Warning: This article contains spoilers for Fast X
Fast X stars Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez have reflected on bringing back two major characters from previous Fast and Furious movies. The new film, which sees the found family at the center of the franchise facing off against new villain Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) also included surprise appearances from Gal Gadot as Gisele and Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs, the latter of which was in a bonus credits scene. Gadot hasn’t been seen in the franchise since Furious 7 while Johnson stepped away after his spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, not appearing in the most recent outing F9.
Recently The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Diesel and Rodriguez to discuss those Fast X cameos. Diesel, whose alleged feud with Johnson is part of the reason the star didn’t appear in F9 said that the cameos were designed to please the fans and highlight the franchise’s “running theme of unity.” Rodriguez revealed that Gadot’s return has been in the cards for some time so, while that was a delight, it was more of a surprise to have Johnson return, which she said was “really cool.” Read their full quotes below:
Vin Diesel: The conversations are what makes the best movie? What feels right for a franchise? How do you make as many people happy in this world? And both of them clearly make people happy. Underscore that with this running theme of unity that prevails in the Fast and Furious saga, and it’s a match made in heaven.
Michelle Rodriguez: I was laughing my butt off. I was like, “Ha, ha, you try getting away with something like that in your franchise!” It’s crazy what we get away with. The whole Gal storyline had been in the works for a while, a couple of movies in, and there’s even footage shot already so it didn’t surprise me as much as Dwayne coming back. That was like really cool.
Fast X Is a Victory Lap for the Long-Running Franchise
In addition to providing fans with some exciting moments, these Fast X cameos show how much the new film is a celebration of the franchise as a whole. It is the first part of an intended two-part finale that will lead into the sequel Fast 11 (though a Fast 12 extension is already being teased). Because of this sense of closure and finality, it makes sense that Fast X would see fit to take a look back.
Fast X still has plenty of forward momentum as well. This includes adding a heap of new characters. In addition to Momoa’s Dante Reyes, the new entry introduced Daniela Melchior as Dom’s ex’s sister Isabel Neves, Rita Moreno as his grandmother Abuelita Toretto, Brie Larson as Mr. Nobody’s daughter Tess, among others.
However, all of these new characters are designed to create ties to the previous entries in the Fast Saga. This includes Fast X‘s villain, who is revealed to be the son of Fast Five‘s villain seeking revenge for his father’s death. Overall the film is primarily driven by a sense of tying up loose ends and finding new ways to take previous plot threads and follow them to their natural endpoints.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter