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Where is Hobbs? Remembering Where We Left Dwayne Johnson's Fast & Furious Character
It's been a while since we've seen Agent Luke Hobbs, so let's remind ourselves what happened.
The Fast Saga is a franchise so vast at this point that it's tricky for even diehard fans to keep track of all the characters who weave in and out of the adventures of the core Toretto crew. The films have gone on for so long that supporting cast members not only have major storylines moving through the whole series but, in one memorable case, ended up with their own spinoff movie. But the vastness of it all, and the behind-the-scenes wrangling that goes into getting all of that talent onscreen at once, also means that sometimes we lose track of certain characters, leaving us wondering where they are now, and trying to remember where we last left them.
We haven't seen Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs in a mainline Fast Saga movie since Fate of the Furious, and while he did co-star in the spinoff film Hobbs & Shaw with Jason Statham, it's been a while since we've heard anything new about the character. Reports of behind-the-scenes tension with Fast star Vin Diesel, coupled with Johnson's own assurances that he's done with the franchise, suggested that Hobbs & Shaw would probably be where we left the character forever, but now we have word that might not be the case.
RELATED: Everything You Need to Know Before Seeing Fast X
A new report claims that Hobbs could be back, however briefly, in this month's Fast X, setting the stage for more adventures with the character. If that does turn out to be the case, we thought it might be prudent to take a brief look back at the character's last major moments in the franchise, so we're all up to speed on Hobbs' side of the story.
The Rock in Fate of the Furious
Back in Fate of the Furious, Hobbs got a little more of a taste for the outlaw(ish) life when he was offered an off-the-books mission that would essentially make him a criminal in the eyes of law enforcement agencies, including his own Diplomatic Security Service branch. Though he wanted to stay home with his daughter, Hobbs took the job, and ended up going toe-to-toe not just with cyberterrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron), but with Dominic Toretto himself (Diesel), who'd been blackmailed into betraying his family and working for Cipher to retrieve a device that would essentially allow her to start a nuclear war with the push of a button.
Of course, Dom was always working toward turning on Cipher, and by the end of the film, with help from the whole crew, he was able to flip the script on her and win the fight. Along the way, Hobbs was arrested due to the off-the-books nature of his mission, and was forced to go rogue yet again by breaking out of prison with mercenary (and previous Fast enemy) Deckard Shaw (Statham). By the end of the film, Hobbs' supposed crimes were wiped clean, Shaw was accepted into the Fast family for his help in the mission, and Hobbs refused his old DSS job back, deciding to instead stay home and spend more time with his daughter.
That Fast & Furious spinoff: Hobbs & Shaw
Which brings us to Hobbs & Shaw, the first (and so far only) spinoff movie in the Fast franchise. In that film, Hobbs is still staying close to home, still working to focus on fatherhood, when he gets recruited to track down a supervirus that could unleash a global cataclysm. His partner for this mission, unfortunately for him, is none other than Deckard Shaw, who's both a former enemy and something of a professional rival. Together, with help from Deckard's sister Hattie (Vanessa Kirby), they work to defeat Lore (Idris Elba), a cybernetically enhanced former MI6 agent who's working to gain control of the virus for a mysterious organization that hopes to use it to reshape humanity's future.
Eventually, after years of ducking his own family, Hobbs realizes the only way to beat Lore is to head back to his ancestral home of Samoa and ask for help from his estranged loved ones, setting in motion a showdown that reawakens Hobbs' roots, deepens his bond with Shaw, and convinces him to connect his daughter with her extended family. Oh, and it should probably go without saying, but they beat Lore.
So, where does that leave Hobbs now? Well, the end of Hobbs & Shaw teased yet another deadly supervirus that he'd need to track down, so we can safely assume he's still out there doing the work in some form or another. We know thanks to the end of F9 that Shaw is also out there doing what he does, but we have no indication right now that the pair is teamed up. We also have no idea what Hobbs' status is with regard to the Toretto family, since it's been years at this point since the last time we saw them at a cookout together. It's all a jumble of unanswered questions, but that means that if Hobbs is set to make a comeback, the franchise will have plenty of plot to work with in order to bring him back into the fold.
Fast X is in theaters Friday. Get tickets now.
