Vin Diesel has made it clear that he wants Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to return for the final installment of the Fast & Furious franchise — amid longstanding rumors of a feud between the pair.
Calling out the former WWE star via an Instagram post, Diesel implored Johnson to "rise to the occasion and fulfill destiny", and crucially, that "Hobbs can't be played by no other."
The 49-year-old former wrestler last appeared in Fast & Furious' 2019 spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw, alongside Jason Statham. Previously, he entered the franchise in 2011, when he played DSS agent Luke Hobbs in Fast Five, and he then went on to appear in 2013's Fast & Furious 6, 2015's Furious 7, and 2017's The Fate of the Furious.
"My little brother Dwayne... the time has come," the post began. "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," he continued.
"I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo. 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."
Rumors have previously swelled that Johnson would not be returning to Fast and Furious, largely due to his relationship with Diesel.
Back in 2016, Johnson wrote in a now-deleted social media post: "Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don't."
Rock added: "The ones that don't are too chicken s--t to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses. When you watch this movie next April and it seems like I'm not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling — you're right."
These comments were made while the cast was filming The Fate of the Furious.
Diesel, 54, appeared to respond to The Rock's comments in a recent interview with Men's Health — explaining that he gave Johnson "tough love" to help him. "It was a tough character to embody, the Hobbs character," he said.
"My approach at the time was a lot of tough love to assist in getting that performance where it needed to be."
"As a producer to say, Okay, we’re going to take Dwayne Johnson, who’s associated with wrestling, and we’re going to force this cinematic world, audience members, to regard his character as someone that they don’t know — Hobbs hits you like a ton of bricks," he continued. "We had to get there and sometimes, at that time, I could give a lot of tough love."
Johnson responded during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I laughed and I laughed hard. I think everyone had a laugh at that. And I’ll leave it at that. And that I’ve wished them well. 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 asserted.
