Dom’s favorite cousin, Tony Toretto, is back in Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Sahara. The third season of the beloved franchise’s animated spin-off sends its heroes to North Africa on a mission to rescue their mentor, Ms. Nowhere.
Since the show premiered on Netflix in 2019, Tony and his crew have been busy taking down nefarious crime organizations across the globe despite merely being teenagers. This season, not only do they move from the rainforests of Rio to the deserts of the Sahara, they must also contend with internal crises of confidence throughout.
Related: Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Voice Cast & Character Guide
Showrunners Tim Hedrick and Bret Haaland spoke to Screen Rant in anticipation of the December 26 release of Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Sahara. They teased the journeys for Tony, Echo and Layla as well as shared which characters they’d like to see in the live-action films.

How do you approach the right tone to make sure that it worked for both fans of the movies and kids just getting into it?
Tim Hedrick: I think that, at the very beginning, the goal was just for the show to be really fun. We knew that people expect a certain amount of action, and they expect this amount of spectacle that we had to hit. And those were all production challenges that we knew were in it, but we just wanted it to be like a really fun ride that the whole family could take together.
It’s not that difficult, honestly, to tone back on the overly sexual stuff or, if things get a little too real or a little too violent, to tone back on that. And then it also gave us an opportunity to push other areas artistically, so that the colors would be really vibrant. When they’re driving through Los Angeles, there’s never tagging; it’s all beautiful graffiti. We create this really hyper, pushed world that we can put our characters in, and really hit what animation can do so well. Just back off on some of the stuff that’s a little too violent for kids.
Speaking of the animation, you’ve put out some great animation very quickly. How far in advance do you plan and how much work goes into deciding the locations and color palettes of each season?
Bret Haaland: Basically, in general, we finish our full animatics an entire year before we finish an episode, and there’s many notes back and forth between our overseas animation studios over the course of that year.
In terms of color palette, we have an incredible design team and incredible comp supervisors and lighting supervisors, so that we’re almost approaching it in terms of cinematography, again and again, over and over throughout the different iterations of the production. It’s not so much that we’ve set everything up front; we set it and then revise it again and again all the way through.
This season in particular has a lot of character development going on, especially because Tony starts off feeling a little insecure. Can you tease how his abilities as a leader will be tested?
Tim Hedrick: This season really has Tony questioning what it means for him to be a Toretto, and what that means for him as an individual. Dom is his idol, the super alpha action star of all time. This is the guy who he’s been looking up to his whole life, and he starts to realize, “What if that’s not me? What does that mean?”
We see him really down at the beginning of the season, and I just think that’s totally relatable for a 17 year old to be questioning who they are and be completely depressed about their life. We’ve all been in that situation. And it’s also a characteristic that you’ve never seen before in a Fast and Furious movie, where everyone is totally sure themselves and going 100 miles an hour the whole time.
Tony’s really questioning, “What’s it mean to be a leader? What’s it mean to be the head of the family, and how do I fit in? What if I’m not the leader? What if I hand off the reins to Echo to be the leader of the team? Am I not a Toretto anymore?” I think those are all questions of self that everyone can kind of relate to.
Speaking of Echo, she’s getting new responsibilities and facing new challenges because of them this season. How would you describe her trajectory?
Tim Hedrick: Echo is an interesting character, who I think has evolved just through the creation of the show. We’ve really discovered her as we’ve gone along, and Charlet [Takahashi Chung] really adds a lot with her performance. When she came in to audition and did this voice, it was like, “Yeah, now I get who this is.”
It really put her into perspective; here’s this artist who is all about graffiti. She’s kind of a part of this crew, but it doesn’t really seem like she should be. It’s like, how do these people all fit together? But you realize that she’s got this really tough side. She’s kind of the strong silent type, and she gets a chance to express that through them becoming spies. She just blossoms, and it’s this opportunity that she never knew she was going to have. All of a sudden, she can be this ultimate spy character.
This season really becomes where the rubber hits the road for her, and she actually has to put on the jacket and become Ms. Nowhere. Heavy are the shoulders that wear the jacket, you know? It’s a tough gig, so it’s exciting to see where she goes. She’s definitely one of my favorite characters.
Layla is another great female character, and one that I think really embodies the concept of family – which is at the heart of all things Fast and Furious. Would you say she’s fully integrated into the family by the season, or is there room left there to grow closer?
Tim Hedrick: I think that what’s interesting is that the first season you see her with SH1FT3R, and that’s kind of her family that she’s adopted. Then in this season, you find out that there were others before: she’s only one of them that’s been around the world. The rest of the team has never left LA; they’re a bunch of rubes. She has this experience, and this worldliness.
I do think she is a part of the family, but I will say that – as anyone with family knows- it’s not an easy ride. People can come and go, so I wouldn’t say that she’s totally secure in the family. But she definitely is putting down roots.
I think the diversity, even off-screen, is admirable for the show and for the franchise as a whole. How does the creative team ensure that it’s not just diverse but also authentic? For example, this season has some Bedouin characters who are happy to correct stereotypes.
Tim Hedrick: DreamWorks has cultural consultants that are part of the conversation from the beginning. So, when we say, “We want to go to the Sahara,” it’s a question of where specifically is that, and what parts are we going to explore. Because it’s a gigantic desert that spread to all across North Africa, so there are a lot of different people there.
We find our region that we want to go with and work with. Then as we create the characters, there are dialect coaches that come and work with our actors, so that they make sure that they have the correct French-inflected, African accent that’s proper for the Western Sahara region where these people would be. We do a lot of old school research, like reading and watching documentaries and trying to find authenticity. We see the actual people as much as we can.
It’s fun when you get it, because then it’s more material to bring out. You don’t have to make it up; these are real people out there.
Do you have any favorite new characters you’re introducing this season, or any favorite aspect of taking on the Sahara?
Bret Haaland: I think that Matsuo is going to be an intriguing character, with this cybernetic arm of his. I think in terms of overall sense of place, which is basically a nod of respect to our effects team, it’s these incredible storms that we generated and the tornadoes and things like that, as well as the sense of the desert itself.
They’re really out of their element this time; there aren’t a lot of roads out there, and they’re still driving vehicles. That was a fun challenge, as well as even riding camels. That was that was fun for me.
Tim Hedrick: Yeah, I was really excited to get Cleve Kelso back, because I think he’s hilarious. He’s such an arch bad guy, kind of a Yosemite Sam almost. He’s really fun. He’s played by Dave Thomas, who’s a great comic actor and brings a lot to the role.
And then the camels. I mean, the camels look great; we got camel racing. If you want to go on a fun deep dive on the internet, look up camel racing and camel beauty pageants. There’s so much there to explore, and there was a real-life Botox scandal with a camel beauty pageant. Look it up.
Every season, you top yourselves with Ms. Nowhere and Gary. Their banter and antics always have me on the floor laughing. How do you find new ways to incorporate their humor, and how much of it is the actors?
Tim Hedrick: The actors inspire you, for sure. Renée is incredible, and it is a dream having her on the show. It’s really great to work with her. Tru Valentino, who plays Gary, also plays Julius. He’s awesome; he does a ton of voices. He is a hilarious actor and a very good singer.
Actually, those two have never been in a room together. Somehow, it all comes together. But writing for those guys is a dream. They are a dream gig, for sure.
The show has had strong connections to the movies from the start, given that Tony is Dom’s nephew. Is there any chance, with some producing overlap, that we could see these characters in the movies one day
Tim Hedrick: I hope so. I think it’d be great. I think Tony Toretto is a natural for these films, and I think Tyler Posey could play the role. I think, honestly, he would fit right in. Also, I’d love to see Ms. Nowhere in there. That’s up to somebody else, but it would be great.
Aside from the franchise itself, what are some of the stylistic inspirations for Spy Racers?
Bret Haaland: Well, we’re going to look at a combination of things involving spies and teenagers. Everything from James Bond to Fast and Furious, and even the Harry Potter franchise. You want to keep a light-hearted balance between the action and the humor. For the way kids relate to each other, we’re constantly watching all kinds of movies to get that going.
But I think a lot of it is also just coming out of the situations. That’s the beauty of storyboarding in animation: you sort of find your way and you’re drawing. It’s surprising how these characters can stand on their own and just evolve themselves without really having to copy some outside character.
More: Fast & Furious: All The Movie Connections In Netflix’s Spy Racers
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Sahara launches exclusively on Netflix December 26.