Hobbs & Shaw trailer: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham get pummeled by Idris Elba in Fast & Furious spin-off

Universal Pictures on Friday shared the first trailer for Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, the first spin-off of the multi-billion dollar Fast & Furious series of action films. The movie will pit former enemies Luke Hobbs (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) against the most formidable villain the series has ever seen, Brixton, ‘the bad guy’, played by Idris Elba.

Much of the opening of the trailer is devoted to setting his character up. “I’m dealing with the future of the planet,” he says in a voiceover. “I’m the necessary shock to the system, I am human evolutionary change; bulletproof, superhuman.”

We see shots of him being given his ‘powers’ in a science experiment which gives him incredible strength, and later on, the ability to send The Rock flying into the air with a single punch.

To combat this threat, it is decided that the forces of good will have to bring in their best guys - Hobbs and Shaw. The characters were introduced into the Fast & Furious universe as the villains in the series’ fifth and sixth films, but after a particularly popular team up in The Fate of the Furious, they were given a spin-off of their own.

This decision wasn’t taken too well by certain members of the original cast such as Tyrese Gibson, who accused The Rock of sabotaging the franchise, and Vin Diesel, who was rumoured to have been involved in a feud with The Rock on the last film. The spin-off also caused the ninth movie in the main series to be delayed.

Also read: Vin Diesel clears the air about Dwayne Johnson feud, Fast & Furious 9 delay. Read his post

Diesel recently teased another spin-off, based on female characters, which he will reportedly produce. Hobbs & Shaw has been co-produced by The Rock’s Seven Bucks Productions. He has said that he will not appear in Fast & Furious 9, which begins shooting soon.

Hobbs & Shaw is directed by Deadpool 2’s David Leitch. It will arrive in theatres on August 2. The Rock will appear as himself in wrestling drama Fighting with my Family. He is also filming the third Jumanji movie. Statham recently delivered the biggest hit of his career with The Meg.

Follow @htshowbiz for more