If you caught “Fast X” in the theaters this weekend, you might have seen the return of a few familiar faces from the broader “Fast and the Furious” franchise. But one particular sequence may have surprised even the most optimistic franchise fans. In that scene — and spoiler alerts for those who treat mid-credit sequences with the gravitas of the preceding film — it is revealed that Luke Hobbs, the one-person army played by Dwayne Johnson, was back in the fold.
READ MORE: ‘Fast X’ Review: Jason Momoa Flamboyantly Steals The Show
Given how ugly things had gotten between Dwayne Johnson and franchise star-slash-producer Vin Diesel, you may be wondering how Johnson was convinced to return. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Leterrier acknowledges that the first step to bringing Johnson back was making amends between the two stars. “The peace treaty… I kind of [brokered it],” the director explained. “We all did. Ultimately, the movie did.” Leterrier explained that the pitch began with a private screening of “Fast X,” which he hoped would spark interest in a return from Johnson’s camp. “We reached out to Dwayne and his team, and said, ‘Just come and watch the movie. You have to love the movie first,’” Leterrier added. “So he came to see the movie and really loved it, and then we started talking.”
By modern standards — where the edges are often rounded off any controversy — the years-long feud between Diesel and Johnson is the closest thing we have to a classic Hollywood dustup. Each round of press has brought with it new delights. In 2019, it was revealed that the franchise producers must contractually quantify the damage each actor’s character can take. And in 2021, Diesel claimed that he needed to use “tough love” to get a franchise-worthy performance out of Johnson (a claim that Johnson downplayed shortly after that). Barring another fallout between the actors, it appears that this peace treaty will last — much to the chagrin of people like myself who love the messiness of it all.
Of course, Johnson is no fool. Team Johnson has no doubt noticed that his last two attempts at a franchise launch — “Jungle Cruise” and “Black Adam” — were not exactly uncontested victories at the box office, which means Johnson is entering his first period of relative uncertainty as an actor since his earliest days in Hollywood. Returning to the franchise that helped establish him as a box office icon is just good business, no matter how much pride he might need to swallow to get back on good terms with Diesel and company.
But if nothing else, pour one out for the media savvy of the two teams. So here we are, opening weekend for “Fast X,” giving the film additional coverage because of a feud tactically set aside at the best possible time for the franchise. Diesel and Johnson may emerge as the best of friends or the most bitter of enemies, but the showmanship on display from both camps may, at this point, be even better than the movies themselves.