Officially, the Fast & Furious franchise includes nine feature films, with the tenth on the way, and also a spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw (2019), which didn’t please Vin Diesel at all. However, that is only section of the story: true fans understand that the Gospel According to Toretto has spread through animated series ?Fast & Furious: Spies at Full Throttle (2017-2021)?, video games, an attraction in every the Universal theme parks and several short films simply for the, very insiders.

The first of them gets the incredible title of The Turbo Charged Prelude for just two 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and is, well, a simple prelude to the next film, devoted to how Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) manages to evade the authorities. from LA until landing in Miami. The producers’ idea was to establish some sort of connective tissue between the first two installments and fill a narrative gap that, in the end, consolidated Brian because the absolute protagonist of the story, since Diesel didn’t want to return. A mere promotional material created for the web ?hence its aesthetic, almost worthy of a Sisq� video clip?, although some UNITED STATES cinemas showed it before 2 Fast 2 Furious to give the public a more complete experience.

When you won’t find anyone defending The Turbo Charged Prelude for just two 2 Fast 2 Furious as an essential little bit of mythology, things have become different in terms of the second short. Los Bandoleros (2009), written and directed by Vin Diesel himself, introduces Tego Calder�n and Don Omar in to the saga, two musicians turned actors who would be essential pieces in some subsequent installments, especially Fast 5 (2011). Not only that, but it addittionally details what happened to the characters of Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) following the original film, as well as recovering Sung Kang’s Han, whose friendship with the paterfamilias have been established at the end of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Race (2006). More than an interlude between movies, Los Bandoleros is a refoundation of the franchise, a fresh beginning where Diesel allowed himself to look at a more poetic and relaxed tone, commensurate with the natural settings of the Dominican Republic (where he himself, a reggaeton enthusiast, insisted which should be set). It isn’t strictly necessary that you see it in the next fast and furious marathon, but it responds to the authorial vision of the primary creative engine of it. That makes it an interesting curiosity.

However, the story will not end there. Only probably the most dedicated to the reason know this, but you will find a secret, semi-official film that, thanks to director Justin Lin’s capability to slip under Universal’s radar, can be viewed as the main experience. From a certain perspective, sure, but take our word for this: the crime dramedy Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) traces the origins of the character Han Lue, also played by Kang (can you imagine any other actor in that role?). He and Lin have confirmed on multiple occasions that it is indeed the same character, so there is no reason, other than the obvious and boring copyright issue, to exclude her from canon. Actually, Fast X movie transforms this cinematic universe right into a more expansive and richly nuanced place: it’s funny to believe that while Dom and Brian were meeting in downtown L.A., the characters in Better Luck Tomorrow were living their very own ordeal only a few feet away. kilometers of distance.

The story of how this indie film found its way into F&F is fascinating enough to miss. When screenwriter Chris Morgan heard that Universal was available to suggestions for a third film in the series, he arrived at his offices with a pitch about how Dominc Toretto decides to travel to Japan to investigate the murder of a vintage friend. Since Diesel had not been yet interested in time for what would become his family ? he only wished to make a brief final cameo following the studio gave him the rights to The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) ? Morgan contacted Justin Lin to imagine a new protagonist. The director thought it will be a great opportunity to cast an Asian-American actor because the franchise’s new hero, but the producers flatly refused, arguing that someone like Lucas Black could have more potential at the box office. Lin reluctantly agreed, asking them to at the very least let him revise the script to make it less “offensive and outdated” (those were his words).