Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham team up to save the day in the trailer for this summer's spinoff, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Universal has assured the high-octane franchise lives up to its name by releasing a new Fast & Furious movie every two years for the past decade. That will continue in 2019, though the original plan was for Fast & Furious 9 to reach theaters this spring. The film was eventually pushed back to 2020 instead, leading to an infamous incident in which costar Tyrese Gibson called Johnson "selfish" for putting his solo movie first.
Funnily enough, both Johnson and Statham began their runs on the Fast & Furious series playing antagonists. Johnson's character, Luke Hobbs, was introduced as an unstoppable federal agent determined to take Dominic Toretto down in 2011's Fast Five, but has since become a trusted member of Dom's extended family. However, things are a little more complicated when it comes to Statham's character, Deckard Shaw. The British military officer-turned mercenary made his debut in Fast & Furious 6's post-credits scene, which revealed that he was responsible for Han's death in Tokyo Drift. He then proceeded to try and kill Dom and everyone he cares about in 2015's Furious Seven.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Hobbs & Shaw
Shaw went on to redeem himself in The Fate of the Furious by rescuing Dom's infant son from the villain Cipher and making peace with Toretto (a storytelling decision that inspired the #JusticeforHan backlash online). He also engaged in some entertaining trash-talking with Hobbs in the film, which inspired the idea of having the pair join forces in a spinoff movie together. The trailer for said film is now online, following the release of the Hobbs & Shaw logo and teaser poster earlier this week. Take a look, below.
Among other things, the Hobbs & Shaw trailer formally introduces Idris Elba as the film's villain Brixton, a "cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist" who, thanks to a few changes to his genes, is essentially bullet-proof. (So yes, Johnson and Statham are basically going to fight Luke Cage in the movie.) The trailer goes on to highlight The Crown and Mission: Impossible - Fallout's Vanessa Kirby as Shaw's sister, an M:I 6 agent who works with the titular duo to defeat Brixton and save the world. Of course, as Hobbs points out here, this is actually his fourth time doing just that.
Fortunately, based on this footage, Hobbs & Shaw is aware of its own ridiculousness and keeps its tongue pressed firmly in cheek, like the more recent Fast & Furious sequels have before it. The action and set pieces here also look very impressive, if reminiscent of director David Leitch's work on Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2 (the filmmaker loves his giant truck stunts). Leitch and franchise writer Chris Morgan have made a big goofy superhero movie starring Johnson and Statham, in other words, complete with a story that hops around the globe from Los Angeles to London, Samoa, and even Chernobyl for whatever reason. And it the trailer's any indicator, it's a movie Fast & Furious fans will have a blast watching.
MORE: Every Upcoming Fast & Furious Movie
Source: Universal Pictures
