Officially, the Fast & Furious franchise consists of nine feature films, with the tenth on the way, plus a spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw (2019), which did not please Vin Diesel at all. However, that's only section of the story: true fans understand 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 several short films just for the very, very insiders.
The first of these has the incredible title of The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and is, well, a simple prelude to the second film, centered on how Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) manages to evade the authorities. from Los Angeles 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 did not want to return. A mere promotional material created for the web ?hence its aesthetic, almost worth a Sisq� online video?, although some North American cinemas showed it before 2 Fast 2 Furious to provide the public a far more complete experience.
When you won't find anyone defending The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 2 Fast 2 Furious as an essential little bit of mythology, things are very different in terms of the second 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 be essential pieces in some subsequent installments, especially Fast 5 (2011). Not only that, but it also details what happened to the characters of Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) following the original film, in addition to recovering Sung Kang's Han, whose friendship with the paterfamilias had 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 fresh beginning where Diesel allowed himself to look at a more poetic and relaxed tone, commensurate with the natural settings of the Dominican Republic (where he himself, a reggaeton enthusiast, insisted that ought to be set). It isn't strictly necessary that you see it in the next fast and furious marathon, nonetheless it responds to the authorial vision of the main 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, thanks to director Justin Lin's capability to slip under Universal's radar, can be viewed as portion of the experience. From a certain point of view, sure, but take our word for this: the crime dramedy Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) traces the origins of the character Han Lue, also played by Kang (can you imagine any other actor in that role?). He and Lin have confirmed on multiple occasions that it's indeed the same character, so there is no reason, other than the obvious and boring copyright issue, to exclude her from canon. Actually, their presence transforms this cinematic universe 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 just a couple feet away. kilometers of distance.
watch Fast X of how this indie film found its way into F&F is fascinating enough to miss. When screenwriter Chris Morgan heard that Universal was open to ideas for a third film in the series, he arrived at his offices with a pitch about how Dominc Toretto decides to go to Japan to investigate the murder of a vintage friend. Since Diesel was not yet interested in returning to what would end up being his family ? he only wanted to make a brief final cameo after 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 will be a great possibility to cast an Asian-American actor because the franchise's new hero, however the producers flatly refused, arguing that someone like Lucas Black could have more potential at the box office. Lin reluctantly agreed, asking them to at the very least let him revise the script to make it less "offensive and outdated" (those were his words).