Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson indirectly responds to criticism from Tyrese Gibson over 'Fast 9'

After weeks of staying quiet about the future of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is finally, albeit indirectly, addressing his critics.

The star spoke in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly where he responded to a lot of the controversy surrounding his decision to participate in a spinoff based on the franchise that will see his Lucas Hobbs character go up against Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw.

“It’s been a challenging process because I feel like my intention from day one, when I first joined the cast, was to hopefully come in, have fun, and create a character that people will hopefully like and try to elevate the franchise,” Johnson told the outlet. “But in the process of elevating the franchise, I have always thought that in order for this to have real longevity and legs, we should spin out and create characters that can live on their own.”

Johnson also indirectly addressed one of his critics from within the “Fast” franchise, specifically Tyrese Gibson. As previously reported, the star took issue with Johnson’s decision to participate in the spinoff if it meant pushing the release date of the ninth installment in the franchise back. He would later go on to threaten that his character, Roman Pearce, would not appear in the ninth movie if Johnson didn’t bow out.

“Hello world.......... hello loyal fans and loved ones from OUR fast universe........ I’m sorry to announce that if Dewayne [sic] is in Fast9 there will no more Roman Peirce [sic] - You mess with family and my daughters survival I mess with yours.........” Gibson wrote on Instagram.

“At the end of the day, the only thing I want to do is make a great movie for the fans,” Johnson told Entertainment Weekly, stopping short of naming Gibson directly. “I never ever get wrapped up in the sludge of the bulls--- that can be connected at times to a franchise. So I never get dragged into it. I never respond to any of that.”