It's been a big week for fans of the Fast and the Furious franchise. After being teased for months during and after filming, the first trailer for the next installment, The Fate of the Furious, was released- complete with massive explosion and exciting plot twists. When the sequel finally hits theaters, we'll see Vin Diesel's Dom mysteriously turn against his friends and family for the villainous Cipher. And aside from the regular cast and newcomers like Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren, we'll also see a character return to the franchise after years of inactivity.
Lucas Black's Sean Boswell, who was the star of The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift will reportedly have a role in The Fate of the Furious. This news comes to us from ComicBook.com, which broke the news of Sean's return to the action franchise. Black had a small role in Furious 7, but it now appears that the character will be returning for a more meaty role in the next two movies.
Tokyo Drift is one of the more random installments in the franchise, as it departed from the story of Dom and his crew. Instead, we met Sean Boswell, a teenage who moved to Tokyo to clean up his act after becoming a delinquent at his home in Texas. He eventually got into the fad of drifting, which was the style of illegal and dangerous street racing in Tokyo. Sean was redeemed by the end of the movie, which featured a small cameo by Vin Diesel's Dom.
It should be interesting to see how Sean fits into the narrative of The Fate of the Furious. The new movie seems very focused on the main group's dynamic- now that their leader, friend, and husband has apparently betrayed them. This will surely help to flesh out the story, and give the supporting characters room for exciting performance. The stakes are at an all-time high, so it's unclear how Sean will become involved.
One possibility is that Sean will be called to assist the group in Dom's rehabilitation. The two have a positive relationship, and he's one of the few characters who has successfully raced against Dom. After all, Dwayne Johnson's Hobbs can't do it all himself, especially since he and Jason Statham's Shaw are punching each other out in prison.
Now the question is if Lucas Black's Tokyo Drift costars will also be present in The Fate of the Furious. Archive footage from the threequel was used during the events of Furious 7, but cast members like Bow Wow weren't physically present. But if Tokyo Drift is becoming more relevant to the franchise as a whole, perhaps this type of casting will continue.
The Fate of the Furious will drive into theaters on April 14th, 2017.
