Fast X Director Teases How The Next Fast And Furious Movie Will Unleash ‘War’

Vin Diesel in F9: The Fast Saga
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Fast & Furious fans have been living their lives a quarter mile at a time ever since the franchise launched in 2001, but like any journey, our time in The Fast Saga is coming to an end. This summer’s Fast X is the penultimate entry in the main Fast & Furious film series, and you best believe that things will end with a bang for Dominic Toretto and his crew. As Fast X director Louis Leterrier teased, this 2023 new movie release will unleash “war” on the protagonists.

Although specific plot details concerning Fast X are still being secret, we do have a sense of the danger that awaits, namely that along with Charlize Theron’s Cipher still being on the loose, we’ll be introduced to Jason Momoa’s villainous character, Dante. Evidently whatever sinister machinations these two are cooking up will result in the biggest conflict in the Fast & Furious world yet. As Louis Leterrier put it:

There’s a war brewing. It’s coming to an end, and it is a race to the finish. There will be some tremendous casualties.

While the original plan was for Justin Lin, who’d directed five other Fast & Furious movies, to helm Fast X, he exited one week into principal photography due to “creative differences.” Louis Leterrier was tapped as his replacement shortly thereafter, having previously collaborated with Universal Pictures on The Incredible Hulk, and the rest of shooting happened seemingly without any other issues. The first Fast X trailer is dropping tomorrow, February 9, two days ahead of the Super Bowl, but beforehand, Leterrier spoke with Empire about the high stakes at play in this next round of car-centric action.

Of course, as longtime fans of the Fast & Furious franchise know, allegiances can change in a snap, with bad guys frequently becoming allies and good guys occasionally turning to the dark side. That won’t be any different in Fast X, with Louis Leterrier saying the following about how the team dynamics will change:

People are going to need to take sides. Alliances will need to be made. Good guys will become bad guys, bad guys will become good guys.

Without any official footage to look at yet, it’s hard to say which of the core group of heroes in Fast X’s cast will find themselves working against the people they’ve called family for years, nor can we predict which of the people still established as bad guys will turn to the light. Still, after more than two decades of entertaining audiences, the Fast & Furious franchise needs to find new ways to keep people on their toes. Along with familiar faces like Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris and Jordana Brewster all returning, Fast X is bringing in plenty of other newcomers to join Jason Momoa, including Brie Larson, Alan Ritchson and Rita Moreno. It’s also been rumored that Gal Gadot might be back as Gisele Yashar, who was thought to have died in Fast & Furious 6.

Fast X races into theaters on May 19. Keep visiting CinemaBlend for more information on what it has in store for fans, and use your HBO Max subscription to rewatch F9 so you’re caught up to speed before the next installment.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.