'Hobbs & Shaw' as a 'Fast & Furious' spin-off is essential as it may see the origins of our favorite lead characters
"Blood, bullets, wrath of God, that’s his style," says a grim-looking Paul Walker in 'Fast Five' when he and the team find out that they had been tagged by Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). "He's old testament".
Johnson's Luke Hobbs was one of the new characters introduced in the 'Fast and Furious' franchise and he has played an integral role in the future movie installments since then. He came into the picture as a former Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent and was tasked with apprehending Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) for the death of four DEA agents in Rio.
In the next two movies, he enlists Toretto's team to help capture Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and follows it up by assisting the team to take down his brother, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). The eighth installment, 'The Fate of the Furious', saw him team up reluctantly with Deckard as they take on a cyber terrorist named Cipher (Charlize Theron) as she attempts to trigger a nuclear war.
In each of these films, Johnson has always been a character who has added muscle to the team, but with the spin-off, 'Hobbs and Shaw', set for release, we'll see him as an independent character with a mission of his own. From the three movies that he's been part of, all we know about him is the fact that he has a daughter and is reinstated back to DSS.
While talking about Johnson's Hobbs, we can also look at the upcoming spin-off delving a little bit more on the former British SAS soldier, Deckard Shaw. In many ways, this upcoming movie can come across as an origin story for both actors who at the moment, seem to be an integral part of the franchise going forward.
Shaw and Hobbs form an unlikely pair and they have managed to bring some humor each time they share screen space in 'The Fate of The Furious'. It does make sense that the two would get a character profile given most of the other characters have enough background stories. Tyrese Gibson's Roman Pierce plays the second lead in '2Fast 2 Furious' which also gives us some idea about Ludacris' Tej Parker. Gal Gadot comes in the fourth installment and is introduced as a former Israeli army. So that's the core team that gives the audience something to know.
Back to Hobbs and Shaw. From the footage that we have seen of the movie so far, it is evident that the duo shares a crackling chemistry. It is also refreshing that we get to see more than just Vin Diesel's Toretto doing some insane stunts in a car and managing to save the world by still managing to buckle himself in.
And for the first time, the movie has a villain who has got something close to a superpower. How Hobbs and Shaw hold their own and manage to save the world while at it remains to be seen.
'Hobbs and Shaw' hits theatres on August 2.