Vin Diesel On Those Surprise Cameos in Fast X: "Both of Them Clearly Make People Happy"

With Fast X now playing in theaters everywhere, longtime fans are buzzing with excitement over the surprise return of two characters they never expected to see again. But if the reality-bending (and sometimes reality-breaking) antics of the Toretto crew has taught us anything over the years, it's that silly notions of death and celebrity feuds stand no chance against the ultimate power of family. 

Appearing at Charlize Theron's Africa Outreach Project block party in Los Angeles Saturday, chat-happy Fast & Furious star/producer Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto) opened up about the unexpected cameos.

**SPOILER WARNING! The following story contains major plot spoilers for the ending of Fast X!**

Vin Diesel shares his thoughts on Fast X's surprise cameos

"The conversations are what makes the best movie? What feels right for a franchise? How do you make as many people happy in this world? And both of them clearly make people happy," he said (via The Hollywood Reporter) of bringing back Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson as Gisele Yashar and Luke Hobbs, respectively. "Underscore that with this running theme of unity that prevails in the Fast and Furious saga, and it’s a match made in heaven."

The Rock's involvement is all the more impressive when you consider his public vow never to attach his name to another Fast Saga project in the midst of a highly-publicized feud with the man behind Dominic Toretto. Thankfully, director Louis Leterrier (an alumnus of The Transporter films) was able to broker a "peace treaty" and woo Johnson back to the Fast mythos.

Gadot, whose character supposedly died during the climax of Furious 6, officially acknowledged Gisele's reprise on Twitter over the weekend. "Missed my Fast family! I’m overwhelmed with excitement," she wrote. "To my fans, your continuous love and support fuels this journey. Here's to honoring the legacy, the fans and the #FastFamily that we've built together."

Gal Gadot's Fast Saga return has been in the works for a while

Speaking to Variety at Theron's event, Diesel admitted that it was "not easy" to keep Gadot and Johnson's returns a secret for all this time. “[I'm] so excited to have them back home and even more excited to see fan reactions and to see how happy it makes people," he said. 

He also revealed that the franchise has been trying to bring Gisele back for years now. What's more: several stingers with Gadot were purportedly filmed, but never released.

“We have shot other things a long time ago that might not have fit for that specific movie as a finale," Diesel continued. "Doing tags is a very tricky thing because you want this great talent and, at the same time, you have to be very careful to maintain the emotional state of your audience at the end of the movie. That’s what you’re juggling and we’re just really lucky to have it work here."

"To be fair, we’d been trying that since it happened," echoed Michelle Rodriguez (Letty Ortiz), seemingly confirming that the idea of reversing Gisele's fate has been in the works since her tragic tarmac demise a decade ago. "There’s even footage of stuff that was shot for that purpose … You play around with these ideas because that’s that world that we’re allowed to play in."

When asked about Dante's vendetta against Hobbs (after all, it was the DSS Agent who pumped Hernan Reyes full of lead), Rodriguez said she can't wait to see the two beefcakes "go at it." But that's really  just a wish on her part. Like most of us out there, Ms. Rodriguez has no idea what's coming. "I don’t know!" she exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? Yeah, I’m as clueless as you are, trust [me]."

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Leterrier, a last-minute replacement for Justin Lin, wanted the penultimate chapter to be the best movie it could be. His enthusiasm for the material, coupled with an ability to jump into a massive blockbuster shoot a week into production, secured him the gig of helming Fast 11. Slated to bow sometime in 2025, the final film will boast a script from co-writers Christina Hodson (The Flash) and Oren Uziel (The Cloverfield Paradox). At the moment, however, no screenplay exists due to the fact that the core creative brain trust is still throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks.

"Now, it’s about pruning. We’re in the pruning process," Diesel continued. "All of the ideas are flying by and all of the input is being thrown in,” she added. “Louis, our new captain, he’s got his hands full, but he’s excited, he’s like a little kid. You should see him, out on the weekend going to the theaters just trying to see what people respond to."

Fast X is now playing in theaters everywhere. The film opened at the top of the box office this past weekend with a global haul of $319 million (the third-best worldwide debut of the entire franchise). Click here to pick up tickets!

Relive a small portion of the Fast Saga with Furious 7 — now streaming now on Peacock. If you want to catch up on the full story, however, click right here for our nifty guide on where to stream the first nine installments (plus Hobbs & Shaw).