The primary Fast & Furious saga is officially coming to an end, and it would be smart for the franchise to take a page out of Avengers: Endgame’s playbook in Fast & Furious 10 & 11. Officially called “The Fast Saga,” the long-running series will come to a conclusion with an upcoming eleventh installment. The Vin Diesel-led film series launched in 2001 before expanding into a full-blown action franchise. Originally slated for 2020, the next entry, F9, is set to release in May 2021, with the final two movies coming in the next few years. Despite an impending conclusion, the Fast & Furious franchise plans to expand with several spinoffs in development.
When the series started with The Fast and the Furious, much of the focus remained on the street racing scene. It then branched off to follow Dominic Toretto and his closest allies like Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), and others as they faced dangerous drug lords, mercenary organizations, and terrorists. While cars remain a key aspect of the series, the scope of the saga has widened as the stakes continue to get higher.
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The main Fast & Furious storyline isn’t the only mega-popular saga to come to an end in recent years. Star Wars just wrapped a nine-film series in December 2019, which spanned over 40 years, with the conclusion of the Skywalker saga. A few months prior, the Marvel Cinematic Universe closed out the Infinity Saga, an extensive series consisting of 23 total installments. Thought it officially concluded with Spider-Man: Far From Home, Endgame served as the true ending, as the team of surviving superheroes teamed together against a villain that put the entire galaxy at risk. With an end in sight for Fast & Furious’ original story, the franchise should look at Iron Man’s heroic arc when developing Dom’s last chapter.
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Fast & Furious is already copying an aspect from the MCU by splitting up its final movie into a two-parter. The tenth and eleventh installments will serve as the franchise finale, bringing its run well over two decades. Fast & Furious 10 was already confirmed and initially planned for a 2021 release until COVID-19 delays pushed back franchise release dates. Rather than use the tenth entry as the final entry, Universal deemed another installment as necessary for an appropriate conclusion in the journey of Dom and his crew. Justin Lin, who took the helm of F9, as well as four other previous installments, is tapped to direct the two-part finale. Franchise veteran Chris Morgan will also notably write the scripts for Fast & Furious 10 and 11.
The method of a two-part finale was proved successful in the MCU with the releases of Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Marvel Studios used the double-header event as the climatic face-off for the Avengers and their allies against Thanos, who emerged as the deadliest villain introduced in the fictional universe to date. While Infinity War set the groundwork, Endgame featured the ultimate conclusion to the long-running saga. Seeing as Fast & Furious is using the same tactic, the eleventh entry will presumably debut a year after the untitled tenth film.
Every Available Character Should Return (Like Endgame)
Endgame served as an extraordinary viewing event through the tactic of bringing together the MCU’s most notable faces. Not only were the core members of the Avengers involved, but characters from Black Panther, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, and Captain Marvel were present. The stellar ensemble cast was one of the final chapter’s bright spots since it was the first time that many of the superheroes shared screentime. It also felt fitting that members of the saga came together before the film series went in a new direction.
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Fast & Furious has already made it a habit to bring back familiar faces. F9 will go even bigger by bringing back Sung Kang in his role as Han, a character previously thought to be dead. In addition, Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift figures like Sean Boswell, Twinkie, and Earl Hu are also set to return to the for F9, paving a way for their involvement in the two-parter. It wouldn’t be surprising to see more characters return before the saga closes out. Eva Mendes’ Monica Fuentes and Johnny Strong’s Vince are still candidates. There’s also a theory that Gal Gadot’s Gisele Yashar is still alive, giving her an opportunity to reunite with her friends. Unfortunately, Paul Walker’s death puts a roadblock in Brian’s involvement, but there are ways for the franchise to incorporate the character without tarnishing his legacy.
The Ending Needs An Iron Man Moment (And Dom Suits It)
Endgame was full of memorable moments, but Iron Man’s sacrifice to defeat Thanos once and for all was the most monumental scene in MCU’s history thus far. After Thanos and his army traveled to the present day to battle the Avengers at their compound, he attempted to reclaim their Infinity Gauntlet. Tony Stark managed to obtain all six of the Infinity Stones before equipping them to his Iron Man armor. With the snap of his finger, he decimated Thanos and his army, but in doing so, Iron Man killed himself. It was a heroic, but extremely tragic scene, seeing as the heart of the saga exchanged his life to give his loved ones a future. Based on Dom’s role in The Fast Saga, he could effectively be the Fast & Furious’ own Iron Man.
Based on the previous action-packed installments, The Fast Saga is certainly plan something big for the last two installments. There will presumably be a major occurrence, threatening the lives of not only Dom’s friends and family. but also the lives of the greater public. This could explain the necessary use of space travel featured in F9. Like Robert Downey Jr. serving as the man who started it all as the MCU’s Iron Man, Vin Diesel has become the leading figure in Fast & Furious. It would be fitting for Dom to have his own Iron Man moment as a way to put his life on the line to end the turmoil once and for all.
Dom’s Sacrifice Has Been Set Up For A Long Time
While it was something of a surprise to see Tony Stark get killed off in the MCU, it made sense that the character who started it all be the one to make a deadly sacrifice in the conclusion. Dom isn’t a superhero, but he is the driving force behind the Fast & Furious movies. The saga has always been obsessed with the theme of family, especially when it comes to Dom making decisions to protect the wellbeing of his loved ones. He has always looked out for others before prioritizing his own safety. Paying the ultimate sacrifice with his life in a comparative Endgame fashion would be the perfect way for Fast & Furious to say goodbye to the primary saga before moving in new directions.
Next: What Happens After Fast & Furious 11? Fast Saga’s Future Explained
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