MAJOR SPOILERS FOR FAST X IN THE ARTICLE BELOW!
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION
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It’s amazing how The Fast and the Furious franchise has essentially become its own version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The globe-trotting, high-octane, ensemble action films that originated from a street racing movie has developed a lore throughout the series and each sequel attaches some connected tissue to a former character or plot in one way or another. Fast X is now in theaters and the plot involves a figure from the past in the form of Jason Momoa. Momoa is a character who is retconned as the son of the villainous Reyes from Fast Five.
With a series as long as this one, it’s natural to have a revolving door of characters played by both known or upcoming actors at the time. This series has featured the likes of Eva Mendes, Sonny Chiba, Scott Eastwood, Kurt Russell, Luke Evans, and Djimon Hounsou. Fast X is a planned two-parter and nowadays, movies like this will leave you with a hook. Enter the surprise appearances of a couple of major characters to entice you to return for the second part.
MANY SPOILERS COMING UP.
One small surprise early on is when Scott Eastwood shows up reprising his role from The Fate of the Furious as Little Nobody. He doesn’t have much of an impact on the overall story, but perhaps the film is reminding the audience of his character’s existence in case he plays an important role in the upcoming sequel.
A big surprise is revealed right before the credits happens when Letty reluctantly finds herself teaming up with Charlize Theron’s Cipher as they try to escape a facility in Antarctica. The setting calls back to the frozen terrain of the eighth film’s finale and even features a submarine emerging from the ice. A mysterious ally exits from the sub and is revealed to be Gisele, played by Wonder Woman‘s Gal Gadot, who was a big part of the family in Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6.
Then the surprise appearance that brings the house down comes in the middle of the credits. An unidentified SWAT team, armored from head-to-toe, raids an abandoned building when they come upon a television setup with a ringing cell phone. The leading member of the team picks up and Momoa’s Dante is on the line addressing this character, saying that Toretto was not the sole offender in the death of his father. The SWAT member removes his tactical mask and Luke Hobbs, played by Dwayne Johnson, professes that he’ll be waiting for Dante, concluding with his signature, “Sum-bitch.” How the others will factor into the next film remains to be seen. However, there may be more complicated connections in store as it may be revealed that Hobbs and Dante may somehow be related. Earlier in the film, when running down Dante’s history, there was explicit attention paid to his Samoan background and the fact that his mother is unknown. Could this imply that Hobbs and Dante are half-brothers? It would definitely lead to a two-on-one showdown between our three hulking leads.
Perhaps Jakob, who seemingly sacrificed himself in this movie will somehow return and we can get a cinematic Dwayne Johnson vs. John Cena fight scene. With the way the Fast & Furious series is pulling off these twists, it looks like anything is possible now.