During the Super Bowl, Universal Pictures made a big investment towards marketing Fast & Furious 6, buying a 60-second spot for approximately $7.6 million to debut the first Fast & Furious 6 trailer. Considering how big the franchise has become, and the fact that this sequel was in development before Fast Five even hit theaters, it's not surprising.

The earlier plan was to develop (possibly even shoot) both Fast & Furious 6 and 7 at the same time, and while they're being shot separately, the latest rumor pays tribute to the notion that the stories are very much connected, in more ways than you might have thought...

Ain't It Cool News has the scoop on the biggest Fast & Furious related spoiler we've ever heard. And while it's obviously unofficial and unconfirmed at this point, it is exciting and believable - so much so, that we wish we didn't know.

So be warned, if you read ahead, you will be spoiled and you may just regret it...

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Paul Walker in Fast and Furious 6
Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, and Vin Diesel in 'Fast and Furious 6'

Around the time when Fast Five was hitting the home video market, reports surfaced about the next franchise installments, with rumors indicating that Jason Statham may be the next high profile star to join the franchise.

As it turned out, Brit actor Luke Evans nabbed the role Statham was thought to take initially and Fast & Furious 6 was shot by itself. According to today's big scoop from AICN, much of that initial plan may actually hold true.

According to their sources, at the end of Fast & Furious 6, when Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker)'s team of stunt drivers successfully help out Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in taking down Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) in exchange for their freedom, there's an additional scene that leads into Fast & Furious 7.

Jason Statham in The Transporter

It may end up being a post-credits sequence much like the tease of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) returning in the Fast Five button, but this one starts with an inside-car view of someone's hands on a steering wheel of a parked car, with Japanese voices coming though a police scanner in the vehicle. An external shot reveal it to be a custom reinforced Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

The scanner asks for all units to respond to a car chase between a black and orange Mazda RX-7 and a grey Nissan 350Z, and so the Mercedes books it in pursuit. We still don't see the driver but the Mercedes is running parallel on another street to the high-speeding Mazda and Nissan, before cutting left, onto the same road, and sideswiping the Mazda, flipping it as a result, with practically no damage to the Mercedes.

The mystery Mercedes stops and out steps... Jason Statham, as Ian Shaw, brother to Luke Evans' character. He walks up to the flipped over Mazda RX-7 and in it sits Han Seul-Oh (Sung Kang). That's right. The franchise has come full circle and merged with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, director Justin Lin's first entry into the series (he's directed every installment since).

Fast Furious Tokyo Drift Han Mazda RX7

Mind blown? FYI, this isn't Jensen Ames Statham from Death Race or Frank Martin Statham from the Transporter series or Handsome Rob Statham from The Italian Job, this is Ian Shaw Statham from Fast & Furious, typecast car skills included.

We can therefore assume the grey Nissan is The Drift King Takashi's (Brian Tee) ride. Will Lucas Black return to the franchise as Sean Boswell? Hit me up on Twitter @rob_keyes and let me know if you dig this idea.

Fast & Furious 6 is directed by Justin Lin and stars returnees Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Elsa Pataky. The core cast welcomes newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano.

Fast & Furious 6 hits theaters May 24, 2013.

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Source: AICN