Dwayne Johnson officially announced his return to the “Fast & Furious” franchise on Instagram Thursday, revealing that his long-standing feud with Vin Diesel ended secretly a year ago.
After his character, Luke Hobbs, returned for a credits scene in the latest installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, Johnson revealed that he will return for future movies and has ended his past feud with Diesel, which is rumored to be the reason he left for his own spinoff film in 2019.
“Last summer Vin and I put all the past behind us. We’ll lead with brotherhood and resolve and always take care of the franchise, characters & FANS that we love.”
Johnson tweeted June 1.
“Despite us having our differences, me and Vin, we’ve been like brothers for years,” he added in a video accompanying the message.
In the video, Johnson explained why he put aside his longstanding fight with Diesel.
“Despite having our differences, when you lead with the idea of, No. 1, resolve… you just think about the future,” Johnson said.
“You think about plans that are much bigger than ourselves and those bigger plans are the bigger build outs,” he added. “Those bigger plans are the north star, as I always like to say.”
He explained that Identifying his north star, or his main goal in any context, brings him clarity and focus.
“In this case, the north star is the franchise that we love,” he said. “The north star: Our characters that we love. And the north star: our fans that we love. So, when you add all that up, it’s really not a hard decision to make. It’s a yes.”
In his tweet, Johnson said that he’ll star in a new standalone Hobbs movie in addition to the second part of “Fast X.”
“The next Fast & Furious film you’ll see the legendary lawman in will be the HOBBS movie that will serve as a fresh, new chapter & set up for FASTX: Part II,” he wrote.
The two actors have had well-documented tension that boiled over while making 2017’s “The Fate of the Furious.”
Vin Diesel has remained as franchise center Dom Toretto. But Johnson’s Hobbs has been out of the main franchise ever since, appearing in the 2019 spin-off “Hobbs & Shaw” with Jason Statham.
In December 2021, Johnson knocked down Diesel’s Instagram invitation to return, saying: “This past June, when Vin and I actually connected not over social media, I told him directly – and privately – that I would not be returning to the franchise. I was firm yet cordial with my words… but that there was no chance I would return.”
Neither star mentioned the summer-loving reconciliation before Johnson’s video. The Rock said keeping the secret was “very hard.”
