Vin Diesel pleads for Dwayne Johnson to return for Fast 10: 'Hobbs can't be played by no other'
Paging The Rock: Vin Diesel is not-so-patiently awaiting your return. On Sunday, the Fast and the Furious actor, who plays ride-or-die street racer Dominic Toretto, posted to Instagram to make an impassioned plea for his former costar to return to the action franchise for its penultimate film.
"My little brother Dwayne... the time has come," Diesel wrote alongside a still of the two actors. "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."
Diesel went on to bring up "Pablo," aka the late Paul Walker, and his promise to his friend that he would make "the best Fast in the finale that is 10." But he's convinced that can't happen if Johnson doesn't return, so he's bringing out the big guns.
"I say this out of love," he continued, before going on to pressure him that he has to show up and can't leave the franchise hanging. "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," he finished.
The very public note comes after Johnson made it clear that he has no interest in returning to the franchise, which he hasn't been a part of since the 8th installment. "I wish them well on Fast 9 and I wish them the best of luck on Fast 10 and Fast 11 and the rest of the Fast & Furious movies they do that will be without me," he told The Hollywood Reporter in July.
Part of the reason Johnson refuses to return has to do with his ongoing feud with Diesel, which is hardly private: the two have been at odds for years with tension coming to a head after production wrapped on 2016's The Fate of the Furious. Johnson made an Instagram post where he referred to some of his male costars as "candy asses" and reports eventually surfaced that Johnson was referring to Diesel with his words.
Johnson recently addressed their clash in a Vanity Fair profile, admitting that the post wasn't his "best day" but also that he wasn't mincing words. "I meant what I said ... I mean what I say when I say it. But to express it publicly was not the right thing to do," he told Vanity Fair, adding that the social media firestorm prompted a "peace meeting" — or as Johnson called it, "a meeting of clarity."
"He and I had a good chat in my trailer, and it was out of that chat that it really became just crystal clear that we are two separate ends of the spectrum. And agreed to leave it there," Johnson explained.
Johnson joined the Fast family in 2011's Fast Five, playing hard-nosed cop Luke Hobbs. He remained in the cast for the next four films and headlined in his own spin-off Hobbs vs Shaw but was absent from the recent F9.
It remains to be seen whether or not Diesel's plea will get Johnson back on set, but either way, it seems Diesel has just set the stage for a throwdown, familia-style.
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