Warning: This post contains MAJOR spoilers for Fast XDwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Vin Diesel are allies in the Fast & Furious franchise— but despite the franchise’s focus on brotherhood and family, The Rock and Vin Diesel feud has been ongoing for years. Other than only two movies, Vin Diesel has been a staple of the Fast & Furious franchise as Dominic Toretto. Dwayne Johnson joined the family in 2011 with Fast Five, taking on the role of Luke Hobbs — a federal agent who is tasked with tracking down Toretto and his partner, Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker).
Johnson returned to the role of Hobbs throughthe eighth installment in the Furious franchise, The Fate of the Furious. However, partially thanks to The Rock and Vin Diesel feud, Johnson left the main franchise for the spinoff Fast & Furious Presents:Hobbs & Shaw in 2019. With the franchise coming to a close, the feud between Diesel and Johnson was making headlines again. Diesel publicly called for Johnson to return for the last two movies, but Johnson had no interest in Fast X. While the feud might have cooled off since their days filming together, the pair might never be the brothers that Diesel desperately wanted them to be.
August 2016 — Johnson Hints At The Feud On Instagram
The first signs of a rift between Diesel and Johnson popped up in an August 8, 2016, Instagram post from Johnson. The post — which has since been deleted — praised his female co-stars while criticizing some of his male co-stars, claiming that they didn’t conduct themselves as stand-up men and referring to them as “candy asses.” No names were included in the post, but rumors circulated that the post was targeted at co-star Vin Diesel.
In Johnson’s post (via Instagram) celebrating the end of filming for The Fate of the Furious, the star attempted to diminish the growing tensions, attributing it to the fact that “family is gonna have differences of opinion and fundamental core beliefs,” and that “like any family, we get better from it.” Diesel mostly avoided the social media drama, only once claiming that he was going to “tell everything” on Instagram — which, ultimately, never happened.
While promoting the upcoming release of The Fate of the Furious and his recent casting in Moana, The Los Angeles Times asked Johnson about his growing feud with co-star Vin Diesel. Johnson doubled down on what he said the month previous, explaining that he was “very clear with what I said.” Johnson even attempted to put a positive spin on his feud with Diesel, claiming that interest in The Fate of the Furiousskyrocketed after his feud with Diesel was publicized — even if Universal would have preferred the incident never happened.
April 2017 — Vin Diesel Finally Acknowledges The Feud
In an interview (via USA Today), Vin Diesel did his best to diminish the growing tensions. Diesel reassured Fast & Furious fans that he and Johnson still loved each other like family, claiming that things were blown out of proportion and Johnson was still “Uncle Dwayne” in his household. As a producer, Diesel claims he and Johnson didn’t always see eye to eye, and sometimes, their big personalities got in the way while working together.
“It’s not always easy being an alpha. And it’s two alphas,” Diesel explained. At the end of the day, however, Diesel explained that he was always rooting for Johnson’s success. “Dwayne has only got one Vin in his life. Dwayne Johnson only has one big brother in this film world and that’s me.”
April 2017 — Vin Diesel And Dwayne Johnson Attend The Fast 8 Premiere Together
With the premiere of The Fate of the Furious, Diesel and Johnson put aside their differences to both be in attendance. Diesel continued his efforts to smooth out their tensions, reinforcing their status as a family. Johnson, however, took a less emotional approach when describing their feud, simply chalking it up to a case of “different philosophies.”
October 2017 — Vin Diesel Comes To The Rock’s Defense After F9’s Delay
Like many movies in recent years, F9 faced multiple delays before its June 2021 release. However, when the first delay was announced back in 2017, fingers weren’t pointed at Covid-19, but instead, The Rock. When Fast & Furious star Tyrese Gibson took to Instagram to express his anger at the film’s delay, he placed the blame on Johnson, accusing the star of making the franchise all about him. F9 was originally delayed due to the release of the Hobbs & Shaw spin-off, which Johnson starred in. Diesel was quick to come to his “brother’s” defense, saying the blame shouldn’t be placed on any one person but that the franchise as a whole required maintenance.
April 2018 — The Rock Clarifies Their Beef After F&F 8’s Release
With The Fate of the Furious finally released, one thing became clear quickly — Johnson and Diesel didn’t film a single scene together throughout the entire film. Johnson confirmed this fact in a cover story (via Rolling Stone), where he touched on his feud with Vin Diesel. Ultimately, Johnson attributed their tensions to a difference in professionalism and moviemaking.
The two had a serious conversation about the matter in Johnson’s trailer and finally came to an understanding of their differences — and the best conclusion seemed to be to just not work together. Johnson did say he wished Diesel “no ill will,” before he laughed and rescinded the comment, leaving his statement at the fact that he was grateful for the clarity between him and Diesel.
September 2019 — Dwayne Johnson Calls Vin Diesel His Brother Once More
Over a year after The Fate of the Furious‘release, it seemed the relationship between Johnson and Diesel was improving. The Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw had finally released in August 2019 — and, while celebrating the movie’s success in an IGTV video, Johnson expressed his gratitude for Diesel’s support in the film. “Lastly, but not least, want to thank brother Vin for your support of Hobbs & Shaw,” he said.
The sentence is ultimately minor — and might have been influenced by Universal — but after years of what seems like a petty feud, Johnson referring to his brother once more is a major step forward. Until this point, Diesel was the one pushing the idea that the pair was a family; however, Johnson seemed to be warming up to the idea once again.
In an interview (via Men’s Health), Diesel finally shed some light on where his and Johnson’s professional differences could have come from. When Johnson joined the Fast & Furious family in 2011, he was fresh off of his career as a wrestler, and Diesel believes it took extra “tough love” to get a solid performance out of Johnson. Tough love between two alpha-male personalities could certainly lead to some stepped on toes, even if done out of love — and after three movies’ worth of tough love, it could be the reason Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel didn’t film together for The Fate of the Furious and why Johnson didn’t return to his role as Hobbs for F9.
November 2021 — Vin Diesel Begs Dwayne Johnson To Return For F10
With the finale of the Furious franchise approaching, Vin Diesel took a risky move — he publicly pleaded for Johnson to reprise his role as Hobbs one last time in Fast 10. His letter, which he posted (via Instagram), began with Vin pleading to his “little brother Dwayne.” He attempted to appeal to Johnson with love from his own children and an obligation to the late Paul Walker and Furious’ destiny.
His appeal, however, seemed to fall flat. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Johnson laughed out Diesel’s earlier comments about his “tough love,” saying that one part of him feels that “there’s no way I would dignify any of that bullsh*t with an answer.” Diesel’s claim that they’re brothers was not appreciated by Johnson, either: “I have one big brother, and it’s my half brother. And that’s it.” Despite Diesel’s attempt to bring Johnson back to the Furious franchise, the star seemed dedicated to his decision not to reprise his role as Hobbs in the main Fast & Furious franchise any time soon.
May 2023 – The Rock Returns In Fast X
Either The Rock and Vin Diesel feud ended and a post-credit scene was shot, or the two were working the audience the entire time. Remember, Dwayne Johnson was a professional wrestler, and it is a wrestler’s job to start and sell feuds. If the entire feud between Diesel and The Rock was just a ploy to spring this surprise return, it worked like a charm. No one expected Johnson to return to the franchise after all the harsh words said between the two men. Despite all that, when the credits rolled after the Fast X cliffhanger, there was one scene remaining.
Dante was finished with Dom at the end of Fast X, and he had a new target. It was Hobbs that put the bullet in his father, and he was now targeting the law enforcement officer, hoping to likely ruin him the same way he did before attempting to kill Dom. With at least one movie left in the franchise, and Dom likely looking for revenge, it appears The Rock and Vin Diesel feud has ended, and the two men will team up once again to take the battle to Dante, fighting side-by-side one more time, as family members do.