Officially, the Fast & Furious franchise includes nine feature films, with the tenth on the way, plus a spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw (2019), which did not please Vin Diesel at all. However, that is only area of the story: true fans know that the Gospel In accordance with 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 just for the very, 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 straightforward prelude to the second film, devoted to how Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) manages to evade the authorities. from Los Angeles until landing in Miami. The producers' idea was to determine some sort of connective tissue between your first two installments and fill a narrative gap that, in the end, consolidated Brian because the absolute protagonist of the story, since Diesel did not want to return. Only promotional material created for the internet ?hence its aesthetic, almost worthy of a Sisq� video clip?, although some North American cinemas showed it before 2 Fast 2 Furious to provide the public a more complete experience.
While you won't find anyone defending The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 2 Fast 2 Furious as an essential piece of mythology, things have become different in terms of the next 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 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, in addition to recovering Sung Kang's Han, whose friendship with the paterfamilias had been established by the end of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Race (2006). More than an interlude between movies, Los Bandoleros is really a refoundation of the franchise, a new beginning where Diesel allowed himself to look at a far more poetic and relaxed tone, in keeping 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 your next fast and furious marathon, but it responds to the authorial vision of the main creative engine of it. That makes it an interesting curiosity.
However, the story will not end there. Only the most dedicated to the reason know this, but there is a secret, semi-official film that, because of director Justin Lin's ability to slip under Universal's radar, can be considered the main experience. From the certain point of view, 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 absolutely no reason, other than the most obvious and boring copyright issue, to exclude her from canon. Actually, their presence transforms this cinematic universe 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 just 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 go to Japan to investigate the murder of a vintage friend. Since Diesel was not 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. watch Fast X thought it would be a great possibility to cast an Asian-American actor as 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 create it less "offensive and outdated" (those were his words).