Dwayne Johnson is one of the more social media-savvy stars out there, and as the actor prepares to delve into filming on Fast & Furious 8 (which has been underway for some time now, under the watchful eye of Straight Outta Compton helmer F. Gary Gray), he’s teasing the gritty new look his breakout character, agent Luke Hobbs.
Hobbs, who was first introduced as an adversary in Fast Five before becoming an ally of Dom Toretto’s “family” of racing junkies in Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7, doesn’t appear to be in great shape for this upcoming outing. Previous installments have shown audiences that he has a daughter, for whom he cares for immensely, and a love interest in Elsa Pataky’s Elena Neves, so there are certainly a few pieces in play that could send Hobbs down a dark and dangerous path.
Here’s Johnson’s post, in full:
Especially given that there have been plenty of rumors flying back and forth about a Hobbs-centric spinoff from the main Fast & Furious-verse, it makes a lot of sense that the next film in the highly bankable franchise would give him an emotional, grim story. Johnson can be an emotive actor on occasion, and anything that would give his near-guaranteed ass-kicking a thrilling “it’s personal” angle is fine in this writer’s book.
Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gisbon, and Kurt Russell all also star in the eighth Fast & Furious installment, which has shot scenes in Cuba and will take place largely in New York. With the late Paul Walker no longer a factor in the series (his protagonist character, Brian O’Conner, has driven off into the sunset), the film is also expected to transition Fast & Furious into a spy-caper series – it originally ground its gears as a street-racing narrative, then transitioned into more of a heist-thriller series for the later installments.
Fast & Furious 8 opens April 14, 2017.
