Vin Diesel calls Dwayne Johnson to reprise his role as Hobbs; Credits: Variety
Burying the hatchet for two grown-up men who have spent a significant portion of their lives stuck in a catty feud is certainly not something easy to do. But, it looks like Vin Diesel is trying to extend a hand from his side and restore his friendship with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.
The Fast and Furious actor is offering a peace settlement to his former co-star from the Fast franchise and has called off his feud via an Instagram post. The peace-offering is, of course, not devoid of the passive-aggressive connotation that fans had come to associate with these two, especially when they had previously tried calling off the shots and pretending to be friends.
The long-standing issues between the two actors emerged out of the 'creative differences' of the two. Their feud has been a major headline maker in the past few years and definitely has its own separate fan base. It also does not help that both the actors have not strongly refrained from using sarcasm-dripping sentences when they talked about each other in interviews or their social media handles.
But now that the Fast and Furious franchise is slowly drawing to its imminent closure, Vin Diesel is looking forward to achieving success as never seen before for the franchise. The actor has worked in the film franchise since its first movie and has devoted a chunk of his life promoting the film and working on its design. With the tenth film, in hindsight, the deeply devoted actor wants the character of Hobbs to return to the film series.
The role was portrayed by Dwayne Johnson for the first time in Fast 5. He continued playing the character until after the seventh film when the actors fell out of favor, and The Rock went on to portray Hobbs on a separate The Fast and Furious film. The character has admittedly gathered a lot of appreciation, and Johnson, for his part, is a fairly admirable character. Getting both the character and the role back to the franchise could mean the difference of sky and earth for one last Fast and Furious film.
So, to put his case in front of his long-term rival, Diesel took to his trusty social media account and posted an openly welcome message to Dwayne Johnson through his Instagram post. The request for the actor's return is paired with a picture of the two actors amidst a shot as they square off their shoulders for a fight and debuts the actor's wish to see the actor again on the sets of the Fast franchise.
But as you can expect from the two men who butted heads for a long, long while, it was quite impossible for Vin Diesel to not have slipped in a sarcastic expression of affection which would serve no other purpose but make the bulk of muscle, Johnson, look 'little.' Evidently, the post featured Diesel referring to The Rock as 'little brother,' a term which Johnson is not very fond of.
The post read: "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." 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 any other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny."
If you are an ardent The Rock fan, you must remember that the Dominic Toretto actor had previously called Johnson the term once, and the latter had quickly relayed how much he did not like it. During an interview with Vanity Fair, the Hobbs and Shaw actor had said, "I have one big brother, and it's my half brother. And that's it." It looks like Diesel is trying his best to get a rise out of his former co-star.
But this is not all of it. The actor went a notch ahead with his endearing usage of 'little brother' and truly tried to make it a real thing. As you may know, Diesel, with all his muscle and sturdiness, stands only around 5'11, while his younger co-star, The Rock, hulks proudly at 6'3. However, the picture posted by Diesel requesting Johnson to return to the franchise clearly shows Diesel towering above Dwayne Johnson, maybe to prove that, after all, the latter is the younger one.
If this does not drive the final nail into the fragile egos of the two hulking brutes, you might also have heard the rumor of Diesel coming up with a whole lot of software to ensure that both the actors have an equal number of fights in the film franchise.
The two actors are under contractual obligations of how much damage they can cause each other in fictional fights, and a well-distributed count of fights could help them maintain their show of toughness. The two even went on to get their action scene 'balanced' in the editing rooms so that they both get to emerge victorious without a scratch on their masculine pride.
Now, it would be interesting to wait and watch how Dwayne Johnson responds to this big fiasco. The actor was not directly tagged under the post by Vin Diesel, but such a post is bound to find its way to the Rampage actor. Johnson, surely, must have got the 'sweet little memoir' by now, and considering that he is quite active on his account, a post reply is bound to drop anytime soon.
On the other hand, his reply could go either way as the two actors have had a past of fighting and then reconciling at the most unlikely of times. So, while Johnson might get back to the sets of the Fast and Franchise, the actor previously hinted on never wanting to work with Diesel. The Jumanji actor had once said that he and Diesel are "philosophically two different people," and they "approach the business of moviemaking in two very different ways."
So, his return to the screen along with Diesel could offer a catch, maybe suggesting that he gets to defeat the notorious Dominic Toretto. Nevertheless, the Fast and Furious franchise fans are unlikely to ever enjoy such a scenario. So maybe Johnson will have to contend with another plot trope.
Dwayne Johnson has yet to respond to the invitation by Vin Diesel; Credits: E! Online
In the end, the film franchise is going to go out with a bang either way but would only be more magnificent if Johnson replies to the request with affirmative.
