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10 Played-Out Tropes From The Series That F9 Couldn’t Avoid

To call the Fast & Furious series formulaic would be pointing out the obvious, as the franchise has always relied on tried and tested methods within each release. F9 has continued this practice of featuring tropes that are all too familiar, although it’s entirely possible the movie deliberately didn’t avoid them.

RELATED: 10 Best Video Games Like Fast & Furious, Ranked By Metacritic
The story saw Dominic Toretto and his team attempt to stop the Aries device from being activated, all the while being challenged by Dom’s estranged brother Jakob. It’s difficult for blockbuster releases not to fall prey to played-out tropes, in any case, and F9 has several of these that end up forming the entire Fast & Furious experience.

The Hero Is Unbeatable

Dominic Toretto drives a car and looks to his side

Although F9 deserves credit for changing Dom’s character from before, the one thing that remained the same was his indulgence in the unbeatable protagonist trope. In all the movies, Dom has fought just about everyone from assassins to special ops soldiers, and now the rogue agent that was Jakob.
During their conflict, Jakob never threatened his brother and looked to escape Dom when he realized he couldn’t beat him. Dom was also unbeatable in driving sequences, having been shown defeating Jakob in the flashback and then using his car to destroy Cipher’s drone attack.

The Sympathetic Villain

Fast and Furious 9 Jakob Toretto John Cena

This trope is also notably popular in the MCU, which has brought villains like Thanos and Loki for fans to sympathize with. Jakob was given a similar character arc where his role in Jack Toretto’s demise was detailed, showing how Jakob never intended for their father to die.
Jakob essentially wanted Dom’s acceptance and the movie made it out so that Dom came across as being in the wrong for making the wrong assumption about his brother. This trope has become so commonplace that it wasn’t altogether surprising to see Jakob reform by the film’s end.

Overarching Villain Escaping To Fight Another Day

Charlize Theron as Cipher in Fast and Furious 9

The series indulged in this in The Fate of the Furious as well, where Cipher had escaped in the climax. Along the same lines, she made her exit in F9 when her plan to kill Dom didn’t work out, revealing that she’d been using a drone and was actually safe in a different location.
Rather than have Cipher apprehended or mysteriously disappear, however, F9 chose to invoke this trope. Of course, this was to set up what’s to come in Fast 10, as Cipher is expected to return once again in that movie.

Illogical Character Returns

Fast and Furious 9 Han holds a gun

Blockbuster franchises are always guilty of cashing in on this trope, as fans are expected not to question the logic behind certain things. Han was both in the original series and the reboot, but his chronological death in Tokyo Drift was retconned by the illogical return trope.
RELATED: Say What? 10 Funniest Roman Pierce Quotes From The Fast & Furious Franchise
Here, Han explained that Mr. Nobody was the one who set up his death to look like Deckard Shaw had killed him, yet the scene made no sense as Han somehow teleported from the crash to the top floor of a building next to Mr. Nobody.

Sequel Hooks

Jakob Toretto talks to Cipher in F9

It wouldn’t be a Fast & Furious movie without a number of sequel hooks, which should be fairly obvious by now after the Hobbs & Shaw spin-off. F9 made no attempt to avoid this trope, as it featured the most plot hooks seen in the series.
Things like Jakob’s time on the run, Cipher’s imminent return, Mr. Nobody’s status, Han’s inevitable confrontation with Shaw, among others, are still on the line to be continued and F9 knew very well that throwing out sequel hooks will guarantee returning fans for Fast 10.

Characters Making Ridiculous Decisions To Fit The Plot

Jakob and Dom point their guns at each other in F9

It would be too easy for the plot to end if characters behave rationally, which necessitates the use of this trope, even if it is tiring by now. F9 saw the teenage Dom exile his brother based on the belief that he had harmed their father, something that could have easily been avoided if he’s just talked to Jakob instead.
Similarly, Jakob could have revealed the truth about Jack Toretto’s accident to Dom and avoided living in resentment for the next two decades. In addition, he had partnerships with the likes of Otto, whom Jakob himself clearly saw to be a traitorous character but still decided to trust as the plot wouldn’t have progressed otherwise.

Butt-Monkey Characters

Fast and Furious 9 Tej and Roman in space car

These are the characters who are always the butt of the film’s jokes, with Roman continuing invoking this trope and has done so since Fast & Furious 6. To F9’s credit, the movie did give Roman more to do with the action than before as his and Tej’s adventure in space avoided Aries from being activated.
Joining Roman in this department were Tej and Ramsey, to an extent, as the two also served as comic relief from their lack of prowess in the fighting department. Although their roles were predictable, F9 went with it due to this being the established status quo for the characters.

Protagonists’ Extreme Planning Proficiency

Dom and Jakob have a staredown in F9

This trope is a favorite for action franchises like Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious, involving a convoluted strategy where protagonists make it appear as if they’re trapped, only to reveal their own plan against the villains.
RELATED: Fast & Furious 10 Actors Who Would Be Perfect As The Next Villain
F9 had Dom do this with Jakob by making him believe that the latter’s goons had apprehended him, but later revealed that Leysa and her gang were Dom’s allies all along. This happened in spite of Jakob’s meticulous planning against his brother, as Dom invoked this trope to stay a step ahead.

Stereotypical Happy Ending

Han and Dom about to hug in F9

It’s actually a trademark of the Fast & Furious series to make use of the stereotypical happy ending trope, as fans know very well that Dom and his crew will settle down for dinner by the film’s end. F9 continued this tradition by bringing the characters together once again.
This time around, the happy aspect came from Han’s reunion with Sean and the others, with the final shot completing the well-meant sentiment. The arrival of Brian confirmed that he still lives within the movie canon, giving F9 perhaps the most heartwarming ending of any movie in the series.

A MacGuffin Steering The Plot

Fast and Furious 9 Dominic Toretto and Jakob pose with a car

This is a trope the Fast & Furious series has never wanted to avoid, as every movie has brought characters back due to the presence of a MacGuffin. In F9, it was the Aries device that steered the plot, as Jakob wanted to get his hands on it to control the weapon of the world.
The utilization of the MacGuffin trope usually comes about as a way to involve several characters at once without having to give them personal stakes to join the fight. Dom’s crew all got together in F9 with the common goal of stopping Aries, with only Dom himself being independent of the MacGuffin to remain relevant to the plot.
NEXT: Fast & Furious Top 10 Cars, Ranked By Cost

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Fast & Furious 11 Release Delay & Filming Start Date Confirmed By Director

Summary

Fast and Furious 11
is facing a release date delay to Summer 2026 due to strikes, with director Louis Leterrier confirming the sequel will not be hitting its April 4, 2025 date.
Leterrier also confirms that filming starts in Fall 2025 after finishing a horror movie in September.
The final installment in the
Fast Saga
reunites Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto for one last ride, while also leaving the door open for other spinoffs.

After facing multiple delays due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes, Fast and Furious 11 is seeing its release date delayed. The next installment in the Vin Diesel-fronted franchise is expected to be the last mainline sequel, while development continues on the Dwayne Johnson-led spinoff Hobbs & Reyes, a mysterious standalone movie penned by Fast X’s Zach Dean and a potential female-led spinoff. While a filming start date was never confirmed, Universal had previously set the movie for an April 2025 release date.

During a recent interview with Collider at a CCXP MX panel, Louis Leterrier was asked for an update on Fast and Furious 11. The director went on to confirm that the final mainline installment in the action franchise will no longer be making its April 4, 2025 release date, instead now aiming for a Summer 2026 release window with the filming start date being set for this fall. Check out what Leterrier said below:

It’s happening. It’s happening very, very soon. I’m able to shoot a little horror movie this summer. I’m finishing my horror movie on September 15th, and I start Fast on September 16th.

Will Fast 11’s Multiple Delays Help Or Hurt The Sequel?

Much like the tenth film before it, Fast and Furious 11 has faced a few behind-the-scenes hardships in its road to getting off the ground, namely the delays stemming from the 2023 strikes. While the latest movie seems to have retained its core creative team in comparison to the shift in directors from franchise vet Justin Lin to Leterrier on Fast X after reported creative differences between the former and Diesel, this change didn’t seem to help much with the continued downward trend recent sequels have seen from critics. Check out how the franchise’s Rotten Tomatoes scores compare below:

Title RT Critical Score RT Audience Score The Fast and the Furious 54% 74% 2 Fast 2 Furious 37% 50% The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift 37% 69% Fast & Furious 28% 67% Fast Five 78% 83% Fast & Furious 6 71% 84% Furious 7 81% 82% The Fate of the Furious 67% 72% Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 67% 88% F9: The Fast Saga 59% 82% Fast X 56% 84%

Even looking outside the Fast and Furious franchise, many movie sequels have found themselves hurt by various delays, be they from creative changes, general release shifts or other factors. The action genre in particular is one in which lengthier development periods can lead to diminishing returns, be it A Good Day to Die Hard, Rambo: Last Blood or Diesel’s own xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. While Fast and Furious 11 may only be getting pushed back by a year, the delay is nonetheless a concern that the final installment could find itself in trouble.

Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) looking angry with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) looking unimpressed in Fast & Furious

Related 10 Most Exciting Things To Expect From Fast 11 Fast & Furious 11 will pull all the strings to become bigger than the previous installments, and here is why the film is worth being excited about.

On the other hand, the longer wait for Fast and Furious 11 to close out the mainline series of movies could actually prove beneficial for the sequel. Though Leterrier may be busy with another project in the lead-up to filming the next installment, writers Oren Uziel and Christina Hodson should now have more than enough time to really look back at the script and ensure it learns from the critical missteps of recent installments to deliver a satisfying conclusion to the Dominic Toretto saga.

Source: Collider

Fast and Furious 11 temp poster Fast and Furious 11 Fast and Furious 11 is the final movie in the Fast Saga. It reunites Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto with the rest of the cast for one last ride. However, the franchise is open for spinoff films like Hobbs & Shaw afterward.Director Louis Leterrier Release Date April 4, 2025 Distributor(s) Universal Pictures Writers Christina Hodson , Oren Uziel

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Vin Diesel Already Has His Perfect Fast & Furious Replacement Franchise With 51-Year-Old Remake

Summary

Vin Diesel’s dominance in Fast & Furious is ending, but Kojak could kick off a new action franchise for him.
Kojak’s reboot faces an uncertain future, but its similarity to Fast & Furious makes it a worthy project for Diesel.
Diesel’s potential shift from criminal racer to cop signifies a fresh start in a possible Fast & Furious-like series.

Vin Diesel’s days of playing Dominic Toretto are numbered, but the actor has already found his perfect Fast & Furious replacement. Diesel found a major breakout role in the early 2000s thanks to participating in The Fast and the Furious. The original 2001 street racing crime movie became the springboard for a sprawling franchise that has lasted for over two decades. The success of the Fast & Furious movies transformed Vin Diesel’s career, turning him into an even bigger star, especially in the action movie genre. But, Fast & Furious 11 is planned as the final chapter for him and the franchise.

The Fast & Furious franchise’s end will put Vin Diesel in an unfamiliar position of not having a major franchise to lean back on. This presents the actor with various options, such as changing the course of his career to pursue non-franchise roles. However, the more likely outcome is that Diesel will attempt to find a new IP that can replace Fast & Furious. He has had trouble in that regard recently, with franchises like xXx or Riddick running cold and Bloodshot and The Last Witch Hunter failing to launch franchises. There is another option for Diesel, though.

2:03 Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto from The Fast & Furious Franchise

Related Vin Diesel May Have Spoiled Fast & Furious 11’s Ending With $2.7 Billion Movie Comparison Dom’s death happening in Fast & Furious 11 may have been spoiled already, with Vin Diesel comparing the upcoming movie to another big franchise.

Kojak Can Be Vin Diesel’s New Action Crime Franchise After Fast & Furious
Diesel Has Been Developing The Reboot Since 2015

The impending conclusion of the Fast & Furious franchise means it is finally time for Vin Diesel’s Kojak reboot to get off the ground. The project was announced back in 2015 with Diesel re-teaming with Universal Pictures, the studio behind Fast & Furious, to develop a movie based on Kojak. The original TV series starred Telly Savalas as Theo Kokaj and ran for three seasons after debuting in 1973. The series revolves around Kojak, a New York detective known for being willing to go beyond the law and a love for cars and lollipops, and follows him as he investigates different cases.

Kojak was rebooted in 2005 as a TV show starring Ving Rhames, but it only ran for six episodes

Development on Vin Diesel’s Kojak movie has not been very active in the nine years since it was announced. However, it still maintains the base similarities to Fast & Furious, which makes the project a worthwhile endeavor for Diesel in terms of finding a new action franchise. He would now have another big action series about cars and crime, essentially making Kojak into a newer version of Fast & Furious. The irony here is that Diesel takes on the role of a cop after playing criminal racer Dominic Toretto.

Vin Diesel’s Involvement Can Morph Kojak Into A Major Action Franchise
Kojak Could Be A Fast & Furious Clone
Telly Savalas talking on the phone in Kojak

Looking at the original TV show, Kojak might not necessarily project to be a major blockbuster action franchise akin to Fast & Furious. The TV series was relatively grounded and small due to the nature of its production. However, the fact that Diesel and Universal pinpointed this property as something they wanted to revive together is telling. The announcement of Kojak’s reboot came months after Furious 7 debuted in theaters and took the franchise to new heights at the box office and in terms of how ridiculously big the action and story could get.

It’s sometimes difficult to remember that Fast & Furious started off with a story about DVD thieves who were also street racers before Diesel helped turn it into something much bigger. With that experience and success already behind him, it would be understandable if a similar path was envisioned for Kojak. The series could then morph into a Fast & Furious clone, one that gives Vin Diesel a new franchise to headline and Universal a “fresh” action franchise to grow.

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The Rock’s WWE Run Means Fast & Furious 11 Must Make 1 Major Hobbs Change

Summary

Hobbs from Fast & Furious 11 needs a gritty edge like The Rock’s WWE character to keep the franchise fresh and exciting.
The Rock’s time away from the Fast & Furious universe provides the perfect reason for Hobbs to return with a personal vendetta and a more savage attitude.
While Hobbs shouldn’t become a full-fledged villain in Fast & Furious 11, adding some edginess and dirty tricks could make his character more intriguing and dynamic.

Fast & Furious 11 must make one major Hobbs change after The Rock’s incredible WWE run. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s WWE return surpassed his recent movies, with the actor creating some of the best work of his career. Having returned to a thunderous reception, The Rock was able to flip the crowd’s reception by becoming a heel and playing a major part in WrestleMania’s main events. The Rock hasn’t played a villain on screen for years, as even his depiction of Black Adam lent more into the character’s anti-hero side, which made his wrestling run all the more refreshing.

While his wrestling character may not perfectly translate into the Fast & Furious universe, there is one aspect of The Rock’s WWE run that the franchise should attempt to implement. After debuting in Fast Five, The Rock’s best Fast & Furious scenes helped contribute to the movie series becoming so popular, with Luke Hobbs becoming an instrumental part of the story. He was even given his own spinoff alongside Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and is set to get a solo movie in the future. Despite this, Hobbs would still benefit from adding one key aspect of The Rock’s WWE run.

The Rock’s WWE Run Proves Fast & Furious 11 Needs To Give Hobbs More Of An Edge
Fast & Furious Would Benefit From Hobbs Adopting Some Of The Rock’s WWE Tendancies
Dwayne The Rock Johnson in Black Adam, WWE, and Hobbs and Shaw

Given how electrifying The Rock’s recent WWE run was, there is no doubt Fast & Furious 11 needs to give Hobbs more of an edge. Although the character has had his more serious moments, like most of the Fast & Furious cast, Hobbs tends to mix action with comedy. Hobbs and Shaw are supposed to be two of the more stoic heroes, yet they are constantly at each other’s throats and cracking jokes to help maintain the franchise’s lighthearted core. However, giving Hobbs a grittier side would help the character thrive upon his return.

The Rock’s Fast & Furious return may redeem Fast X’s box office, but the character needs to come back stronger than ever. By allowing him to be more ruthless, he can still maintain some elements of comedy but also become more interesting in the process. Johnson proved that despite being a detestable heel, he was still as hilarious as ever during his recent WWE tenure. This proves that he can maintain Fast & Furious’ tone and humorous style while being more layered; therefore, Hobbs adopting some of The Rock’s WWE characteristics could make him even more entertaining.

Fast & Furious Already Has A Reason For Hobbs To Be More Savage
Hobbs Has Been Away From The Franchise For Several Years

Making a major change to Hobbs’ character could be tough to explain, but Fast & Furious 11 already has a great reason to make him more savage. His four-year absence from the franchise gives him a perfect excuse to come back with a vengeance and potentially have a personal attachment to Fast & Furious 11’s villains. Hobbs’ time away from the main story could be explained through a connection to Fast X’s secondary villain, Aimes. Aimes’ villain twist in Fast X was well executed and suggests he’ll be around for the sequel, which is the perfect reason to bring back Hobbs.

Having a more personal story with one of the villains could allow Hobbs to continue his great quips and one-liners, but it would also give him more of an edge.

Fast X never explained why he’s back, but having a personal vendetta against Aimes could be an intriguing reason. Given Dom and Dante are the focal point of the franchise’s conclusion, Hobbs returning to take down Aimes would avoid overshadowing the main story while still giving him an interesting role. Having a personal story with one of the villains could allow Hobbs to continue his great quips and one-liners, while also giving him more of an edge. This provides The Rock with the perfect reason to implement some of his heel traits while still portraying a morally good hero.

2:34 Image 147 Related Predicting The Ending Of All 13 Fast & Furious Characters In Fast 11 The Fast Saga is set to conclude with Fast & Furious 11 – or Fast X 2 – but how will Dom Toretto and his family’s stories come to a definitive end?

Why Fast & Furious Can’t Bring The Rock Back As A Villain
Hobbs Already Appeared As An Antagonist In Fast Five
A custom image featuring Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs in the Fast and Furious movies Custom image by Debanjana Chowdhury

Although The Rock’s villainous tendencies worked well in the WWE, Fast & Furious can’t bring him back as an antagonist. Johnson already played the main villain of Fast Five, as Hobbs was originally an enemy of Dom and his crew before becoming an ally. Hobbs’ role in Fast Five was one of his best, but despite being the main antagonist, he always had a level of integrity. Dropping all of this to make him a villain in the final movie would be completely unnecessary, especially as the franchise needs him to remain a hero for his spinoff.

Fast & Furious 11 may end the main story, but The Rock will be part of the franchise beyond this, and altering his character so drastically wouldn’t make any sense. Instead, adding some extra edge to his character would have the same effect and would avoid stealing the thunder from Dante and Aimes. Although Fast & Furious 11 shouldn’t make him a villain, the film can still allow Hobbs to play dirty and pull some cheap tricks in order to show a grittier side, while letting him taunt his enemies when he inevitably helps save the day.

Fast & Furious 11
is scheduled to be released in theaters on April 4, 2025.

Fast and Furious 11 temp poster Fast and Furious 11 Fast and Furious 11 is the final movie in the Fast Saga. It reunites Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto with the rest of the cast for one last ride. However, the franchise is open for spinoff films like Hobbs & Shaw afterward.Director Louis Leterrier Release Date April 4, 2025 Distributor(s) Universal Pictures Writers Christina Hodson , Oren Uziel

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