Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista star as brothers in the upcoming Prime Video film, “The Wrecking Crew”, written by the acclaimed Jonathan Tropper. The three worked on the Apple TV+ series, “See”, with Momoa and Bautista also in starring roles and Tropper taking over as the showrunner and executive producer for the second and third seasons. Dorkaholics has previously interviewed cast members from his past work, “Warrior”, of which he was creator and showrunner. This time around Tropper was interviewed about his new film, “The Wrecking Crew”, as well as his journey, inspirations, and the nuances of sibling dynamics in his works.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED FOR LENGTH AND CLARITY.]
What made you a dork growing up?
Jonathan Tropper: In some sense, it was my love for these movies. When I was growing up, you still had to go to your neighborhood video store or to a Blockbuster video. I went home with two or three movies, but I spent hours just going through all the movies and reading the backs of all the boxes, and reading the copy about all the movies.
I think those of us who grew up with that and who were movie lovers, that was our happy place, just being surrounded by that stuff. Even if we weren’t watching the movies, just learning about the movies, and there are so many movies now when I hear them mentioned or see them that I can recall what the VHS cover looked like. So I think that’s what made me a dork.
To tie this into “The Wrecking Crew”, I’m curious what films you’ve watched throughout your life that inspired certain moments or aspects or themes?
Jonathan Tropper: I think the primary influence was “Lethal Weapon”, as well as the other films of Shane Black, movies like “Die Hard”, even lesser known movies like “Running Scared” or “Midnight Run”. I grew up in the Golden Age and action movies were just getting bigger and bolder and funnier. And so, I have no shortage of influences, but certainly “Lethal Weapon” would have been the primary one.
You’ve worked with Dave and Jason on “See” for Apple TV+ and the series feels a bit more sci-fi dystopian compared to the films you mentioned. I’m curious at what point while working with Jason and Dave there was a conversation where you or someone said “hey there’s an opportunity to take you guys and this dynamic as brothers and flip it on its head.”
Jonathan Tropper: First of all, I should just be clear, I didn’t create the show. I just came in and ran it for the second and third season. I casted Dave for season two and got to know him and Jason off camera and realized just how funny they were and how much they want to do things beyond the action heroes that they are sort of perceived as.
So we did talk about that a lot. And I remember when we were finishing “See”, Jason saying he doesn’t want to do any more action. I mean Jason got injured a lot on that show, but I think they both want to stretch, they love comedy, they love drama, and they wanna do different things. So when the idea came up to do this kind of buddy cop movie with them, and Jason had this notion of the two of them being brothers who are really estranged and have significant daddy issues, it felt really ripe for a different exploration of these two iconic movie stars.
I would be remiss to not mention I’m a huge fan of “Warriors, and so I’ve been a long time fan of you, Jonathan. I’m curious about how you’ve explored brothers and brotherly dynamics as well as sibling dynamics. Especially as you mentioned estranged siblings and I’m reminded of Ah Sahm and his sister, but as well as the end of season three of “Warrior” and that shift in your portrayal of siblings dynamics as how that’s evolved in your storytelling.
Jonathan Tropper: That’s an interesting comparison because I was saying to somebody else what I think makes “The Wrecking Crew” different from other buddy cop movies is that these two have a shared trauma. They’re not coming at it like “because he’s from here and he’s from here” or “because this one’s big and this one’s small”.
They don’t get along because they both experienced the same shitty father and it led to a really tough childhood for both of them. And it sent them in different directions. There’s a different beating heart to this.
And when you talk about “Warrior”, that was the same thing with Ah Sahm and Mai Ling which is that they had a shared trauma that they reacted to differently. There’s a lot of excitement, as a writer, to exploring the depth of that trauma and the inability of these people (who we clearly want to reconnect) to do that until they’ve sort of exorcised these demons and found a way to get past it. And in both cases, a lot of people had to die for that to happen.
My thoughts on this was that these brothers know how to fight, they love to fight, and they fight with each other, but they’re still brothers.
Jonathan Tropper: Also just the notion that all brothers fight, but when both brothers are the size of these guys, that fight is going to wreck any environment they’re in. Whether it’s the fight they have in that parking lot where they’re wrecking police cars, I mean just to watch guys this size fight, suddenly it takes on a whole different level of damage.
There are so many good lines in the film that draw attention and are super comedic, such as in “you guys look like the Rock had kids with himself” or “you guys had steroid pancakes”. Were those lines adlibbed and then put into the film?
Jonathan Tropper: The two that you mention were both written into the script and were in the first draft of the script. I almost feel like the line I wrote about “you guys look like the Rock screwed himself and had twins” is what got the movie greenlit. But there was a lot of ad-libbing that the guys did on set, and there were some really funny lines they did ad-lib, but you happen to pick two that I wrote, so I’ll take credit for ‘em.
Wonderful! They’re the most memorable ones that came to mind. Now I have to tie this question back to “Warrior”. If Jason and Dave’s characters were suddenly transported to Chinatown, would they be Long Zii or Hop Wei?
Jonathan Tropper: I feel like Jason would form his own tong and I feel like Dave is not a joiner. I think Dave would be a free agent and Jason would form a much more colorful tong than what we’ve had on the show so far.
They’re like “do we want to be hatchet men?” “Nah, we like using our fists too much.”
Jonathan Tropper: It would be interesting though.
Being the writer and you’ve written two of the funniest lines in the film, what scene are you most excited for audiences to see?
Jonathan Tropper: For me, it’s always going to be the scene where Dave and Jason finally have to throw down with each other. The big fight they have followed by the talk they have. To me that resolution is almost its own climax within the movie. It’s the center of the movie, and it’s when 20 years of anger and resentment finally explode and watching it explode as these two guys just beat the shit out of each other and then talk and finally get past the thing that’s been emotionally blocking them both for 20 years. I think it’s pretty powerful stuff and I thought they handled it beautifully.
If we were to have a “Wrecking Crew 2” or you were offered the opportunity to, would you revisit some of the untold stories that I feel were perhaps planted in this film, or would it escalate to something new?
Jonathan Tropper: I think I’d want it to escalate to something new. I think we’ve already told the story of this family, so we’d wanna take these two brothers and some of the other characters and probably just bring them into a new, more heightened adventure.
“The Wrecking Crew” premieres on Prime Video on January 28, 2026.
