Dwayne Johnson shares new ‘Fast 8’ teaser video and photo

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson surprised fans and movie-goers with a first-look video about the making of Fast 8. More specifically, it briefly shows Johnson along several cast and crew members getting ready to film.

Our crew comes together on the set of #F8. #FastFridayshttps://t.co/IshZxV1Zkr

— Fast & Furious (@FastFurious) May 27, 2016

He also posted an Instagram photo showing his Hobbs character with a pointy goatee, a vest, and plenty of muscles. An accompanying caption partially reads:

“When you strip a man of all he has. All that’s important to him. You force him to return to his roots, and sometimes that’s a very dangerous and twisted place.”

EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK: #HOBBS #F8 When you strip a man of all he has. All that's important to him. You force him to return to his roots.. and sometimes that's a very dangerous and twisted place. If I was going to return for another FAST & FURIOUS I wanted to come in and disrupt the franchise in a cool way that got fans fired up and their blood pumping to see a new version of Hobbs and his "Daddy's gotta go to work" mentality and set the table in a cool way for where the character goes in the future. Maybe it's a spinoff movie. Maybe it's more #FF movies. Or hell maybe Hobbs just gets on his motorcycle and rides off into the sunset never to be seen again. Either way, I've had a solid first week of shooting, good to be back with the ohana, good to work again w/ my bud and director F. Gary Gray and our home studio of UNIVERSAL, as always have been the best partners to me and my #SevenBucksProds team. Most importantly… you guys around the world will really dig this new version of the role, 'cause as we always say, disrupters dent the universe. #Hobbs #TwistedRoots #1Disrupter #1Savage #F8

A photo posted by therock (@therock) on May 28, 2016 at 7:22am PDT

The actor wanted to introduce a new and darker version of his character in hopes it leads to a spinoff or a similarly promising future. He had already talked about such a possibility in the past, adding:

“If I was going to return for another Fast & Furious I wanted to come in and disrupt the franchise in a cool way that got fans fired up and their blood pumping to see a new version of Hobbs and his ‘Daddy’s gotta go to work’ mentality and set the table in a cool way for where the character goes in the future,” he explained. “Maybe it’s a spinoff movie. Maybe it’s more #FF movies. Or hell maybe Hobbs just gets on his motorcycle and rides off into the sunset never to be seen again.”

Johnson joined the popular franchise in 2010 as federal agent Luke Hobbs, where he quickly earned a big following among fans of the franchise. He has since appeared in subsequent films, including part six and seven.

Fast 8 is slated for release in April 2017. Most of the older cast will make a return, including Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, and Tyrese. The movie will also introduce various new characters portrayed by Kurt Russell, Charlize Theron, and Scott Eastwood.