By now, it’s not really a secret that Fast & Furious co-stars Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson have had a bit of a rocky relationship. Since the two filmed Fate of the Furious in 2016, reports have circulated that paint a picture of a stormy relationship between the Hollywood titans. Both men seem to have mostly put things behind them at this point (aside from a few in-movie jokes). However, the feud was strong enough that it caused Johnson to opt out of the upcoming final installment in the long-running, car-centric franchise. Now, Vin Diesel is making an appeal to his “little brother” on that front. And based on the message, it sounds like he really wants him to appear in Fast 10.
Vin Diesel took to his Instagram account to seemingly lay all of his cards on the table. In his emotionally-charged caption, he attempted to reach the Rock and convince him to rejoin the storied franchise. Diesel made his case by making note of the personal relationships between their two families:
My little brother Dwayne… the time has come. The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes… but the time has come. Legacy awaits.
Those who’ve been keeping an eye on developments related to the final installment in the Fast & Furious series undoubtedly know that the Dominic Toretto actor is trying to pull out all of the stops. In his social media message, he expressed his desire to make the upcoming finale the best it can be and that apparently means having Dwayne Johnson appear. He also stressed that the film fulfills a promise that was made to a certain co-star of theirs:
I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10! I say this out of love… but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play. Hobbs can’t be played by no other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.
“Pablo” was the actor’s nickname for the late Paul Walker, who was once told by the Guardians of the Galaxy actor that the series would reach 10 installments. Vin Diesel has never been one to hold back his true feelings, and he certainly let it all out here. In his original post, he also included a still of their two characters from 2011’s Fast Five. You can check it out for yourself down below:
These comments do come as a bit of a surprise given what was reported earlier in the year. This past summer, the Pitch Black star claimed he had to show the Black Adam lead some “tough love” while working on the film Dwayne Johnson essentially laughed off this notion and it was around that time that he confirmed he wouldn’t be appearing in the blockbuster saga’s two-film capper.
The Rock seemed pretty serious when he said he was done with the Fast & Furious franchise (though he’s still developing a sequel to his Hobbs & Shaw spinoff). However, director Justin Lin’s statements to our own ReelBlend podcast this past year seem to indicate that the character could easily be written back in, though. As of right now, the actor has yet to reply to Vin Diesel’s message, so we’ll just have to wait and see if it was indeed enough to convince him to join up with his former co-star.
Fast 10 is currently scheduled to release on April 7, 2023.