Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham on the badass and hilarious Hobbs & Shaw

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

After nearly two decades and eight films, we're about to get our very first FAST & FURIOUS spin-off in the form of FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW, and it looks like a stupid amount of fun. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham shared quite the on-screen chemistry during their scenes in FURIOUS 7 and THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS, so it was only natural for the pair to be the focus of the spin-off.

While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Statham commented on why audiences seem drawn to the characters of Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Statham). "I think people like to see oil and water have to merge," Statham said. "These characters are bigger and larger than life, so to try to cork up their egos to work together is not an easy task." Although the pair will still be butting heads in FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW, they'll be forced to team up in order to take on Brixton (Idris Elba), a genetically engineered super-soldier with cyber enhancements. Should be a walk in the park. "The overall goal was ‘Let’s create the greatest and baddest bad guy the Fast & Furious franchise has ever seen,'" Johnson explained. "That’s a very high bar, considering who we’ve had in the past. So when Charlize [Theron, who starred in 2017’s The Fate of the Furious] reads this, I’m going to get a text from her like, ‘Dude, what the f—! No one’s better than me!’ And I’m going to say, ‘I love you, but…'"

HOBBS & SHAW has all of the ingredients of a true FAST & FURIOUS film, such as an abundance of physics-defying action sequences and a focus on family. "There’s a common thread in all [Fast movies] where they have great action, they have great characters, and there’s a sense of family," said director David Leitch. "So if we keep those themes alive in our version of a Fast movie, then I think we’re gonna be okay." Johnson also added that while they made sure to deliver on the "huge action set pieces and great fun dialogue," they also wanted to make sure that the film had a "shit-load of comedy."

The official synopsis for FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW:

Ever since hulking lawman Hobbs (Johnson), a loyal agent of America's Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Shaw (Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015’s Furious 7, the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they’ve tried to take each other down. But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever — and bests a brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent (The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw’s sister — these two sworn enemies will have to partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves. Hobbs & Shaw blasts open a new door in the Fast universe as it hurtles action across the globe, from Los Angeles to London and from the toxic wasteland of Chernobyl to the lush beauty of Samoa.

FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW will hit theaters on August 1, 2019.