Be warned. There will be SPOILERS! While FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW did gift audiences with several surprising cameos, there was one noticeable omission: Keanu Reeves. Throughout production on HOBBS & SHAW, there were frequent rumours that Reeves would be putting in an appearance, but at the end of the day, the FAST & FURIOUS spin-off was disappointingly absent of the internet's boyfriend.
Given that JOHN WICK co-director David Leitch was helming HOBBS & SHAW, it wouldn't have been all that unexpected for Keanu Reeves to pop up, so THR asked the director about those Reeves rumours and how close the actor actually came to taking part.
It all stemmed from the fact that we had talked to Keanu early on. It was even before where we ended up with this draft. I had been talking to Keanu periodically through the shooting of it all and looking for opportunities of where it could be. I also wanted to make sure that it was enough — a real promise for something legitimate in the future — and wasn’t just a stunt casting role. We started to populate the movie with all these other personalities, and I just didn’t really think that we needed it, although I would’ve loved it. We even talked in post, and I showed him a rough cut of the movie. Then, we had conversations about “is there something here?” We came to the conclusion of “let’s put a pin in it.” I’m all for finding opportunities, but I also didn't want to force anything.
As for who Keanu Reeves could have played, many have assumed that he would have stepped into the villainous role of the mysterious director of Eteon, the terrorist organization pulling the strings of Brixton (Idris Elba). Leitch said that they decided to leave the Eteon director as a nameless and faceless entity for the time being, teasing that "the mystery of what Eteon is and where it’s gonna go was left where it needed to be." When the time comes, will Keanu Reeves play the role? David Leitch isn't about to say, but eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed that the Eteon director is credited as Champ Nightengale, a pseudonym used by Ryan Reynolds in the past. That said, there's been no final decision on the identity of the character just yet.
I’ll be honest: there’s no final decision. I think we wanted to leave it open-ended. We have a lot of strong, creative ideas that are circling between Chris Morgan, the producers and myself. But, again, we wanted to give ourselves opportunity because it’s a first time out. If this was Fast Five, you’ve already built your world, and it’s good to have that cliff-hanger to get into the next one. For us, we wanted to anchor our characters in two defined worlds, show the potential of this world and set it loose into the theatrical world to see how people respond. Then, we’ll react accordingly and say, “Hey, this is what the next movie should be.” We want this thing to live on for a while, and we want these characters to have many adventures. We just felt it was too early to say, “Here’s our next adventure.”
HOBBS & SHAW is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own Matt Rooney!