Summary
- Ken Li’s article “Racer X” served as the inspiration for the film that launched the Fast and Furious franchise, showcasing the underground street racing scene.
- The Fast and Furious franchise shifted its focus after Tokyo Drift by creating a more cohesive storyline and developing emotional connections between characters, making the films more than just fast cars and chase scenes.
- The franchise continues to expand with new spinoffs, such as the upcoming Hobbs & Reyes film, and plans for Fast 11 to conclude the primary storyline in April 2025.
Street racing had been an illegal underground sport for quite some time before its popularity began to rise in the ’90s. When the NYPD started to have more and more problems with racers taking over the streets, Ken Li, a reporter at the New York Daily News, felt like there was a story to tell. He met with Rafael Esteves, one of the most prominent racers on the East Coast at the time, and after getting to know how and why he chose such a fast-paced and dangerous life, Li was able to recreate the racing world on paper. His article, “Racer X,” was published in VIBE‘s May 1998 issue, and shortly after, it became the inspiration for the film that most people know as The Fast and the Furious, which birthed the Fast and Furious franchise.
Fast cars, pretty women, and having one major chase scene to close out the story is the basic foundation of the first three Fast and Furious films. While these storylines were interesting, the writers and directors realized they could not keep up with the same formula and create a successful and lasting franchise. After the standalone film, Tokyo Drift, was released, the action was reworked to better connect the characters and give them a more profound sense of purpose for completing heists and risking their lives. Storylines became intertwined, and the emotional connection among characters was strengthened. This shift in perspective is what ultimately saved the series.
Find out how and why the Fast & Furious franchise shifted its focus after Tokyo Drift.
Vin Diesel Came Back as Dominic Toretto
As many fans recall, Vin Diesel was nowhere to be seen in 2 Fast 2 Furious, and he only reprised his role as Dominic Toretto in the final moments of Tokyo Drift. Originally, Diesel felt like there was nowhere to go from the original Fast & Furious film. He thought it should be an independent classic that went down in history, but after Justin Lin paid him a visit to discuss the future of the franchise, Diesel realized the true potential of the films.
Lin told The Moveable Fest that he and Diesel sat down for hours discussing the mythology of Dominic Toretto and how he brings together multiple people for a larger purpose. He needed the actor to come back for mere seconds in Tokyo Drift to tie in a connection to Han (Sung Kang) and the future films. After their lengthy chat, Diesel not only saw how his character would play a bigger part than just some guy with a fast car and even faster lifestyle, but he was able to plan how that would happen by taking up a producer role in all the future films. The plot centering around street racing for the sake of winning money or pink slips needed to be done, and an emotional and familial aspect was added to the films.
The Importance of a Cohesive Storyline
For a franchise to successfully work beyond a few films that loosely tied together, audiences have to feel a connection to the characters and want the best for them. With Dominic Toretto, Brian O’Conner, Letty Ortiz, and Mia Toretto already having a fan base from the first two films, the goal of Fast & Furious was to get people emotionally invested in why the characters do what they do. Sure, throughout the next seven or so movies, there are high-adrenaline chase scenes, tragic deaths, and some epic fights. However, knowing that each character is risking their lives for the safety and wellbeing of the people they love kicks up the adrenaline and gets fans even more invested.
The films that follow after Tokyo Drift, aside from the spinoffs, focus on a cohesive storyline where the characters have their families, they deal with intimate and hard conversations, and essentially everyone grows out of their live-fast-die-young mentality. Watching the characters get older and wiser is tough because that means the story will one day come to an end, but it’s also incredible to see what they have each overcome to still be together.
What’s Next for the Fast & Furious Franchise?
Fast X left off on a bit of a cliffhanger with Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) receiving a threatening call from the latest Fast & Furious villain, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa). It has been announced that Johnson will reprise his role in a standalone film titled Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Reyes that takes place between the events of Fast X and Fast 11. Right now, the details are under wraps, but fans are expecting some epic scenes between the two legendary actors.
As for the primary storyline, Fast 11 is said to hit the theaters in April 2025. Since it is the second part to Fast X, fans expect the story to pick up exactly where it left off, with the return of a couple characters and Dante’s manhunt. Diesel posted a video where he and Kang are collaborating and going over the mythology of the whole Fast & Furious saga to see what loose ends need to be wrapped up in the concluding film. Clearly, their attention to detail has been paying off as Fast & Furious has become one of the biggest franchises worldwide.
