With marketing ramping up, Universal's Fast X has landed the cover of next month's issue of Total Film, and the magazine has also shared new images from the highly-anticipated action sequel that is expected to be the first part of an epic two-part finale, with the eleventh chapter expected to wrap up the story sometime in 2024/2025.
As the franchise nears the finish line, with the undated Fast & Furious 11 expected to close the door on this franchise, fans have been wondering whether the creative team would find a way to honor the late Paul Walker and his character Brian O'Conner in one of these last two films.
While Walker tragically passed in late 2013, his character received a proper sendoff in 2015's Furious 7 and was ultimately left alive, opting to retire from the Fast Family to become a stay-at-home dad. He was mentioned briefly in The Fate of the Furious and his Nissan Skyline was seen pulling up into the driveway during the end of movie barbeque, but, understandably, they haven't teased much more than that.
However, with Fast X nearly here and the eleventh chapter not far behind, it's fair to wonder whether Vin Diesel and the creative team will be able to find a way to bring him back into the mix for the franchise finale or if they'll just let his perfect goodbye in Furious 7 remain our lasting memory of Walker.
Fast X director Louis Leterrier admits that O'Conner won't play a part in the upcoming tenth installment, but Diesel hints that they may be cooking up something for Fast 11 that would allow fans to finally say goodbye to Brian O'Conner.
"That moment in 2013 when the world was struggling with his loss, the studio made a very bold and righteous and daring decision to keep Brian O’Conner alive. I will give you this without spoiling anything: I couldn’t imagine this saga ending without truly saying goodbye to Brian O’Conner."
On another note, with Kurt Russell's Mr. Nobody presumed dead (or missing) after the events of F9, franchise newcomer Brie Larson has finally confirmed that she'll be playing his daughter Tess - and it sounds like she'll be a powerful ally for the Torettos.
"Tess is Mr. Nobody's daughter. She is technically Agency, but she's kind of a bridge, in a way. She doesn't go along with the way that the Agency's headed now that her father isn't there. She believes in the legacy that her father set up, which is standing with Dom and standing with the Toretto family, and is fighting for that. Dom knows that she has a strong mind and definitely respects that she's gone out of her way to talk to him and wants to build trust. What he asks of Tess is a test. Like, if it's an impossible task, and she can get it done, then that's family for life."
The massive ensemble cast features Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto), Michelle Rodriguez (Letty Ortiz), Tyrese Gibson (Roman Pearce), Ludacris (Tej Parker), Jordana Brewster (Mia Toretto), Nathalie Emmanuel (Ramsey), Sung Kang (Han Seoul-Oh), Charlize Theron (Cipher), Jason Statham (Deckard Shaw), John Cena (Jakob Toretto), Jason Momoa (Dante Reyes), Brie Larson (Tess), Alan Ritchson (Aimes), Daniela Melchior, Scott Eastwood (Little Nobody), Michael Rooker (Buddy), Rita Moreno (Abuelita Toretto), Helen Mirren (Magdalene Shaw), Luis Da Silva Jr. (Diogo), and Leo Abelo Perry (Brian Marcos).
Check out the new stills and covers below:
Fast X, the tenth film in the Fast & Furious Saga, launches the final chapters of one of cinema’s most storied and popular global franchises, now in its third decade and still going strong with the same core cast and characters as when it began.
Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who’s fueled by blood revenge, and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves, forever.
In 2011’s Fast Five, Dom and his crew took out nefarious Brazilian drug kingpin Hernan Reyes and decapitated his empire on a bridge in Rio De Janeiro. What they didn’t know was that Reyes’ son, Dante, witnessed it all and has spent the last 12 years masterminding a plan to make Dom pay the ultimate price.
Dante’s plot will scatter Dom’s family from Los Angeles to the catacombs of Rome, from Brazil to London and from Portugal to Antarctica. New allies will be forged and old enemies will resurface. But everything changes when Dom discovers that his own 8-year-old son is the ultimate target of Dante’s vengeance.