With the 9th installment of the beloved Fast and Furious franchise right around the corner, star Vin Diesel has announced that the series will end with the tenth film, to be told in two parts. This news is bittersweet, as fans have been able to consistently look forward to over the top sequels since Fast Five in 2011.
As with ending anything popular, there is a major risk and reward in how things are handled. It would be a travesty for a saga that has become so synonymous with having fun at the movies to send people home disappointed in their final outing. Here are 5 things fans want before the series closes its final chapter, and 5 things they don’t.
DON’T: A Cliffhanger Ending
Even with almost guaranteed sequels in the works, the previous sequels all have mostly closed endings, with the occasional villain still being mad, of course. To end the supposed last movie with anything more than a finite goodbye would make moviegoers roll their eyes. The movie needs to bring everything to a close, and give no hint of a return.
After ten films, the entire group should spend the last five minutes of the film drinking Coronas, retired, with their families at their sides. They’ve earned it.
WANT: Good Spin-Offs
Hobbs and Shaw released last summer as the first official spin-off from the main franchise, and according to Vin, that was just the first of many. He wants the series to continue growing and going for the next generation, even if that is without the core group of the main films.
Already rumored is another Hobbs and Shaw film, plus an all-female led movie that would follow a team made up of the women of the films, plus some newcomers to be added. All that the fans ask in regards to spinoffs is that they keep the charm and chaos that makes these films great, and that the last film doesn’t waste too much time trying to set them up.
DON’T: Kill Members Of The Team
The franchise has proved multiple times now that no one in this universe can stay dead. Letty and Han were both killed to heighten the stakes against villains, only to come back later. On top of that, some villains who were blown up or shot have come back as well.
Knowing that death just doesn’t stick would make it disheartening to see any of the core group bite it for shock value or for story purposes. The team has been through enough that one last ride and then happily going on about their business is a fine way to send them off.
WANT: Racing
It may seem like a silly request, but these street-level thieves have become multi-time world-saving heroes. Street racing is the last thing on their minds at this point. Nearly every film finds a place to sneak in some sort of race, and they always showcase that these murderous characters have a fun side as well.
There should be a race featured prominently in the last film, be it against villains with high stakes, or just among the team for pride and fun.
DON’T: Use More Superhumans
Hobbs and Shaw finally committed to the idea of just giving someone in the Fast and Furious universe superpowers, which every character basically already had, just less overtly. While a lot of Idris Elba’s action pieces were cool, something about flat out giving a character powerful abilities took away some of the fun of these characters being larger than life regular people.
Seeing Dom lift cars or jump across buildings is fun because he’s just a dude from the streets of L.A. The second more people start showing up with superhuman abilities the whole tone would be thrown a little out of whack.
WANT: Star Villain(s)
The previous films have had such star-powered villains that many of them end up on the team in some capacity, despite trying to kill them weeks, days, or, in the case of Fast Five, minutes earlier. With Charlize Theron back and bringing along John Cena this time in the 9th film, the franchise has again brought out the big guns in their villain casting.
The last film needs the villain to top all villains or some kind of team to rival the one we all love. The internet has clamored for Keanu Reeves since his friend and collaborator David Leith directed Hobbs and Shaw, and he would be an excellent choice. Give him a superteam that is made of stars or known actors, and the face-off for the last film just got a lot more interesting.
DON’T: Fighting Amongst Family
The Fast Family has a knack for bringing villains they defeat over to their team, as well as a habit of the core group members trying to kill each other once in a while. The series already had an installment where Michelle Rodriguez’s character was a member of the villain’s team because of head trauma, then another where Vin himself was siding with the main villain due to blackmail.
Having seen them go down this road before makes it the least interesting path they could take for their final outing. The series is about building familial relationships and how strong those bonds are, which would make it odd for the last film to be a full-fledged civil war within the group. However, they will have to keep Han and Shaw out of the same room.
WANT: A Full Reunion
Before the whole thing wraps up, the final film needs a moment not dissimilar to the one at the end of Avengers: Endgame. A finale sequence where Vin must call upon all the characters he’s crossed paths with to come together for an assumedly car-based action set-piece would be incredible.
Sure it may seem obvious that Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham will show up as Hobbs and Shaw, but this superfan won’t be satisfied until they are driving alongside Lucas Black and Bow Wow. The biggest hurdle to making this moment huge is that somehow Gal Gadot’s Gazelle needs to be back.
DON’T: A Paul Walker Cameo
Fast and Furious 7 had the perfect ending send-off for the late Paul Walker, who starred in almost every film up to that point. While in the storyline his character truly drove off into the sunset, there was a lot more happening for viewers, and the whole scene was clearly about more than the characters of the film.
To bring back Walker’s character in any way, be it CGI or voice acting through a phone or computer would be to undercut such a powerful moment and would take audience members out of the movie in a bad way. Even if it doesn’t make sense in canon for the character to not help his friends one last time, no one is going to question it.
WANT: Cars In Space
As the movies have been one-upping each other with new stunts every sequel, there has been one place fans have clamored for the gang of car thieves turned superspies to go. Space, the final racetrack. The group going to space would jump the shark, but the group driving cars in space would jump the whole aquarium, and people would love every second of it.
It may seem unlikely, or even impossible, but this is Fast and Furious here. The same movies that had skydiving in cars, disabling a plane with cars, and even destroying a submarine with, you guessed it, cars. An action scene where they have to escape an exploding space station and the only chance they have is a car is the exact kind of moment that would make the last film untoppable in terms of gravitas stunts.
