Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Has Left The Fast & Furious Franchise

The epic beef between Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has finally reached a fittingly dramatic conclusion. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, The Rock (who plays Fast & Furious character Luke Hobbs) confirmed what fans had been theorizing for a while now: He’s not coming back to the Fast and Furious franchise.

Johnson was asked to respond to some recent comments Vin Diesel (Fast’s Dominic Toretto) had made about the start of their feud. Speaking to Men’s Health, Diesel implied that the conflict started after he used an acting technique to get a better performance out of The Rock. “I could give a lot of tough love,” Diesel said. “Not Fellini-esque, but I would do anything I’d have to do in order to get performances in anything I’m producing.”

In response, The Rock told The Hollywood Reporter, “I laughed and I laughed hard. I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. I wish them well on Fast 9. And I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me.” So... that seems to be pretty definitive.

Some context, if you’re unfamiliar: The first time fans heard of a beef was in 2016, while the cast was filming The Fate of the Furious. The Rock posted about having “zero tolerance for candy asses” on Instagram, writing, “Some [male co-stars] conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don't. The ones that don't are too chicken shit to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses,” and adding, “When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I'm not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling — you're right.” Though The Rock later said that the conflict was “followed by great resolution,” rumors continued to swirl.

At the time, Diesel seemed to confirm a feud in an Instagram post, saying he’d “tell [us] everything” — but then failed to give much more detail. In 2017, The Rock told ET that the feud came down to “creative differences,” and a Rolling Stone profile in 2018 confirmed the two never actually shot any scenes together for The Fate of the Furious.

The last time The Rock appeared in the franchise was for Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, a 2019 spinoff film. There was supposed to be a sequel, but there hadn’t been much news about it in recent months; in April, when asked about it, Hobbs & Shaw co-star Statham said they were waiting on a “good script.” Statham’s character actually made a cameo at the end of F9: The Fast Saga, so it’s likely that his character will show up in future movies — Hobbs, maybe not so much.