The Rock-Less ‘Fast And Furious 9’ Has Begun Filming, As A Cast Member Has Confirmed

Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw will arrive in theaters on August 2 to (surely!) shake up the summer of sequelitis only evaded thus far by John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum and Avengers: Endgame. Meanwhile, the franchise as a whole continues plotting its non-spinoff installments, which will run through (at least?) part ten, although according to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson while speaking to MTV News earlier this year, he’s definitely not involved in Fast 9. He did leave room for tying up “unfinished business between Hobbs and Dom [Vin Diesel],” although one certainly wonders whether the Under Armour-accessorized feud between The Rock and Diesel is even more responsible for the break than, you know, scheduling considerations. (The latter is a solid rationale, I’m just saying that those two are dramatic, man.)

We may never receive a more detailed answer to why The Rock’s taking a lil’ breather, but Fast 9 filming has officially begun as of Monday at an absurdly early hour. Nathalie Emmanuel, best known these days for uttering the word “dracarys” as Missandei on Game of Thrones right before Dany completely lost her mind, tweeted that “the team is back together,” officially.

Who’s officially on the returning team? If one follows the emoji, it sure looks like she’s talking about Vin Diesel (Dom), Michelle Rodriguez (Letty), Tyrese Gibson (Roman), Jordana Brewster (Mia), Ludacris (Tej), and Emmanuel (Ramsey). As previously reported, Rodriguez returned to the franchise after producers agreed to hire a female writer, and John Cena has also joined this sequel, officially and possibly to replace The Rock.

Obviously, we’re not seeing any photos yet to spice up Emmanuel’s tweet, but one of the replies is pure fire.