A lot of people seem to have a lot of opinions about the recently announced spinoff to the Fast and Furious franchise. However, one person who hasn't spoken up has been the guy who's actually going to make the movie, until now. Dwayne Johnson recently took to Instagram to explain to fans why he decided to take on the Hobbs focused spinoff. Ultimately, he says he wants to expand the Fast and Furious franchise into new places and with new characters so the fans have more ways to enjoy it. According to Johnson...
I want to use my spinoff platform to create new characters that fans will ultimately love to have fun with in multiple chapters and platforms. Film, TV, Digital, Virtual Reality etc... the more opportunities we can create the better for the fans. Smart business. Let's have some FUN and to quote, Hobbs the boss, if you don't like it, we're happy to beat that ass like a Cherokee drum.
While The Rock's character of Luke Hobbs may not have been introduced until the fifth Fast and Furious movie, the character quickly became one of the most popular aspects of the franchise. Maybe it's because of the fact that Hobbs was once a new character that Dwayne Johnson now wants to give others the chance to become a part of the franchise but expanding the series with new characters himself. He says he just wants to make a fun movie for fans, and there's nothing more to it than that.
The subject of the new spinoff was a controversial topic even before it was originally announced. Fast and Furious co-star Tyrese Gibson was very publicly critical of Dwayne Johnson's decision to take on a spinoff project that left the rest of the Fast and Furious "family" out. While Johnson doesn't specifically mention the controversy in his Instagram post, he does make a point to say that he only has respect for the franchise and he wants all of his franchise castmates to have better opportunities within the series going forward.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for this franchise that I've enjoyed droppin' blood and sweat in over the years and my vision is to create greater opportunities for not only my fellow FF cast mates, but for other amazing actors as well who want to be a part of something new and cool.
The forthcoming spinoff will focus on Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham and will be released in the summer of 2019, while Fast and Furious 9 has been pushed back to 2020. At this point, we have no idea who else will be involved, but it clearly sounds like Johnson has plans for other actors to become part of the franchise in this spinoff. Maybe spinoffs of the spinoff are in the future of Fast and Furious.
