As if the pairing of Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham wasn’t enough reason to get hyped for Fast and the Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, now you can add Idris Elba into the mix. That’s almost too much testosterone for one movie to control. Elba is in final talks to play the movie’s villain, meaning we can expect him to be on the receiving end of a brutal barrage of punches and one-liners.
Further details around Elba’s role aren’t available, and that’s not a surprise. We don’t actually know much about the plot franchise writer Chris Morgan is cooking up, although we do know it will involve The Crown star Vanessa Kirby as Owen Shaw’s sister who happens to be an MI-5 agent.
Elba’s obviously no stranger to blockbuster franchise movies, having played major roles in three Thor movies, Avengers: Infinity War, Star Trek Beyond, and last year’s unfortunate The Dark Tower. He was recently at Sundance with his directorial debut, Yardie, opening later this year.
Directed by David Leitch, Hobbs & Shaw opens July 26th 2019. [Variety]