The franchise that’s been living its life a quarter mile at a time is winding down. While the Fast & Furious world will continue on through spinoffs, including Hobbs & Shaw 2 and Charlize Theron’s Cipher being primed to lead her own movie, the main saga starring Dominic Toretto and his crew is wrapping up with two final movies. The first of these was once simply known as Fast & Furious 10, but is now officially titled Fast X. That movie is currently dated for May 19, 2023, and following Justin Lin’s departure a week after filming began, Louis Leterrier is now sitting in the director’s chair.
While it’s reasonable to assume Fast X will involve its starring protagonists using cars and other assorted vehicles to stop a major threat, if not save the world, for now, story details are being kept a closely-guarded secret. What we can talk about with this upcoming movie is who’s making up its main cast, from the familiar faces, like Vin Diesel, to the newcomers, like Jason Momoa. So let’s go over who we’ll be seeing during the events of Fast X.
Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto has appeared in all the Fast & Furious movies except for 2 Fast 2 Furious, and shared co-lead duties with Paul Walker’s Brian O’Connor for a long time. Sadly, Walker passed away in 2013, resulting in Furious 7 being Brian’s final appearance and Dom officially becoming this saga’s main protagonist. F9 saw him and Jordana Brewster’s Mia Toretto crossing paths with their estranged brother, John Cena’s Jakob Toretto. While Jakob was initially causing trouble with Cipher, by the end of the movie, he was back on good terms with his siblings. It remains to be seen if either Cena will be back for Fast X, but count on Diesel’s Dom once again leading his crew in a mission packed with street-racing and explosions.
Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez has also been part of the Fast & Furious franchise since the beginning, although it wasn’t until Fast & Furious 6 that she started taking a more central role in these movies. Along with Letty Ortiz still being by her husband’s Dominic Toretto’s side on their capers, the two are also enjoying the parenting life looking after little Brian, the child Dom had with the late Elena Reves. Since Rodriguez is the main Fast & Furious’ film series chief female actress, don’t expect her to move to the sidelines as we wind this saga down.
Tyrese Gibson
Since Dominic Toretto sat out the events of 2 Fast 2 Furious, Brian O’Connor instead partnered up with Tyrese Gibson’s Roman Pearce, a childhood friend who started out that movie holding a grudge against Brian, but by the end they patched things up. Roman became an official member of the Fast family in Fast Five, not only being a skilled driver in his own right, but also serving as the team’s resident “fast-talker” and “joker.” He’s also frequently paired with Tej Parker, who’s next on this list.
Ludacris
Ludacris’ Tej Parker also debuted in 2 Fast 2 Furious, hosting the street races Brian O’Connor drove in and later helping out him and Roman Peace in their mission. When Fast Five rolled around, Tej morphed into the team’s technician expert. You can also count on Tej to give Roman Pearce the most grief out of all the team members, but those two nonetheless share a close bond, one that was especially strengthened when they traveled to outer space in F9.
Nathalie Emmanuel
When it comes to saving the world, it doesn’t hurt to have another tech person on your side. As such, Furious 7 saw Dominic Toretto’s crew welcoming Ramsey, played by Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel. Ramsey created the God’s Eye program and was taken prisoner by Mose Jakande, but after our intrepid protagonists rescue her, not only did she help them shut down God’s Eye, she became a permanent member of their family. Ramsey also continues to the subject of romantic attention from both Roman and Tej, but thus far neither have gotten any closer to wooing her. Fingers crossed when we reunite with Ramsey in Fast X that she finally has a driver’s license.
Sung Kang
When the first F9 trailer premiered, it initially seemed like John Cena playing Dominic and Mia Toretto’s brother was its biggest surprise, but not so. At the end of the preview, it was revealed that Sung Kang’s Han Lue was still alive. It turned out that Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody faked Han’s death during the events of Tokyo Drift/Furious 7 so he could go undercover to protect Anna Sawai’s Elle, whose DNA could activate Project Aries. Han and Elle were forced to come out of hiding after learning that Jakob Toretto was on their tail, but following the neutralization of the movie’s threat, Han is now back in the family and brought Elle with him. The F9 end-credits scene also showed Han paying a visit to Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, who was shocked to see the man he thought he killed still alive. Hopefully Fast X will explore the weird dynamic these two now have together.
Charlize Theron
If anyone deserves the honor of being the main Fast & Furious film series’ chief antagonist, it’s Charlize Theron’s Cipher. Although we didn’t meet her until The Fate of the Furious, it was revealed in that movie that she hired Owen Shaw and Mose Jakande for their respective missions in Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7. Throw in her ordering the death of Elena Neves, and she’s cemented herself as a terrible human being. During F9, Cipher was able to persuade Otto, Jakob Toretto’s partner, to start working with her, which is ironic since she ended up unintentionally killing him. Cipher escaped to parts unknown after her remote-controlled drone was destroyed, but she’ll be back up to no good in Fast X.
Jordana Brewster
Like Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster goes back to Fast & Furious’ beginnings too, although Mia Toretto didn’t get nearly as much to do action-wise in those earlier appearance compared to Dom (her brother) and Brian (her love interest). However, when Jakob Toretto resurfaced in F9, she joined Dom in searching for their estranged brother and showed off how formidable she is out in the field. Originally Brewster wasn’t going to return for Fast X, but you can thank Vin Diesel’s daughter for rectifying that, as she insisted that Mia needed to appear in the movie.
Michael Rooker
During F9, we flashed back to 1989, when Dom, Mia and Jakob’s father, Jack, died in that race. Michael Rooker’s Buddy, Jack Toretto’s mechanic, was also present for that tragic event, and we later learned that after Dom exiled Jakob for his perceived role in Jack’s death, Buddy took him in. In the present-day storyline, Dom sought Buddy out for assistance in finding his brother, and Buddy pointed him to London. Rooker will reprise Buddy in Fast X, and if John Cena returns as Jakob too, since he had to go back on the run at the end of F9, perhaps he went to the old family friend for a place to lay low.
Cardi B
During Dominic Toretto and Jakob Toretto’s confrontation in London in F9, events played out that ended with the latter having the former arrested… or at least how it seemed at first. After the coast was clear, it was revealed that the authorities who took Dom away were actually a group of all-female mercenaries led by Cardi B’s Leysa, who goes way back with Vin Diesel’s character and is also allied with Helen Mirren’s Queenie Magdalene Ellmanson-Shaw. She helped him out of a jam, so don’t be surprised if she does that again in Fast X.
Jason Momoa
Now that we’ve covered established Fast & Furious characters who are returning in Fast X, let’s go over the newcomers. First up, we have Jason Momoa, who already has a lot of franchise cred established from playing Khal Drago in Game of Thrones, Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe and Duncan Idaho in Dune. Although Momoa’s Fast & Furious character hasn’t been named yet, the actor has confirmed he’s playing a villain, whom he’s described as a “very flamboyant bad boy” with “a little panache.” Momoa’s character will also share screen time with Charlize Theron’s Cipher, although hasn’t been clarified if they’ll be working together or pursuing separate agendas.
Daniela Melchior
Daniel Melchior has been professionally acting since 2014, but she made her English-language debut in 2021’s The Suicide Squad, where she played Cleo Caro, a.k.a. Ratcatcher 2. This breakout role paved the way for her star in moves like Assassin Club and the Liam Neeson-led Marlowe, and now she’s getting another opportunity to shine on a blockbuster stage through Fast X. Unlike Jason Momoa though, we have no idea who Melchior is playing in the next Fast & Furious movie at this time.
Brie Larson
In February 2022, Brie Larson, who’s already famous around the world for playing Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, pitched herself for a Fast & Furious movie. Well, her wish was granted; two months later, Vin Diesel revealed that Larson will participate in the Fast X craziness. We also don’t know who she’s playing, but Diesel said fans have no idea how “timeless and amazing” Larson’s character will be in the Fast & Furious mythology.
CinemaBlend will keep passing along any updates on Fast X, including who else is added to the cast of the highly-anticipated Universal Pictures feature. Meanwhile, look through the 2022 movie release schedule to see what cinematic stories are left to come out this year.