Warning: Spoilers ahead for Hobbs & Shaw! Read on at your own risk.
Even if you live your life a quarter mile at a time, odds are you still plan ahead and know that you need to stick around during the credits of a Fast & Furious movie for the promise of additional scenes teasing future films in the franchise. And the latest chapter in the global, high-octane saga, Hobbs & Shaw, certainly did not disappoint. The first spinoff film offered not one, not two, but three mid- and post-credits scenes.
But for the first time in the history of the franchise, the credits scenes, on the surface, don’t seem to offer up much in the vein of revealing where the Hobbs & Shaw (or Fast & Furious) franchise will go next. Fun, throwaway comedic moments will definitely keep you laughing long after the movie ends, but that’s all they seem to be: comedic relief. Or are they?
On closer inspection, there are still some hints to take away from the three extra scenes that may reveal a vague road map of where this spinoff franchise may be heading. Let’s break them down, shall we?
The first scene comes at the very beginning of the credits and it’s actually split into two stories being told at the same time as Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw (Jason Statham) each reunite with their families after an extended time of being estranged. Hobbs brings his young daughter to meet all his brothers and mother in a sweet scene, and Shaw and his sister Hattie (Vanessa Kirby) visit their mother Queenie (Helen Mirren) in prison. Both moments are full of heart, giving the movie a very happy ending-like feel with smiles and knowing looks shared all around, although the Shaw scenes added some laughs by teasing that Shaw and Hattie were helping Queenie break out of prison (not that she needed any, mind you).
The second scene comes in the middle of the credits, and while it doesn’t give justice for Han (Sung Kang), Hobbs does get revenge on Shaw for a prank pulled earlier in the film. While going through TSA before boarding a flight, Shaw tried to get rid of Hobbs so he could finish the mission with Hattie alone, so he added something to Hobbs’ fake identity that would tip off airport security during his passport check (and require a full cavity search as well for extra giggles). Hobbs still manages to make the flight, but he didn’t forget that little gift.
So in the mid-credits scene, Hobbs sets Shaw up to get arrested while he’s drinking at a pub. The name Hobbs gives to the cops? “Hugh Janus” (read that out loud for the full effect). We don’t see the outcome of this moment so there’s no telling if Shaw winds up back in prison or if he escapes, but any bit of trouble for Shaw is appreciated by fans still salty about Shaw getting treated like a member of the Fast family after he murdered fan-favorite Han in the third/sixth Fast film. It also helps show that despite all the action they went through together in this spinoff, Hobbs and Shaw aren’t BFFs. The rivalry is alive and well. They’ll still probably be on the same side in future films but we won’t lose that antagonistic dynamic that made this film such a creative success.
The last credits scene comes at the very end, bringing back Ryan Reynolds‘ surprise Hobbs & Shaw character, CIA agent Locke. Reynolds’ cameo at the very beginning of the film was a shock, and even more so as he essentially became the film’s fifth lead. Locke’s obsession with being Hobbs’ BFF works because it’s just so perfectly Reynolds. All of his rants and his signature line delivery make him a welcome addition to the Fast family that you never knew you were missing. And it’s clear from his banter that he and Hobbs share a long, complicated history of working together, so there’s potential for many stories with the two of them in future films. The final credits scene also shows that despite assumptions, Locke’s actually amazing at his job. He’s out in the field, fighting his way through a whole bunker of muscled henchmen, taking them all out — and even proving that you can indeed punch through a guy’s chest with a brick.
Johnson has already been touting all over social media how Hobbs & Shaw introduces the “future team,” so it’s safe to assume that Locke, Hattie, Queenie, and Hobbs’ brothers are going to make their return (Mirren’s Queenie has already been confirmed to appear in Fast & Furious 9). And while he didn’t appear in any post-credits scenes, Kevin Hart‘s surprise cameo as Air Marshal Dinkley could also return in the future, especially after he proved himself useful in securing air transport for Hobbs, Shaw, and Hattie in the eleventh hour.
But what does Hobbs & Shaw tell us about the future big bad of the franchise? Obviously, super-soldier Brixton (Idris Elba) was the main villain of the spinoff, but, as we learned throughout the movie, he wasn’t the mastermind behind evil tech cult Eteon’s plans for global domination. A mysterious voice garbled through so many modulators is the real leader of Eteon and we never learn who he or she is. All we know from Hobbs & Shaw is that this person is the real evil genius with practically unlimited power and resources, as well as loyal followers ready to endure extreme physical pain and give their lives for the cause. That’s a terrifying force to face, so you know Hobbs and Shaw will ultimately meet him or her in a future film.
What’s really fascinating about this mysterious voice is that he or she says to Hobbs at one point in the movie that they’ve met before, but Hobbs just doesn’t remember. That could mean one of two things: this mysterious leader of Eteon is a character we’ve seen before in the Fast franchise, promising an epic and shocking return in a future film, or it’s a character we’ve never seen before but potentially have already heard of. So who is that mysterious voice? We’ve got a few theories, both serious and ludicrous (wait, could it be Ludacris?!).
Han Seoul-Oh
We guess we’re now supposed to think that Deckard Shaw is a hero? Well, we will never forget that his introduction to the Fast world was killing our beloved Han. And with Hobbs & Shaw writer Chris Morgan telling EW that “Justice for Han” is coming, there would be no greater justice than Han getting both a Letty-type revival and revenge.
Cipher
It’s already been confirmed that Charlize Theron‘s tech-obsessed, bleached dread-rocking villain is returning for Fast & Furious 9, so it’s not hard to imagine that she’s upgraded her outfit to become the leader of Eteon. The story practically writes itself! Is Fast & Furious 9 going to continue the story introduced in this spinoff by bringing Cipher back in this way?
Magdelene “Queenie” Shaw
Sure, the Shaw family matriarch pops up earlier in Hobbs & Shaw, seemingly incarcerated, but who’s to say she’s not pulling strings and making mischief behind the scenes? Mirren has been in two of these movies now, and she still hasn’t been given the chance to drive a car or get in a fight. And hey, it’s not like villainy doesn’t run in the family: Her sons Owen (Luke Evans) and Deckard have both been Fast big bads. Isn’t it time for this Oscar-winner to wreak a little havoc of her own?
Roman
If you recall, Tyrese Gibson wasn’t too happy with Johnson when Hobbs & Shaw’s release pushed Fast & Furious 9 back a year. Maybe he really, really knows how to hold a grudge … and infiltrate a movie to get his payback.
Hobbs’ never-before-seen baby mama
We met so many branches of Hobbs’ family tree in this movie that it’s easy to forget that we’ve never actually met or heard about the woman who gave Hobbs his daughter. Is she an ex-girlfriend? Were they married? Is she alive? Dead? We know nothing about her. One way to make a future Hobbs & Shaw movie personal is by making the villain someone so close to Hobbs … like the mother of his child. He never talks about her, which could explain the mysterious voice’s jab at him not remembering whoever it is.
Owen Shaw
Hobbs & Shaw featured three Shaws, and yet somehow didn’t even mention the Shaw we’ve known the longest: Owen. The Furious 6 villain was last seen teaming up with brother Deckard to save Dom’s (Vin Diesel) baby in The Fate of the Furious, and they reward him by pretending he doesn’t exist and replacing him with one of the men who helped take him down in the first place?! If our family did that to us then we’d definitely build a genetically-enhanced super soldier.
Mr. Nobody
Hobbs turned down Mr. Nobody’s (Kurt Russell) generous offer of getting his job back. C’mon, you don’t just turn down a shadowy government figure. Maybe Eteon is a black ops project run by Nobody that he’s now using to try and manipulate Hobbs into coming back into the government fold. He’s just that wily.
Twinkie
Remember Twinkie (Bow Wow)? Sean’s smooth-talking BFF from 2006’s Tokyo Drift? He drove a car that was decked out to look like the Incredible Hulk? While all the other Fast characters are getting invited back for sequels and spin-offs, Twinkie has been left out in the cold. Maybe he’s been spending the last 13 years plotting his return.
Keanu Reeves
It’s unclear where it started, but ahead of Hobbs & Shaw’s release, rumors began circulating that Keanu Reeves would make a cameo to set him up to appear in future films. While that didn’t come to fruition, there’s still the possibility that the franchise could make that a reality. And it sure doesn’t hurt that Hobbs & Shaw director David Leitch worked as a stuntman on The Matrix sequels and co-directed John Wick. Oh, maybe that’s where the rumor started.
A bad guy team-up from multiple past movies
Maybe the reason why the mysterious voice sounds like nine different people mashed into one is that it’s actually nine different people. Fast & Furious 9 could be rounding up a bunch of bad guys from past movies to create an order of evil, a crew of criminals, a brotherhood (or sisterhood?) of shadows, all looking for revenge on the people who have thwarted their plans in the past. Whether they were put behind bars or even killed, the Fast franchise has proven that it’s not afraid to bring people back (even from the dead cough, Letty) if it makes sense for the story. So villains like Johnny Tran (Rick Yune), Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), Takashi (Brian Lee), Arturo Braga (John Ortiz), Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), Owen Shaw, and Cipher could all return for one epic and formidable company of villains united against a common hatred: the Fast family.
