After doing just about everything that a motor vehicle based action franchise would be thought capable of, F9 actually did the thing fans had joked it should eventually do, it drove a car in space. Perhaps fittingly, in the same film it also has some fun at the expense of one of the biggest space based movie franchises, Star Wars. The movie has a sequence in which two characters verbally spar with each other using Star Wars references that goes on so long it's hard to not be a little overwhelmed by it. But director Justin Lin clearly enjoyed doing it, because he's a Star Trek fan.
The director of the most recent Fast & Furious movie, as well as the most recent Star Trek movie, was asked by Insider why the new film contains an extended Star Wars joke, where Charlize Theron's Cipher and Thue Ersted Rasmussen's Otto go back and forth over which Star Wars character Otto most resembles. Lin explains that part of the reason for the sequence is that he's known as the "Star Trek kid," saying...
Growing up, all my friends were Star Wars fans. All I heard is 'Star Wars,' but I was the Star Trek kid. I grew up watching with my dad.
In the sequence, in a conversation with the imprisoned Cipher, the character of Otto starts comparing himself to Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. He believes he's the hero of this story. However, Cipher says that he reminds her more of Yoda. Otto suggests this is because Yoda is a powerful Jedi. Cipher says it's because somebody else has their hand up his ass, referring to Otto's relationship with John Cena's Jakob Toretto. Needless to say Otto does not find this joke very funny anymore. But Cipher has his number.
It's not the only pop culture reference from Otto in F9, and so Justin Lin says that he felt the Star Wars joke made sense. And it seems that because he's always been a bigger fan of the other space franchise, he particularly enjoys taking good natured shots at the big one. Lin continues...
I like to throw little jabs at Star Wars. I think it's fun to do that.
At this point, and especially on the big screen, it's hard to argue that Star Trek isn't running second to Star Wars, and when you're at the top of the heap, you should expect people to take shots at you. And it's not like the jokes in F9 were particularly mean spirited. He's just having some fun and while it's true that the joke here just...keeps...going, it's still pretty funny and it's something that anybody can laugh at regardless of which franchise they like more.
