Vin Diesel promised to take Fast & Furious back to where it started: real on-screen street racing, practical stuntwork, and organic, real storyline development. Finally, amidst the rumors as to when this saga shall conclude, here is Vin Diesel showing his vision regarding the direction that this franchise can take going to the ending-promising a new reunion of Diesel’s and Dwayne Johnson’s roles as Dominic Toretto and Luke Hobbs with a perfect end to the great saga with homage at its heart.
In a recent social media update, Diesel let it be known that he’d like to do away with the heavy reliance on CGI that’s dominated the most recent entries in the franchise. “I just want to get back to real street racing, practical stunts… and a reunion of that beautiful brotherhood,” Diesel shared. For the early-adopter fan of on-screen movies, it brought back memories when this series came out as a mere turbo-charged paean to underground autodom, a gritty vehicle for character-driven drama-if you will-proudly front and center. Diesel’s revised emphasis on practical effects follows that magic, shifting away from the increasingly out-there CGI stunts which have seriously divided fans of late years.
Fast X director Louis Leterrier reportedly shares that vision, promising to return the franchise to its roots on the streets.
But most exciting of all, no doubt, is the scheduled reunion between Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and Johnson’s Luke Hobbs. The two stars infamously clashed during the making of 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, which resulted in Johnson bowing out of the mainline entries that followed. The spat was ultimately hashed out, and he surprised audiences with a postcredits scene cameo in Fast X to tee up his return in Fast X: Part 2.
Add to that the Hobbs-focused spinoff announced last year, and the narrative gaps within the franchise are getting sealed. Diesel’s vision for their reunion underlines the recurring theme of “family” in the franchise.
Smooth ahead, though, it is not. Fast X: Part 2 has a tight deadline via Universal Pictures, with its release set for March 2026, exactly the 25th anniversary of the franchise. Diesel reported creative differences with Universal and parent company Comcast over how many movies remain in the series-two or three.
Things have been further complicated by the box office performance of Fast X, which has grossed $705 million worldwide. Though respectable, that figure fell short of expectations considering the film’s reportedly $340 million budget. Comcast is said to be pushing for a tighter, more profitable conclusion to the saga, while Diesel and writer Chris Morgan are focused on providing satisfying narrative closure.
As the Fast & Furious saga approaches its 25th year, fans’ expectations have never run this high. Audiences, having followed the series since its creation, have been yearning to see it return to its core principles of loyalty, brotherhood, and street racing that kept the blood rushing.
But with whispers of production starting without a completed script and plans for up to three more films, there’s a risk it will over-extend. Diesel’s back-to-basics vision could reinvigorate the series, yet there’s always a chance he won’t quite strike that very difficult balance between nostalgia and freshness.
