From the moment The Wrecking Crew was announced, it felt less like a standard studio project and more like an inevitability. Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista – two of the most physically imposing stars working today – had already proven their onscreen chemistry as brothers in See. Fans could sense it. So could they. What followed was a rare, organic collision of timing, friendship and creative alignment that turned a viral tweet into one of the most joyfully old-school – and unexpectedly emotional – action films in recent memory.
Director Ángel Manuel Soto admits that when the script first landed in his inbox, he didn’t even realise Momoa and Bautista were attached. “When I read the script from Jonathan Tropper, I had no idea yet that these two guys were involved,” Soto recalls. “So it came as a surprise – a good surprise – that they were already on board. And it made sense, because the characters were so tailored to them.”
What ultimately sold him wasn’t just the scale or the spectacle, but the emotional engine underneath it all. “I was able to do a buddy action movie that I’ve always wanted to do,” Soto says, “but it had a lot of heart. For me, that was the selling point. The heart between the two brothers.”
That heart traces directly back to Momoa and Bautista’s offscreen relationship – one forged not through glamour, but through mud, blood and freezing temperatures while filming See during COVID. Momoa remembers the seed of the idea forming almost as a joke. “There’s not too many people in the industry that are big guys that can fight, that can really, really act and kind of go there,” he says. “I always wanted to fight Bautista. I was like, who would I love to fight? And it’s Dave.”
But admiration quickly became friendship. “We get along like a house on fire,” Momoa says. “We’re very similar, but we’re also very different.” Crucially, there was no ego. “We’re not these two actors fighting for attention. I can’t stand that. We really operate the same way.”
By the time See wrapped, both actors felt unfinished. Bautista describes it bluntly: “I came away from that series feeling super unfulfilled – knowing I really wanted to work with this guy.” One late-night tweet changed everything. Bautista casually floated the idea of a buddy cop movie with Momoa, directed by David Leitch. The response was explosive. “It got more response than anything I’ve ever tweeted,” he laughs. “Which has mostly been garbage.”
Behind the scenes, the wheels were already turning. Momoa had been sitting on an idea for nearly two decades. He pitched it to Bautista, who immediately said yes. “I wake up with my agent calling me going, ‘What are we doing? You, Bautista and Leitch are doing a movie.’ I’m like, what?” Momoa recalls. The project went viral, writers lined up, and eventually Jonathan Tropper – who knew both actors intimately – took the reins. “He writes really well for us,” Momoa says. “He knows us extremely well.”
Finding the right director, however, took time. Bautista admits that was the longest part of the process. What finally made Soto the right fit was his refusal to see them as just action figures. “A lot of times people want to put us into a box,” Bautista explains. “They look at us, see big guys, and want to put us into that action mould.” What both actors wanted was something deeper. “I think we’d rather make people cry or make people laugh than just do a fight scene together.”
Soto instantly understood that. “They’re not just powerhouses in terms of action,” he says. “They have a sensibility.” For him, action is storytelling. “I like to tell the story through action. I like to build character through action.” That philosophy is nowhere more apparent than in the film’s brutal, cathartic brother-versus-brother fight – a sequence Alex Zane likened to the legendary alleyway brawl in They Live.
“That fight changes the tone of the movie,” Bautista explains. “It’s two brothers getting out a lot of resentment, a lot of bad memories – mostly stemming from daddy issues.” For Momoa, the dread was real. “You read it and you’re like, it’s in the rain, it’s brutal, we’re in the mud,” he says. “As Jason the crybaby, you’re like, I’m just gonna get the shit beat out of me.”
Still, the trust between them made it possible. “It’s good you’re doing it with your buddy,” Momoa says. “You’re in it together.” Soto agrees it was one of the smoothest sequences to shape. “It was honestly the easiest fight to edit in the whole movie,” he says, crediting stunt coordinator John Valera and a shared understanding of what the scene meant, not just how it looked.
That balance between intensity and playfulness defines the entire production. Whether it’s Momoa fighting in nothing but a lavalava (“You can’t really hide pads,” he jokes) or improvising absurd distractions to make the stunt team laugh, the set sounds as chaotic as it is affectionate. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had on a film throughout my career,” Bautista says without hesitation. “We were beating the hell out of each other – and then jumping into a hot tub between takes.”
Shooting across New Zealand and Hawaii only deepened that bond. For Momoa, both are home. For Soto, it was transformative. “If they’d told me we were shooting this on a soundstage, I would’ve been heartbroken,” he admits. “The best resources these countries have are their people.” Bautista sums it up more simply: “Island culture.”
When it comes to what audiences should take away, the cast is refreshingly united. “I hope they just have a great time,” Bautista says. “There’s a lot of heart, a lot of action.” Momoa goes further. “I’ve seen this movie five times now and I’m still laughing,” he says. “It’s an homage to Lethal Weapon, Tango & Cash – but for a different generation.”
For Soto, the most meaningful reactions have been unexpected. “A lot of guys have told me, ‘I didn’t expect to be moved watching an action movie,’” he says. “They end up wanting to call their dad and make amends.” That, he believes, is cinema at its best. “We can entertain, we can have fun – but maybe we can inspire people to be better.”
If The Wrecking Crew does get a sequel – and everyone involved clearly hopes it does – it won’t just be because of the action, the laughs, or the viral origins. It will be because, beneath the explosions and bruises, it’s a film built on genuine connection. And that, as this team proves, is the most powerful force of all.
The Wrecking Crew is now available to stream on Prime Video.
