The Stars Align For Fast And Furious Spinoff ‘Hobbs & Shaw’

Fans of the Fast & Furious franchise have what to look forward to. Not only with the upcoming ninth installment of the namesake series, but with a forthcoming spinoff, too.

Titled “Hobbs and Shaw” (at least tentatively), the new movie will focus on those two characters: Luke Hobbs (played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (played by Jason Statham). But they won’t be the only big names to feature.

The latest word from Hollywood, as reported by USA Today, has it that Idris Elba has signed on to play the villain in the movie. And Venessa Kirby will feature as Shaw’s sister.

Best known for his portrayal as the mythical gatekeeper Heimdall in the Thor movies, as hero Stacker Pentecost in Pacific Rim, as Russel “Stringer” Bell in The Wire television series, an as Luther in the eponymous British show, Elba knows his way around cars like the ones central to the FF series. He worked at Ford’s plant in Dagenham while his early career was picking up, for example, and more recently came to our attention when he drove a Bentley Continental GT Speed to a record 180 miles per hour across a flying mile of sand.

You may recognize Kirby, meanwhile, from her role as Princess Margaret in The Crown. She’s also set to feature in the upcoming Mission: Impossible film Fallout alongside Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Henry Cavill, Alec Baldwin, and Michelle Monaghan. As Shaw’s sister, she won’t be the first to feature as a member of Deckard’s family in the FF franchise, after Luke Evans played brother Owen in the sixth and eighth installments. And as Forbes notes, Dame Helen Mirren had a cameo in the last film as the family matriarch.

The screenplay’s being written by Chris Morgan, who previously wrote several of the previous films in the series – and is working on the next as well. David Leitch directs, drawing on his experience from such previous projects as John Wick, Atomic Blonde, and Deadpool 2.

Hobbs and Shaw is expected to reach a theater near you starting August 2, 2019, with Fast 9 (or whatever it’s ultimately called) to follow on April 10, 2020.