Vin Diesel and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Fast and Furious feud is a lot like the venerable action franchise itself—it will seemingly never die.
The latest shout-out to their long-running beef comes courtesy of a curious-looking Fast Five photo of the former co-stars that Diesel shared on Instagram, in which the smaller Diesel (jokingly?) calls The Rock his “little brother” and appears to be Photoshopped to look even bigger than Johnson.
“My little brother Dwayne… the time has come. The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don’t send well wishes… but the time has come. Legacy awaits,” Diesel wrote on Instagram.
Bro Bible posits that Diesel’s post was apparently a delayed response to Johnson saying over the summer that he would not be returning to the franchise for the tenth and final chapter and that he “wishes them luck.”
But now Diesel appears to be trying to offer an olive branch in a bid to summon The Rock’s box office power in the tenth film.
“I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo,” Diesel’s lengthy caption continues. “I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10! I say this out of love… but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play. Hobbs can’t be played by no other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.”
In a recent Men’s Health profile, Diesel suggested his “tough love” method of coaching fellow actors likely sparked their beef — which Johnson laughed off in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
“I laughed and I laughed hard. I think everyone had a laugh at that” said Johnson. Following his departure from the Fast & Furious franchise, Johnson went on to star in the spin-off franchise Hobbs & Shaw with Jason Statham.
Check out the original Fast Five photo still above and compare to Diesel’s Instagram to see the dramatic difference in the images. We’ll keep you posted if The Rock responds to the latest twist in the Vin Diesel/Dwayne Johnson saga.