‘Fast X’ Features ‘Tremendous Casualties,’ Says Director

We are not emotionally prepared to watch the Fast family die.

This psychologically devastating reality seemed possible when it was announced that Fast X would be the first of two films that would finally end the long-running action franchise. But it seems especially likely now after recent comments about the film made by its director, Louis Leterrier.

Speaking with Empire, Leterrier claimed that with Fast X the story of Fast & Furious — which has been going for more than 20 years now — is “coming to an end, and it is a race to the finish. There will be some tremendous casualties.” Calling the two-part Fast finale a “war” Leterrier also revealed that “alliances will need to be made. Good guys will become bad guys, bad guys will become good guys.”

My friends, if Han becomes a bad guy, that’s it. I am out.

Empire also debuted three new images from the movie. First there’s a shot of Vin Diesel with — and you might want to be sitting down for this — a muscle car:

There was also the first official image of Jason Momoa as his character, Dante, who is Fast X’s new villain:

And finally, here is Brie Larson as the “mysterious” Tess:

Leterrier, who replaced longtime Fast & Furious director Justin Lin at the helm of Fast X a few weeks into production, claims that fans should expect a somewhat different style of action with him in charge. “I’m more practical than other directors, and I brought it back to earth,” he revealed. “We went for real stunts, which we’re enhancing with visual effects.”

Generally, I am all in favor of real stunts; computers still can’t replicate the visceral excitement of a real race or crash. Still ... is “back to earth” what fans want from the conclusion of Fast & Furious? They went into space in the last movie! Back to earth might be something of a disappointment.

Fast X is scheduled to debut in theaters on May 19, 2023. The first trailer for the film is expected to debut tomorrow.