To say that there will more films in the Fast and Furious franchise is one hell of an understatement. The Fate of the Furious is the biggest worldwide launch ever, earning $532 million in its first weekend. This is the eighth film in the franchise, and the fact that it's still posting record-breaking numbers is nothing short of outstanding. Unless Fast and Furious 9 flops beyond belief, we're likely looking at at least 10 total films in this series, which begs the question: What then? We can only watch Vin Diesel mumble for so long, and The Fate of the Furious, despite its success, is already showing some franchise wear and tear. But there's one other thing Universal can do to breath new life into the series, while still keeping true to its core values, and it's something the studio may already be doing. It's time for the kids to take over.
The car chases may get butts into seats, but Fast and Furious' chief theme has always been family -- they've only said out loud in every movie since Fast Five. At the end of the day, these superheroes are a family, whether they're street racing in Cuba or celebrating saving the world from nuclear winter with a bbq. The characters have always been family, in spirit if not by blood, but several characters have gone on to start actual families of their own. Dom, Brian, and Hobbs are all parents, so it stands to reason that when it's time to say goodbye to these human action figures, their children could easily step into their shoes (or driver seats, if you prefer).
If Universal is preparing for this shift, it's a logical decision to make. Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson can't make these movies forever, and if Universal wants Fast and Furious to live past them, then they've already got the tools to do so. Replacing the parents with the children would make for an easier transition than if a cast of completely all-new characters were introduced.
"Who's this new guy? Oh, Dom's son? Got it."
And then we're off. Because audiences are familiar with the parents, they'll want to know about the children, and that will make it easier to start a whole new slate of films starring the next generation of drivers/Corona drinkers. Following the story of the kids would also be staying true to the theme of family, as we see how these kids are impacted by their parents and how that informs (or doesn't) their relationships to each other. Plus, most of these kids will be related to each other in one form or another, which just adds more meat to their relationships.
There's already a suspicious amount of babies running around in this hyper-macho action franchise. As of now, the films have taken care to give these characters children: Dom and Letty; Brian and Mia; the single father Hobbs; and the deceased Vince. Brian and Mia have two children: Jack and a daughter we've yet to meet. We already saw in Furious 7 that Baby Jack favors playing with cars, and one can already see him becoming a driver, what with all that pure O'Conner and Toretto adrenalin constantly pumping through his system. It'd also be nice to see his sister become a driver as well, perhaps mirroring the relationship between Dom and Mia from earlier films. Basically, Jack would be one of the main players of this new crew.
Hobbs is hands down the best Fast and Furious character right now and it just so happens that he has a daughter of his own. First introduced in Furious 7, Samantha Hobbs showed lots of spunk and bravado in her debut. With someone as charismatic as Hobbs as a father, Samantha is basically guaranteed to become an ass-kicker when she grows up. She's already getting her warrior training thanks to her dad's mad soccer coaching skills in The Fate of the Furious, and she looks seriously tough while doing the Haka.
Vince didn't have as big a role in the Fast and Furious movies as some other characters, but he revealed to Dom that he had a son named Nico (short for Dominic) in Fast Five. Nico has got driving in his blood, and with Dom keeping an eye on him, it's easy to see him becoming a part of this new cast of characters.
Finally, we've got Dom's secret son, Brian. Introduced in The Fate of the Furious, Baby Brian was Dom's main motivation for going rogue after Cipher (Charlize Theron) kidnapped him and threatened his life if Dom didn't help her out. It's hard to think that Baby Brian won't factor in at all in a future Fast and Furious movie, and it'd be cool to see him have a strong friendship with his cousin, Jack. Plus, he's already got a taste for action thanks to sharing the most memorable action sequence in the whole movie with Jason Statham.
Those are just some of the characters that could be used in Fast and Furious: The Next Generation and all the pieces are right there. The last major reason for moving the franchise in this direction is that any movie starring these kids would have to be set when they are adults, at least 20 years into the future. Do you know what that means? That's right, I'm talking flying future cars! In this universe, cars already have grappling hooks and other gadgets, so it stands to reason that cars would be super high-tech in this future. If straight-up jetpacks already exist, then a flying car is hardly out of the question. It would literally take street racing to a whole new level, and create new, fresh opportunities for some of that crazy Fast and Furious action. Need I say more?
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