Vin Diesel says 'F9' revelations will shed new light on 2001's 'The Fast and the Furious'

The Fast & Furious franchise is apparently getting a little nostalgic as it begins to lay out the end of its road. With the third-to-last installment, F9, slated to premiere this summer, the long-running film series will take a hard look in its rear-view mirror and gaze into the past. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, leading cast member Vin Diesel (Dominic Torretto) promised that the revelations uncovered in F9 are going to shed all-new light on the very first entry in the Fast Saga: 2001's The Fast and the Furious. 

"For those who have been with the franchise, it's even more special," the actor teased. "Because if you can remember the first movie, you are now going to go before the first movie and understand the first movie even more. That's cool. I'm a D&D head, so that's like origin stuff. So to see family members you never thought you would have seen, it's gonna kind of blow your mind. We've been wanting to know, where was Dom before he became Dom? Who were his influences? That's going to be really rich with story, and a lot of fun to see."

Directed and co-written by Justin Lin — who helmed four previous F&F projects — F9 is well-placed to probe Dom's backstory, as it's set to introduce the character's bitter brother, Jakob (The Suicide Squad's John Cena). It's a mystery where Jakob's been or what he's been up to for the last two decades, but if he wants revenge on his sibling, and is willing to work with Cipher (Charlize Theron) to get it, then our heroes are in for a world of trouble. That's why they'll be leaving this world in the franchise's first-ever trip to almost-outer space.

Credit: Universal Pictures

F9 rides into theaters everywhere Friday, June 25. Starting today, Universal is launching a two-month-long marathon of the first eight films in the run-up to F9's wide release this summer. The weekly "Fast Friday" screenings are free, but you'll need to check with participating theaters on how to get tickets. Click here for more information.

"The Fast films are all about family, and Universal wanted to find a way to thank our huge family of Fast fans around the country for their passion and loyalty over the past 20 years," Jim Orr, Universal’s President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution, said in a statement when "Fast Friday" was announced last week. “We’re grateful to our theater partners for their help in making this screening series possible and we are delighted to welcome audiences back to theaters to experience the wild Fast ride all over again. And we cannot wait to blow everyone’s minds with the release of F9 on June 25.”

The saga is set to conclude with a tenth installment broken up into two parts — à la Infinity War and Endgame. "Just wait for 10," Diesel added during his chat with EW. "Let's just say, the fact that you guys know that the studio is saying we can't cover all this ground that needs to be covered in just one movie, you can only imagine what is to come."