Like any real family, the cast of the Fast & Furious franchise have been having some ups and downs recently. Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel may have put their highly public feud to bed, but things were so heated between the two at one stage that they didn’t shoot any scenes together for the eighth installment. This played a huge role in the development of the series’ first spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, which led to Tyrese Gibson taking plenty of social media potshots at his former co-star.
Hobbs & Shaw would go on to become one of the biggest movies of the year, earning over $750 million at the box office and proving that the Fast franchise still has plenty of mileage left, while the ninth main entry is currently shooting amidst rumors of Johnson possibly returning to the fold in a cameo appearance. With the world now expanded thanks to the introduction of the shady Eteon corporation and their army of super-soldiers, could the two divergent blockbuster action brands eventually tie in together?
In a recent interview, director David Leitch was asked that very question, and offered his opinions on whether or not Hobbs & Shaw would tie directly into Fast & Furious 9.
“There’s definitely opportunities for them, but that’s really a studio question. I tried my best to make this a real fertile world outside of Fast… The world’s their oyster so I hope they take part in the fertile ground and explore it.”
Admittedly, it’s a bit of a non-answer from Leitch, but he doesn’t completely rule out the possibility. We know that Helen Mirren is returning for Fast & Furious 9, and the actress obviously plays the mother of Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, while franchise architect Chris Morgan has hinted that Luke Evans’ Owen Shaw could once again make it a family affair.
With Hobbs & Shaw nudging the series closer into the realms of sci-fi, now seems like the perfect time to throw all logic out of the window once and for all and simply give the fans what they want and make the tenth and allegedly final movie Fast & Furious in Space.
