Everything We Know About Hobbs & Shaw, The Rock's New Fast & Furious Spinoff

Wait, lets narrow that down: Hobbs & Shaw is a duet between Dwayne Johnsons Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs and Jason Stathams British military hero-turned-black-ops agent Deckard Shaw. Their chemistry was one of the clear highlights of 2017s The Fate Of The Furious, so pairing these two uneasy allies off on their own buddy-cop adventure seems like an obvious choice, giving them ample room to bicker and bond their way toward a grudging mutual respect-or not. As Johnson captioned the first promo still on his Instagram, We either gonna get along or we gonna get it on. Fuck getting along. (Note: This tagline probably isnt official.)

View this post on Instagram FIRST LOOK: HOBBS & SHAW. We either gonna get along or we gonna get it on. Fuck getting along Great first week of shooting our Fast & Furious spin-off, HOBBS & SHAW with my ace @jasonstatham. Were havin a blast disrupting the norm to deliver something fresh, cool, fun and bad ass for the fans. #TheOutlawLawman #TheInternationalSpy #HobbsAndShaw SUMMER 2019 @universalpictures @davidmleitch @hhgarcia41 A post shared by therock (@therock) on Oct 3, 2018 at 3:44pm PDT

It one-ups every other Fast & Furious film by a factor of Idris Elba.

The campaign to make Idris Elba the next James Bond may have fallen short, but Hobbs & Shaw finds him joining the franchise thats inherited its legacy of globetrotting, casual-cool spectacle. Elba will play the movies heavy, Brixton-the baddest villain the franchise has ever seen, Johnson enthused to Entertainment Weekly , even more diabolical than those played by Charlize Theron and (before he was redeemed) Statham himself. Johnson later called Elbas character an icon in the making, praising not only his next-level performance but his as-yet-untapped martial arts prowess at kickin the shit out of me.

View this post on Instagram Creating an icon. For HOBBS & SHAW we cast the one and only @idriselba to be the baddest, most diabolical, most dominant and coolest bad guy the FAST & FURIOUS franchise has ever seen. I thought it was a good idea to create an iconic character at the time I pitched it - until he started kickin the shit outta me for 14hrs daily, in the cold rain and working thru weekends. The man to my left is my brother in arms. He also has a vicious Muay Thai elbow. And I had to open my big mouth. In the end, its worth the pain. #CreatingAnIcon #Brixton HOBBS & SHAW SUMMER 2019 @hhgarcia41 A post shared by therock (@therock) on Dec 20, 2018 at 10:59pm PST

It adds to Fast & Furious ever-growing, ever-convoluted family.

Those traditional end-of-movie barbecues will need another place setting for Vanessa Kirbys Hattie Shaw, sister to both Stathams character and Luke Evans Owen Shaw, the chief antagonist of Fast & Furious 6. Like her brothers, Hattie has a military background, but she stayed legit: Shes an MI6 agent who mixes it up with Hobbs, much to Deckards chagrin. While shes arguably best known for The Crown, Kirby comes to the Fast & Furious world hot off of Mission: ImpossibleFallout, where she proved unflappably cool amid so much international intrigue-although a set image shared by Johnson suggests that this time, shell be a bit more in the thick of the action.

View this post on Instagram Building out our Fast & Furious franchise step by step. In our spin-off, HOBBS & SHAW, I have a nice new friend. Meet Hattie Shaw played by my homegirl, @vanessa__kirby. Hattie loves the following/ Longs walks on the beach. Being a bad ass MI6 Operative. Drinking tequila with Hobbs. And not in that order. Hattie also happens to be the sister of Deckard Shaw, whos played by @jasonstatham. It tortures him that his sister Hattie is kickin it with Hobbs. His pain makes me very happy. But what makes me happier is welcoming this crazy talented actress and cool chick to our movie. Havin a blast together. Building out the franchise step by step. #HattieShaw #MI6BadAss #TequilaDrinkerWithHobbs HOBBS & SHAW A post shared by therock (@therock) on Oct 29, 2018 at 1:11pm PDT

Other new additions include Baby Drivers Eiza Gonzalez as the mysteriously named M and newcomer Eliana Sua as Hobbs daughter, plus Eddie Marsan and Ellie Nicole-although its not clear yet who theyll be playing (or who they might be related to).

Its directed by one of the most in-demand names in modern action.

Although he has just a few films to his credit, stuntman-turned-director David Leitch has already amassed a considerable reputation on the backs of Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2, plus his uncredited turn on John Wick. Leitchs approach-a smart array of heavily stylized pulp and stunning setpieces, all of it cut straight to the bone-seems like a good fit for Hobbs & Shaws lean dynamic, which is reportedly more grounded and character-driven than previous films.

Itll be funny, too!

Leitchs films also have a knowing sense of humor that should also lend itself to a Fast & Furious movie driven by banter, rather than a dude in a tank top. Its definitely become much funnier than we intended for it to be, I think, Statham told EW . Its just two guys screwing around, making the most of it, and were getting some good stuff. Johnson agreed, saying this one would really lean into the comedy of the mismatched duo getting the job done while constantly getting on each others nerves.

The candyass count is reset to zero.

The Fate Of The Furious arrived amid rumors of a feud between Johnson and co-star Vin Diesel, a fight that erupted publicly after Johnson complained on Instagram of an unnamed chicken shit and candyass with whom hed scrapped on set. After said candyass was revealed to be Diesels, their growing rift threatened to consume the entire film-and maybe even the future of the franchise. Although theyve since cooled, offering measured statements about a fundamental difference in philosophies, Johnson has hedged on working with Diesel again, hesitating to confirm whether hell even return for Fast & Furious 9. Meanwhile, their co-star Tyrese Gibson has blasted both the spinoff and Johnson for making the Fast & Furious franchise all about YOU . So although Leitch has hinted that there may be a crossover cameo or two from the main series, its safe to say that Diesel and Gibson wont be among them.

Ditto the carbs.

View this post on Instagram Last meal of the night and carb depleting (shirt comes off in this movie ) for our final massive battle sequences coming up next week for HOBBS & SHAW - my FAST & FURIOUS spin-off film. Wanted to bring the HOBBS character in razor sharp condition and shape for this one. The exact science of this diet and training is tough on the ol system to maintain for four months of filming, but film lasts forever and we get one shot to try and make something iconic for the fans. Then Ill race everyone to the waffle truck. #lastmeal #11pm #carbdeplete #hobbsandshaw #fuckingscience A post shared by therock (@therock) on Jan 20, 2019 at 1:40am PST

Johnson, one of our great celebrity over-sharers, has been posting videos of the intense regimen hes undertaken for the film, with Johnson seemingly determined to eradicate that final 0.0001% of body fat for your moviegoing enjoyment. The exact science of this diet and training is tough on the ol system to maintain for four months of filming, but film lasts forever and we get one shot to try and make something iconic for the fans, Johnson captioned a photo of one of his dreary pre-packaged meals, his fifth of the day. So if nothing else, maybe you owe it to Dwayne Johnson to see this movie for robbing himself of carbs and pushing himself to heretofore-undiscovered levels of jacked.

You can expect a lot more of these.

Like a musclebound Laverne & Shirley, Hobbs & Shaw seems poised to be the first of many satellites from the Fast & Furious mothership. Diesel has teased an all-female version that Universal is supposedly interested in, along with a second spinoff concept that he wont elaborate on yet-both of these in addition to the still-flourishing main series, which is currently set to wrap with its ninth and tenth films in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Given that the whole franchise has earned more than $5 billion to date, and Hobbs & Shaw only promises to add to those considerable coffers, its safe to say we could be seeing Fast & Furious movies-possibly centered on characters we havent even met yet-for many years to come. Maybe theyll even get back to street racing, eventually.