'Hobbs And Shaw' Image: The Rock Leads His Family Into The "Biggest Showdown" In 'Fast And Furious' History

Over the course of 18 years and eight films, the Fast and Furious franchise pulled off the ultimate bait-and-switch. "Come for the fast cars!" the trailers said. "Come for the big action and hot stars!" the posters cried. And yet, audiences slowly realized that this was a series that was really all about...wait for it...family. Families who drive fast cars and get involved in big action and are all played by hot stars, but still, family.

So it makes perfect sense that the first Fast and Furious spin-off movie, Hobbs and Shaw, will pick up this particular torch and sprint with it. Star Dwayne Johnson took to Instagram to reveal that Luke Hobbs' extended family will play a role in the film. And yes, they're all beefy, tattooed Samoan gentlemen.

Johnson has always been loud and proud of his Samoan heritage, and it looks like he's injecting that pride straight into the veins of Hobbs and Shaw. Sure, Jason Statham's criminal-turned-ally Deckard Shaw is somewhere around here as well, but Hobbs is going to have a little help in this adventure from his brothers, pictured in the image above.

In the caption, Johnson explains that his siblings are are former crooks who now run a legit business building custom vintage cars:

In Samoa we have a word that means everything to us – AIGA – which means FAMILY.  My name is Luke Hobbs and these are my four brothers. My family. My aiga. They all live in Western Samoa where they own and operate "Hobbs Customs" – a former illegal chop shop, now a legit business where they build and deliver vintage custom cars all over the world. In Samoa we have another saying which is "Ou te le tau to'atasi ae matou te tau fa'atasi" which means, When you fight one, you fight us ALL. Biggest showdown the Fast & Furious Universe has ever seen is coming this summer.

Family? Criminals turned good? AUTOMOBILES?! Yep, this is most certainly a Fast and Furious movie.

Plot details for Hobbs and Shaw remain most under wraps, but we do know that it will see Johnson and Statham's tough-as-nails rivals team up once more to take down a bad guy played by Idris Elba. It's not entirely clear how large of a role Hobbs' Samoan family (which includes Johnson's real-life cousin and professional wrester Roman Reigns) will play in the plot – are they there for flavor or will they actively join the fight against the main baddie? In either case, it's very cool to see Johnson using his star power to put his heritage at the forefront of a major studio action movie.

Maybe the answer to that question lies in this next post, which sees Johnson leading a small army of Samoan men into battle with a caption that promises "the biggest showdown the Fast and Furious franchise has ever seen." Take a look:

Hobbs and Shaw recently wrapped filming and will hit theaters on August 2, 2019. Deadpool 2 and Atomic Blonde filmmaker David Leitch directs.