Idris Elba Will Play the Villain in Upcoming Fast & Furious Spinoff

A couple days after adding The Crown's Vanessa Kirby to the cast list, the upcoming Fast & Furious spinoff film, temporarily titled Hobbs and Shaw, has found itself a villain. 

Variety reports that British actor Idris Elba has been cast as the movie's Big Bad. That report has since been confirmed by Dwayne Johnson himself on Twitter. 

The flick will feature Johnson and Jason Statham as the titular heroes. 

With this many Brits on the roster (Statham, Kirby, and Elba), we think it's safe to expect Hobbs and Shaw—or at least a significant portion of it—will take place somewhere in the U.K. 

While Elba may have made a name for himself acting all brooding and dramatic on shows like The Wire and Luther, his greatest antagonistic chops—to this author at least—can be showcased during his brief stint as micromanaging VP Charles Miner on NBC's The Office. Let's hope he has as much gusto squaring off against The Rock as he did with Michael Scott.

The Fast spinoff will be directed by John Wick's David Leitch and is scheduled to release Aug. 2, 2019. Fast & Furious 9, directed by series veteran Justin Lin, will come out April 10, 2020. That movie is also said to feature the return of Jordana Brewster, who portrays the on-screen wife of Paul Walker and sat out last year's Fate of the Furious in the wake of Walker's death in 2013.