The feud between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel is legendary. It was rumored that the two heavyweight stars of the Fast and Furious franchise clashed due to different work styles and attitudes. But what set tongues wagging was the allegation that The Rock was in a tussle with Diesel because he wanted to take over the mega-franchise. However, that accusation hasn’t been proven. Yet it can’t be denied that the working relationship between the two of the biggest action stars isn’t salvageable anymore. But that has posed an almost insurmountable problem for Fast X.
The Dwayne Johnson Problem In Fast X
Fast X is linked to Fast Five, the film where Dwayne Johnson plays a pivotal role. However, with Johnson’s departure from the car racing franchise, there’s not much hope for his return in a surprise appearance even though Vin Diesel had reportedly tried to lure him back. As such, this has made the situation awkward. To make matters worse, most of the usual characters of the franchise are returning except for Johnson’s Luke Hobbs. It seems like Jason Momoa’s Dante has been brought in to fix this exact issue.
The first trailer of Fast X revealed that Momoa’s character is connected to Reyes from Fast Five. This relationship will be explored through flashbacks as we will see Reyes’ safe get stolen by Dom and his team in Brazil. It’s expected that other veterans of the franchise will be brought in and remembered through old and new footage alike. But without The Rock, it would feel like something is missing. However, there are two ways the makers can try to fix this issue.
How The Fast X Crew Can Still Save The Franchise
One way to minimize the impact caused by Dwayne Johnson’s departure is to edit the story around his absence. While that might work, it would simply make audiences feel that the film is trying to decrease Hobbs’ importance to the franchise. The second option is that the makers use old footage of Dwayne Johnson playing Hobbs and somehow make it work in the story. While this isn’t an ideal situation either; if the footage can be edited properly, it would at least pay homage to an important franchise character while servicing the story.
However, this solution can backfire. After all, only using previous footage of just The Rock while using new shots of the other actors would draw even more attention to Johnson’s absence. But, in what’s touted to be one of the last films of the famous franchise, it’s important that Vin Diesel and his production team pay attention to what’s best for the characters and keep behind-the-scenes problems aside.
It isn’t known yet how the makers will try to address the loss of the Black Adam actor from the franchise. But many fans hope that they get creative so that the film doesn’t feel disjointed in an attempt to address The Rock’s absence.
Fast X will release in theaters on 19 May 2023.
Source: YouTube
