Fast and Furious crew returned for the tenth installment of the series early in the summer, pitching Dom Toretto and his family against the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced, Jason Momoa’s Dante.

Fueled by revenge, Dante, the son of Fast Five‘s drug lord, Hernan Reyes attempts to shatter Dom and everyone he loves. Domestically, fans showed little interest in exploring Dom and his family’s never-ending struggles, and the movie only managed to collect $145m in the US and Canada.

Jason Momoa in Fast X.

Instead, the biggest talking point from the movie was Dwayne Johnson’s mid-credits scene appearance which might just provide the perfect lift to the culmination phase of the Fast and Furious saga, albeit risking further complicating the series’ timeline in the process.

Dwayne Johnson will return to the Fast and Furious franchise with a new standalone movie on the legendary lawman. Plot details remain under wraps but it’s understood that Luke Hobbs’ story will serve as a bridge between Fast X and Fast X: Part II.

Dwayne Johnson.

As Jason Momoa‘s Dante spent the movie chasing Dom and his family in his attempts to put them through tortuous misery for the death of his father, it seemed weird he didn’t prioritize killing the man who actually shot Hernan dead: Hobbs.

That’s where the mid-credit scene – which also shows flashbacks from Fast Five – and the subsequent movie, which remains untitled so far, step in.

Assuming he has taken care of Dom, Dante shifts his focus to another target. “The devil’s coming for you, lawman,” he said on a call. On the other end, a mysterious man takes off his mask and turns out to be Hobbs. He replies: “Well, I’m not hard to find.”

Considering Fast X ended on a cliffhanger, with Dom engulfed in an explosion on the dam, and a plane carrying Roman, Tej, Ramsey and Han shot down by Aimes, it seemed everything was perfectly set up for the eleventh chapter. But now with Hobbs’ entry, the writers have very little room to maneuver without spoiling the timeline.

Why Dwayne Johnson’s Return Threatens to Mess up Fast and Furious Timeline
First and foremost, Hobbs, despite possessing an invincible streak, is not going kill Dante in the forthcoming movie, as Momoa’s character has been built as this supervillain in Fast X who in all likelihood will challenge Dom right till the end of the saga.

Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson.

Further, before he starts his pursuit of the lawman, the writers will have to either not mention Dom and his family at all or resolve the brilliant nail-biting ending of Fast X and reveal who survived and who didn’t. Either way, they risk hampering the momentum the cliffhanger scene kick-started for part II.

Finally, should they decide to kill Hobbs, who has been shown as this invincible character throughout the series, it’ll be perceived as a disappointing send-off for the Rock. Bringing the legendary lawman back, only to kill him in the very first comeback movie would be very underwhelming and pointless.

In order to add anything of substance for the future chapters and keep everyone happy (and alive), Fast and Furious figureheads might employ another time jump. However, having only recently fully recovered from the ghosts of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, which took place after the fourth, fifth, and sixth movies, it won’t make sense to throw in another unnecessary puzzle for fans to solve.