F9 Director Says Hobbs & Shaw Are Still Members of the Fast & Furious Family

The Fast and Furious franchise has kept fans on the edge of their seats and glued to the screen with its adrenaline-pumping car chase sequences and stunts. The trailer for the ninth instalment released recently but Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham’s Deckard were MIA.

Well, good news on that front comes from director Justin Lin who said that both Hobbs and Shaw are still part of the Fast & Furious family. Although the two are semi-recent additions to the Fast & Furious franchise, they’ve already become quite popular. They exited the main franchise after appearing in The Fate of the Furious to create a spinoff movie, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.

Neither Hobbs nor Shaw is returning for F9, and their place in the main franchise’s future is being questioned by Fast & Furious fans. They aren’t confirmed to come back in any upcoming movies, but F9 director Justin Lin is optimistic about their return.

In conversation Deadline, Lin spoke about the upcoming Fast & Furious movies. He was also asked if either or both Hobbs and Shaw could return in future installments. Lin did not confirm any plans for them to appear in upcoming sequels but indicated that they were not written off because both characters are part of the franchise’s family.

I never really considered them gone, you know? To me, they’re still in this universe; they’re part of this family. Whatever we do, whenever we’re talking about the next chapter, I never feel like I have any restrictions, so I’m excited for what we build, and as we’re coming to this kind of final chapter of this saga, I think I’m excited to revisit…Any character, in any situation, is up for discussion.

As the Fast & Furious franchise is racing towards an end with Fast and Furious 10 and 11, we will have to wait and see how Lin will wrap up this story. We are hopeful to see Hobbs and Shaw reunite with the OG gang. Meanwhile, who knows Lin might have left Easter eggs in F9 hinting at their return. We shall only find out in June.