HOBBS AND SHAW Will Be a More Grounded FAST AND FURIOUS Spinoff and The Start of a Franchise

One of the reasons why I enjoy watching the Fast and Furious films is because of how ridiculously over-the-top they are. I think that's what most fans love them. But, the upcoming Hobbs and Shaw spinoff film with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham may be going in a different direction. 

During a recent interview with Collider, director David Leitch (Deadpool 2) plans on scaling back a bit and make the spinoff more of a grounded film. He also reveals that it will kind of be an origin story:

"I think it’s going to be a little bit more grounded because it’s the beginning. It’s an origin story, in a sense. It’s not an origin story, but we’re starting a franchise. So we want it to be a little bit more grounded, a little bit more character-centric. We’re going to set up the stakes for these guys and their relationship, but we’re also going to have some great set pieces and some action that you’d expect from that type of franchise."

Sounds like Universal Pictures has big plans for this spinoff if the director is setting it up to be a franchise of its own. Fast and Furious franchise writer Chris Morgan is writing the script for the film, and while we don't know the story, Leitch explains that the film will steer away from the street racing and dive into the world of spies and government agents:

"We’re diving into their world. I think we want to have our own take on the Fast universe. It will definitely have elements of the original DNA, but it is more drifting into Shaw’s spy word and Dwayne’s agent world and, obviously, we want to build on their relationship, their conflict, their banter. That chemistry that they have between them, that’s sort of what’s driving the movie."

I enjoy the characters of Hobbs and Shaw, and I expected this movie to focus on their world, which I imagine will be a lot of fun, even with the more ground approach. When asked about building a new franchise around these characters, the filmmaker explained: 

"... I think long term. Obviously being true to the script and making the best movie, you do want to seed elements that allow you to expand the universe and have enough characters to move forward. If you look at the first Fast, they had the core group that allowed them to be able to have this ensemble that moved forward for nine movies. We have to set up the world so it has the potential to grow. That’s what I’m saying with, if we’re digging into their respective worlds outside of Fast, they’re going to have their own universe in a sense."

As for whether or not we will see the two separate franchises crossover with each other at some point in the future, Leitch says:

"I think there’s a way we could do both but I don’t really want to get into who would be in it and who wouldn’t be in it. I think that’s probably a little sensitive stuff right now. I think it would be a fun nod to have a couple of the characters come by and make their appearances. But I think we have a really strong point of view that we want to create our own characters for this world."

As you know, there's been a big feud between Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, and Tyrese Gibson. Johnson himself said that he's unsure if he'll return for Fast and Furious 9. At this point, after everything that has happened, it doesn't seem like these actors will be crossing paths with each other again anytime soon.

Regardless, I'm excited about both of these franchises and it will be cool to see where the creative teams take them.