenes featuring their two characters together, with the footage being stitched together later.<\/p>\n In a subsequent interview, for Vanity Fair<\/a> in 2021, Johnson revealed it was his request that he and Diesel share no scenes. \u201cI wanted to forgo drama,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought that that was the best thing to do. For everybody.\u201d Later that year, however, it was Diesel who took to Instagram<\/a>, imploring Johnson to return to the Fast & Furious flagship having missed out on F9 (released that summer).<\/p>\n \u201cI say this out of love\u2026 but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle\u2026 you have a very important role to play,\u201d wrote Diesel.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very surprised by Vin\u2019s recent post,\u201d Johnson told CNN<\/a> in response. \u201cThis past June, when Vin and I actually connected not over social media, I told him directly \u2013 and privately \u2013 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Clearly, something has shifted that meant Johnson reconsidered his position \u2013 though it appears this shift came late in the day, with The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> reporting in March (after filming had wrapped on the rest of Fast X and just two months prior to the film\u2019s release) that a bonus sequence was being filmed featuring \u201ca guest cameo\u201d that we now know to be the return of Hobbs.<\/p>\n What this means for Fast & Furious 11, and indeed the state of Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel\u2019s off-screen relationship, remains unclear. Though fans might hope they\u2019ve settled their differences and we\u2019ll see Dom and Hobbs reunited to bring the Fast franchise to a suitably epic conclusion, the Fast X mid-credits scene doesn\u2019t guarantee that, only featuring Johnson\u2019s character in isolation.<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible that, similar to The Fate of the Furious, the pair will not share any scenes together \u2013 perhaps Hobbs will re-team instead with his old sparring partner Shaw, who was last seen in Fast X preparing to \u201cdig some graves\u201d having discovered that Dante was targeting his mother Queenie Shaw (Dame Helen Mirren).<\/p>\n Whatever happens next, having Johnson\/Hobbs back on board is unquestionably a boost for the series as it embarks on one last ride (or two<\/a>). As it stands, Dom and his crew will need to call in the cavalry to help stop Dante Reyes\u2026 and Hobbs? Well, he is<\/em> the cavalry.<\/p> ![\""Luke\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/luke-hobbs-2-b61c80d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"luke-hobbs-2\"\\"\/")
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