'Fast And Furious 9' Will Be Rock-Less, According To Dwayne Johnson

The Fast and Furious franchise is about to become Rock-free. While Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is leading his own Fast spin-off Hobbs and Shaw, don't expect him to roll on into the next Furious sequel. Johnson has confirmed that he and Hobbs and Shaw co-star Jason Statham will not be appearing in Furious 9, but that doesn't mean they won't pop up in the final entry, Furious 10.

Dwayne Johnson is no longer part of the family. At least when it comes to Furious 9. The muscular actor recently spoke to MTV News and confirmed that his character Luke Hobbs will be sitting Furious 9 out: "The plan has always been for the Fast and Furious universe to grow and expand. As of now, we're not in Fast 9 because they're getting ready to start shooting." Johnson also indicates that Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw won't be appearing in the ninth film as well. But that doesn't mean the characters won't return for the tenth and presumably final Furious film. "But who knows, with Fast 10 and down the road," Johnson continued. "You never know. Because look, at the end of the day, the truth is, there's unfinished business between Hobbs and Dom. It's unfinished."

There's also unfinished business between Dom and Shaw, what with Shaw having killed Han, who was part of the Furious family – a factor the franchise has apparently completely forgotten for the time being.

Johnson skipping Furious 9 shouldn't come as much of a surprise, since it's been well-documented that the actor and Furious lead Vin Diesel don't exactly get along. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if Hobbs (and Shaw) both show up to close out the main franchise. And while Furious 10 is said to be the final entry in the main series, there will still be plenty of Furious-related films to come. In addition to likely Hobbs and Shaw sequels, there's also a female-driven Furious spin-off currently in the works.

As for Hobbs and Shaw, you can expect it to be a bit more lighthearted than the previous Fast films, at least according to Statham. "It's definitely become much funnier than we intended for it to be, I think," the actor told EW. "It's just two guys screwing around, making the most of it, and we're getting some good stuff. But that will be determined by the audience, I'm sure, whether it's good or bad [laughs]. But we feel like we're doing something great and we're enjoying it."

Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw, which also stars Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Roman Reigns, Eiza Gonzalez, Eddie Marsan, Cliff Curtis and Helen Mirren, opens everywhere on August 2, 2019. Furious 9 will arrive on April 10, 2020. And Furious 10 follows it up on April 2, 2021.