With the recent release of The Fate of the Furious, the Fast and Furious franchise has solidified itself as Hollywood royalty. The film has made an absolute killing at the box office, and it has managed to break record after record in terms of worldwide numbers. The future looks brighter than ever for this once-defunct series, and that means that it's officially time to start looking towards the future.
The Fast and Furious franchise has yet to delve into the realm of spin-off movies, but that doesn't change the fact that it's ripe for the cinematic universe treatment. With that in mind, we have compiled a list of potential avenues and story directions in which the Fast and Furious series could potentially go when the crew isn't fully assembled for a movie set in the central continuity. Check out our list of ideas, let us know what you think, and make sure to give us your best ideas for a Fast and Furious spin-off movie in the comments section below. On that note, let's get started with a spin-off idea that honors that core Fast and Furious DNA more than any other: a return to street racing.
Dom and Letty
Although the series has gradually moved away from racing as its core concept, Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty's (Michelle Rodriguez) connection to the world of street racing continues to play a central role in their respective arcs. The Cuba opening for Fate proved that. In that regard, a spin-off movie centering on their life on the road (as well as their attempts to raise Brian Toretto correctly) could easily allow the Fast and Furious franchise to go back to basics by getting them back behind the wheels of some souped-up muscle cars. Not only would this allow these two characters to carve out their specific niches in the Fast and Furious world; it would also serve to remind longtime fans of the series (those who perhaps feel that the franchise has moved too far away from its origins) that the Fast and Furious films still remember where they come from and are willing to continue embracing street racing as a central motif.
Mr. Nobody and Little Nobody
The inclusion of Kurt Russell's Mr. Nobody in Furious 7 opened up an entirely new world of international intrigue and espionage for the Fast and Furious franchise, and Scott Eastwood's introduction as Little Nobody in The Fate of the Furious doubled down on the franchise's insistence on maintaining that concept. With that in mind, these two characters could easily go on to enjoy great success in spin-off films that embrace the idea of a political thriller. By making them the Nick Fury and Maria Hill of the Fast and Furious universe, Mr. Nobody and Little Nobody can take on the more fantastical threats of this universe, and deal with a much larger world of political intrigue, corruption, and global stakes. With family continuing to serve as the core theme of this franchise, the surrogate father-son relationship between the two of them could easily anchor such an anthology.
Hobbs and Shaw
The inclusion of Deckard Shaw into the latest incarnation of the Fast and Furious crew (as well as the decision to gloss over his cold-blooded murder of Han in Tokyo) has become a polarizing creative decision among fans of the franchise. That said, there's no getting around the fact that Jason Statham has fantastic chemistry with Dwayne Johnson's Hobbs. On that note, we think that this is a perfect time to combine their respective skills into a globetrotting buddy cop movie. The dichotomy between The Rock's size and Statham's speed already makes for some truly unique action sequences, and the overwhelming differences in their attitudes towards the world (Hobbs is more of a "by the book" guy, while Shaw sees things in shades of gray) could provide some great action and humor. These two may very well be the future of the franchise; it's time to embrace that.
Ramsey and Tej
One of the smartest moves that the Fast and Furious franchise ever made was making Ludacris' Tej the tech support member of the central crew. The series continued that idea by introducing Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) as a world class computer hacker and creator of the God's Eye program. This seems to set up a perfect avenue for a potential series of spin-off films centering on these two characters as they use their extensive technical know-how to pull off heists, bring down worldwide criminal organizations, or perform any other forms of dirty work that a highly-skilled hacker could potentially accomplish. Think Iron Man 3 meets MacGyver without the suits, as they build advanced gadgets from scratch, hack into mainframes, and operate on the cutting edge of modern technology to accomplish their missions. Compared to the relatively low-tech approaches used by others members of the crew, it could make for a fascinating change of pace.
The Shaw Family
One of the coolest things that The Fate of the Furious does with the overarching Fast and Furious mythology is introduce Helen Mirren as Magdalene Shaw -- the matriarch of the Shaw family -- while also setting Deckard and Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) for redemptive arcs. It's still going to be difficult to get around the fact that Deckard murdered one of Dom's crew during the events of Furious 7, but Fate does something interesting by introducing a new family of (potential) anti-heroes whose code serves as a stark contrast to that of Dom's crew. A movie centering on the Shaw family could feel like a cross between Fast and Furious and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels -- sending the highly trained Shaw clan up against rivaling families on the gritty streets of London as they try to redeem their sins over the course of the franchise.
Roman
The Fast and Furious franchise has never shown any hesitation towards embracing comedy within its overall ensemble, and Tyrese Gibson's Roman Pearce has consistently stood out as the main comic relief of the series. If Roman gets his own spin-off movie at some point in the near future, then this would be the perfect opportunity to dive headfirst into the realm of humor and embrace the spy comedy genre. Roman's particular set of skills relies on his charm and desire for the spotlight at all times, so a movie centering on his exploits could see him enter the employ of Mr. Nobody and Little Nobody to embrace to become an "international man of mystery" of sorts. His bumbling arrogance has consistently made for some great comedy, so sending him out on his own dangerous and deadly mission could make for some fantastic laughs while delivering all of the thrills we have come to expect from this series.
The Fate of the Furious is currently in theaters, so make sure to check it out!
