Vin Diesel was a mixed bag of emotions when it came to the initial idea to send Fast & Furious to space. The long-running action franchise returns next week with its ninth installment, F9, which promises to be bigger than ever. This time around, Dom (Diesel) is confronted by his estranged brother Jakob (John Cena), who aims to take revenge over something that happened to him long ago. Throw in some major returns, most notably Sung Kang's Han, and even more jaw-dropping stunts, and F9 is poised to take Fast & Furious to brand new heights.
That includes literal heights. For years now, a running joke has been that the Fast & Furious franchise will have to venture into space just to top its previous movies. With F9, though, that's turned into something more than a joke. Several of the film's stars, including Ludacris and Michelle Rodriguez, confirmed last year that the franchise will be heading out of Earth's atmosphere, and the most recent Fast & Furious 9 trailer saw Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) steering a rocket car through the air. That's right: The little car racing franchise that could is going to space.
In a new EW feature on Fast & Furious 9, Diesel shared his first reaction to the idea of taking the franchise to space. While it may have felt like a no-brainer to some, Diesel admitted he found himself a bit torn, swaying between being against it and for it. He said:
"Oh my God, I had so many mixed emotions. Then I had this Cheshire grin on my face. Like it's so bold and blatantly outrageous. And you go, 'No, no, no, no, no!' And then you go, 'Wait a minute, maybe, yes, yes, yes, yes!' I was like, 'If we pull it off, we'll pull it off. And if not, we tried.'"
Heading off to space might feel like jumping the shark for some, but they have to give Fast & Furious some credit. As the ultimate form of popcorn entertainment, Fast & Furious has always been dedicated to going bigger with each new movie. Space travel is the very definition of bigger for this series, and Diesel and director Justin Lin didn't back down. Whether the idea will work in its execution, though, is another matter. Audiences will be able to weigh in when F9 arrives in theaters next week.
Fast & Furious still has two more movies slated for after F9, and one has to wonder where they could possibly go next. Should F9 only scratch the surface of heading to space, the future installments could explore that even further. There is also that frequently joked-about Fast & Furious/Jurassic World crossover that's been floating around. As the space plot has proven, even the most absurd online punchlines could become a real story. At this point, it might be smart to avoid writing off anything when it comes to these movies. If Diesel's willing to give it a shot, anything goes.
Source: EW
