F9 blasts the Fast & Furious team into orbit in high-flying, high-octane trailer

Having exhausted every insane locale on the planet in previous entries, the Fast & Furious franchise is heading into uncharted territory with F9: outer space. Or, almost outer space. At least that seems to be the case in the latest trailer, where Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej Parker (Ludacris) don makeshift space-suits for a high-flying rocket set piece high above the clouds.

Whether they're actually leaving our atmosphere or simply reaching an insanely high altitude of little to no oxygen remains to be seen.

"I'm on the phone with scientists, learning about fuel and physics," Lin explained to The Hollywood Reporter. "It was great, having the scientists on the other line going, 'Wait, what? What are you trying to do?' I love it."

"It's been years in the making," the director added during an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "Through the years, I always can just play and feel like I come up with the craziest ideas and see if there's an appropriate way for us to earn that. And so this film, I remember I was working on the script and there was an emotional character thread, and it was for like four months, and when the idea finally hit and it felt right, I drove to Vin's house and we looked to each other and we said, 'Yep, this is the one.' We've been talking about it for years, but this is the one [is] where we really get to push it."

Check it out:

The latest round of explosive, larger-than-life footage is getting us excited for a blockbuster season that's about to be injected with a whole bunch of nitrous. A much-needed development after the COVID-19 pandemic led to a rather desolate summer in 2020. Directed by Justin Lin, F9 picks up with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) living a quiet family existence with his wife, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). Both characters are forced out of retirement when Dom's long lost little brother, Jakob (John Cena), sets out on a campaign of revenge. To defeat his enraged sibling (who is being egged on by Charlize Theron's Cipher), Dom will need the help of extended family members like Roman, Tej, Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster), Megan Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Magdalene Shaw (Helen Mirren), and Han Lue (Sung Kang).

Until the first trailer dropped early last year, it was widely accepted that Han was no longer among the living. However, fans didn't take that lying down and used their immense social media power to voice their love and support for Mr. Lue.

"The whole #JusticeForHan thing – it made me think, ‘Wow, there are actually people that appreciate the work I did as an actor’,” Kang told Empire Magazine. “In my own Hollywood struggle as an Asian-American, in your darkest hours, you go, ‘Wow, there are actually people from all over the world that appreciate what I did with that character.’”

You might have also noticed a loving nod to the late Paul Walker, whose character, Brian O'Conner, is still alive within the F&F universe.

"It’s very impactful and it’s very important," Lin said during an interview with Variety. "When we talk about Fast 9, this is the first time for me creatively approaching it not as just the one film. In the past, I’ve always felt like, we’re lucky enough to do one, let’s do everything we can. But Vin finally talked me into it, you know, when I came back, he’s like, 'Well, let’s think about it as a final chapter.' So Fast 9 is really the beginning of the final chapter of the saga. So in doing that I think there’s a lot of room to really place our characters, and Brian obviously is a big part of the universe still."

Get your engine going with a new poster below:

Credit: Universal Pictures

Lin, who directed four previous F&F adventures (including 2006's more tangential Tokyo Drift), worked off a screenplay he penned with Daniel Casey. Also featuring Kurt Russell's Mr. Nobody, F9 zooms into theaters everywhere Friday, June 25. The long-running series will end after two more installments helmed by Lin.

"There’s a lot we’re exploring. I think we’re exploring this idea of sibling rivalry and conflict, family by blood for the first time on [F9]," the filmmaker told Collider. "And to be able to do that but also at the same time bring a lot of these characters back, there’s a lot going on. I feel good talking to you now because I know that we’re talking about it in multi-films as opposed to just one film… It’s definitely very meaty, I’ll tell you that."

Enjoy a slew of colorful character posters in the gallery below...