Officially, the Fast & Furious franchise consists of nine feature films, with the tenth on the way, plus a spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw (2019), which didn't please Vin Diesel at all. However, that is only portion of the story: true fans know that the Gospel According to Toretto has spread through animated series ?Fast & Furious: Spies at Full Throttle (2017-2021)?, video gaming, an attraction in every the Universal theme parks and a couple of short films just for the very, very insiders.
The first of them gets the incredible title of The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and is, well, a simple prelude to the next film, devoted to how Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) manages to evade the authorities. from LA until landing in Miami. The producers' idea was to determine a kind of connective tissue between the first two installments and fill a narrative gap that, ultimately, consolidated Brian as the absolute protagonist of the story, since Diesel didn't want to return. A mere promotional material created for the internet ?hence its aesthetic, almost worthy of a Sisq� online video?, although some UNITED STATES 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 just two 2 Fast 2 Furious as an essential piece of mythology, things have become different with regards to the next short. Los Bandoleros (2009), written and directed by Vin Diesel himself, introduces Tego Calder�n and Don Omar into the saga, two musicians turned actors who would be essential pieces in some subsequent installments, especially Fast 5 (2011). Not just that, but it addittionally details what happened to the characters of Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) after the original film, in addition to recovering Sung Kang's Han, whose friendship with the paterfamilias have been established by the end of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Race (2006). More than an interlude between movies, Los Bandoleros is a refoundation of the franchise, a new beginning where Diesel allowed himself to adopt a far more poetic and relaxed tone, in keeping with the natural settings of the Dominican Republic (where he himself, a reggaeton enthusiast, insisted that ought to be set). It is not strictly necessary that you view it in your next fast and furious marathon, but it responds to the authorial vision of the primary creative engine of it. Which makes it an interesting curiosity.
However, the story will not end there. Only probably the most dedicated to the reason know this, but you will find a secret, semi-official film that, because of director Justin Lin's capability to slip under Universal's radar, can be viewed as part of the experience. From a certain viewpoint, sure, but take our word for it: the crime dramedy Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) traces the origins of the character Han Lue, also played by Kang (can you envisage 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 obvious and boring copyright issue, to exclude her from canon. Actually, their presence transforms this cinematic universe right 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 own ordeal a few feet away. kilometers of distance.
Fast X Online 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 showed up at his offices with a pitch about how Dominc Toretto decides to travel to Japan to research the murder of an old friend. Since Diesel was not yet interested in returning to what would become his family ? he only wanted to make a brief final cameo following the studio gave him the rights to The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) ? Morgan contacted Justin Lin to assume a fresh protagonist. The director thought it could 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 would 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).