Start your engines, the first “Fast X” trailer has arrived.
The tenth installment in perhaps modern cinema’s unlikeliest franchise is due out on May 19 and while the Super Bowl will have a sixty-second cutdown, Universal has unleashed the entire, nearly 4-minute trailer early. And it’s a whopper (and you can watch it right now in the player).
As is the tradition for a movie built around family, the trailer begins with the introduction of Abuela Toretto – Dom, Jakob and Mia’s grandmother (played by screen legend Rita Moreno). Then, almost right away, we get into the action stuff. This time the big bad is played by Jason Momoa, playing a character named Dante whose life was ruined by Dom and the gang during the events of “Fast Five.”
This goes along with the franchise’s tendency to retcon key events in the history of the series (we see sequences from “Fast Five” where Momoa’s character has been inserted) and also to make said history as complicated as it possibly can be. Of course, Dante is seeking revenge against Dom (Vin Diesel), which includes kidnapping Dom’s son. This guy is bad news!
In terms of new members of the “Fast and Furious” pit crew, we also see Brie Larson as Tess, who is rumored to be the daughter of Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) and, briefly, “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson. A number of returning cast members are featured in the trailer, including John Cena, Jason Statham (last seen in 2019 spin-off “Hobbs & Shaw”), Michelle Rodriguez, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel and Sung Kang who, from the looks of the trailer, is teaming up with Statham (a controversial move indeed).
Who you don’t see is Dwayne Johnson, who has publicly stated he has no interest in reprising his role as Hobbs in the mainline “Fast & Furious” franchise.
As far as the action goes, “Fast X” looks properly insane and the trailer includes a number of only-in-a-“Fast and Furious”-movie moments including the gang driving away from a concussive shockwave and a moment towards the end where Dom’s muscle car manages to bring down two helicopters. Physics – who needs it?!?
“Fast X” had a notoriously difficult production, with original director and co-writer Justin Lin, who has shepherded the franchise to its level of stratospheric popularity, leaving the production a week into the shoot. (And he was supposed to be on for two movies.) He was eventually replaced by “The Transporter” filmmaker Louis Letterier.
Additionally, the budget of “Fast X” ballooned from $300 million to $340 million, making it one of the most expensive movies of all time. We’ll say this – all of that money is on the screen.
“Fast X” starts burning rubber on May 19. Watch the trailer in the player above.
