Small Details You Missed In The Entire Fast & Furious Franchise

The "Fast & Furious" franchise has come a long way since its debut in 2001. The story in the first film, "The Fast and the Furious," comes from humble beginnings as it details the journey of undercover cop Brian O'Connor, played by the late, great Paul Walker. Brian is tasked to infiltrate a group of criminals led by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). Initially, the crew was a bunch of young street racers who do a little thieving on the side to make extra money. However, the franchise has evolved over time. And these small-time street racers are now Avenger-level threats. They've saved the world countless times and have even gone to space. At this point, the cast of the "Fast & Furious" franchise has become virtually unstoppable. And it's all thanks to the power of family.

According to Vin Diesel, the star of this franchise, the 10th film will act as the final chapter for the furious family. However, the film is meant to be so big, and so epic that the story needs to be broken down into two films. According to the actor, the strength of family is not enough to keep this story in one film. He shares, "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" (via US Weekly). Until then, let's take a look at small details throughout the franchise that mean a lot more than you might have realized.

All roads have led us to this moment.

This franchise began with "The Fast and the Furious" in 2001. The plot details how Brian has successfully infiltrated Dom's group of street racing friends. For the most part, things seem to be going well for the young LAPD officer, aside from the fact that Dom's right-hand man and current best friend Vince (Matt Schulze) mistrusts Brian. He clocks him as a cop right away.

Brian runs into further complications when he finds himself gaining true feelings for Dom's younger sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and building a real friendship with the man. When Brian comes to stop Dom and his crew from a car thieving gone wrong, he helps rescue Vince who's trapped on a truck. Unfortunately, Vince gets caught up in a wire that's cutting into his arm. Luckily, Brian is able to save him, and when Vince returns to the franchise in "Fast Five" the scars from that ordeal are present on his arm. This small detail goes a long way to help encourage a sense of consistency in a franchise that is somewhat inconsistent at times.

By the end of "The Fast and the Furious," Brian has put his career in jeopardy by helping out Dom and his crew. He ultimately lets Dom go in order to stop him from getting arrested. Audiences learn in the next film, "2 Fast 2 Furious," that this decision leads to Brian losing his job as an LAPD officer.

"Fast & Furious 6" really amps up the change of direction in the franchise. The familiar crew of street racers has now turned into the only hope to stop a criminal organization run by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). The DSS agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) who once hunted them has now turned to Dom for help in assisting the crew's arrest. According to Hobbs, the crew is similar to Dom's and has even enlisted the help of Dom's old girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) who was thought to have been dead.

By the end of the film, all is well for the furious family. Hobbs has granted the entire crew pardons from the U.S. government, allowing them to return to the home where the franchise first began. Letty has joined their team once more, and while she still suffers from memory loss, she and Dom are back together.

A small detail at the end of the film is a conversation between Tyrese Gibson's Roman Pearce and Hobbs. As Hobbs approaches the crew at Dom's family barbeque, Pearce jokes to Mia that she should hide her baby oil while standing next to Ludacris' character Tej Parker. In an ad-lib moment, Johnson responds with "You'd better hide that big-ass forehead" causing Ludacris to spit his drink out and laugh. The scene was kept in the final cut because it's hilariously timed.

It's no secret that Dwayne Johnson is one of the hardest-working entertainers in the business. In fact, according to Forbes, he was one of the highest-paid actors in 2022 due to his roles in the Furious franchise, "Black Adam," and "Red Notice" to name a few. However, before he made a name for himself, Johnson went by a different name that you might have heard before: The Rock. Before he was a big movie star, Johnson used to have a career as a professional wrestler and entertainer.

It seems as though professional wrestling is a family business for Johnson, as his father, Rocky, was a famous Canadian wrestler. Similarly, his eldest daughter Simone has recently announced that she's following in her family's famous footsteps. She has debuted her wrestling name to be Ava Raine (via TMZ).

At the beginning of "Furious 7," audiences are introduced to the latest threat to the Furious family, Owen Shaw's older brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). Shaw is out for vengeance after Hobbs, Dom, and his crew put a stop to his brother's activities, placing Owen in a coma. Shaw and Hobbs engage in an epic fight when Shaw breaks into his DSS office in Los Angeles. During the fight, longtime fans of "The Rock" can see when he uses one of his famous moves against his fast opponent. In the film, Hobbs uses Johnson's old wrestling finisher, 'The Rock Bottom" against Shaw (via USA Today).

Dwayne Johnson joined the "Furious" family in 2011 when he was cast as DSS (Diplomatic Security Service) Agent Hobbs in "Fast Five." Initially seen as a threat to Dom's crew, Hobbs eventually becomes part of the family and gains respect for Dom in each film he appears in. However, behind-the-scenes drama put an end to the characters' relationship as it was revealed that Johnson did not get along with his co-star Vin Diesel. While both actors have spoken at length about their issues, Johnson has made it crystal clear that he'll never return to the franchise, and that it's his relationship with Diesel that is the cause (via US Weekly).

After this huge blow to the story was served, it was revealed that Johnson would be getting his own spinoff series that would see him partnered with the criminal Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) from "Furious 7." Thus, the 2019 film "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw" was born.

The film brings in Idris Elba as the cyber-genetically enhanced terrorist Brixton Lore. He has the technology to display the velocity, technique, and trajectories of the opponent he fights. In the film, when he goes up against Hobbs and Shaw, audiences can see his tech detailing the strengths of each fighter. When looking at Hobbs, the tech shows the absolute force of power that he unleashes. When he looks at Shaw, it details how his technique and speed are absolutely lethal.

The "Hobbs & Shaw" film is able to dig deeper into the Shaw family. The film introduces Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby), the younger sister of Deckard and Owen. She is an MI6 field agent that is being relentlessly hunted by Brixton. However, before Hobbs learns any of this, he spends some time interrogating her as he believes that she's a criminal. At one point during his interrogation, he quotes the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, much to the surprise of Hattie who had assumed that he was not enlightened enough to discuss Nietzsche. However, the joke is clearly on her.

This might have seemed like it was a tool used in order to give Hattie and Hobbs some sexual tension and banter, but there's a smaller detail that foreshadows his interest in Nietzsche. The beginning of the film outlines the morning routine that Hobbs goes through in contrast with Shaw. One moment showcases the two making breakfast, which has a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. Hobbs is making eggs in a bowl, where audiences can see a copy of the book "The Portable Nietzsche" next to his stove. The film already told us that he's a Nietzsche fan, but it was only visible to those who were paying attention to those small details in the film.

"F9" was released in 2021 and saw the return of director Justin Lin to the franchise. Currently, Lin has directed a total of five "Furious" films: "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," "Fast & Furious," "Fast Five," "Fast & Furious 6," and "F9."

The story in "F9" doubles down on the core concept of family within the franchise as it's revealed that Dom and Mia have a brother that has, up until this point, never been mentioned. His brother Jakob Toretto is played by John Cena. He is estranged from his family after Dom discovers that his brother is partially responsible for the death of their father. Years later, Jakob returns for revenge against Dom as he's become a criminal that works as a thief, assassin, and (of course) a high-performance driver.

The start of the film uses an older logo for Universal studios. In the film's commentary, Lin details that this was an intentional decision made on his part. He discusses that the film begins with a flashback to 1989 to showcase the Toretto boys' relationship. Audiences get to watch the story that was originally discussed in the first film about Dom beating the man responsible for his father's death. Lin shares, "The choice of going with an older logo was because I wanted it to sync up with this 'flashback' to start" (via Insider).

After a cameo in "The Fate of the Furious," "F9" more fully introduces Helen Mirren to the Furious franchise. She portrays Magdalene Ellmanson-Shaw, also known as Queenie. She is the mother of Dom's former enemies Deckard and Owen Shaw, and presumably of their younger sister Hattie as well. When Queenie is first introduced, audiences see that being a criminal seems to run in the Shaw family, as she's shown attempting to steal a necklace. When Dom approaches her, she provides him with information on his brother Jakob Toretto's location. During their conversation, Queenie is shown driving like, shall we say a mad woman, through the streets of London. As street racing is the origin of the "Furious" franchise, this decision was likely made to keep in the tradition of being too fast and too furious. However, it was also a special request made by the actress herself.

According to Yahoo! Entertainment, Mirren shares that her "great ambition is to be in a 'Fast & Furious' movie" as she wanted the chance to be a "mad driver." According to the actress, "My claim to fame is I always do my own driving — I was on 'Top Gear,' and I did [my lap] in a very good time. I keep putting it out there". She was also excited to work with Vin Diesel, as she finds him to be "brilliant" and "smart."

Rapper Cardi B appears in a small guest role in "F9" as Leysa, a woman who shares history with Dom. Her character rescues him from being arrested by posing as a police officer. She provides him with a key to his freedom once they're put in the back of a police van. While her connection with Dom may have seemed random at first, she does have a seemingly throw-away line that holds more weight to who her character is.

In the film, she says that if it wasn't for Dom, she would still be stealing gas. This is a direct connection to Dom, Letty, and Han's (Sung Kang) time living in the Dominican Republic. In the fourth film of the franchise "Fast & Furious," those three characters live in the Dominican stealing gas to make a living. Their time here takes place after the events of the first film when Brian lets Dom go rather than being arrested. As he and Letty become wanted, they leave the States and seemingly build a different crew. Clearly, Leysa was part of that crew for a short time.

According to ET, Diesel revealed that Cardi B's character will return for "F10" and that she will be expanded on even more. "F9" director Justin Lin states "[Cardi B] and Vin were talking about the character because she's actually really embedded into the overall universe, she's been around for a long time and this is just the first time we are seeing her, so I'm really excited to explore that character of her."

The timeline in the "Furious" franchise can get a little murky. Although "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" is the third film to have been released in the franchise, it actually takes place as the sixth in the timeline (if you don't include the shorts). This is because the character Han (Sung Kang) is introduced and seemingly killed in "Tokyo Drift." At the end of the film, Dom appears for a race saying that Han was family. At the time, this was a big deal as this marked the return of Vin Diesel to the "Furious" franchise.

As the "Furious" films continued throughout the years, it's shown that Deckard Shaw is responsible for Han's death in retaliation for what Dom's crew did to his brother Owen Shaw in "Fast & Furious 6." But wait, there's more! Turns out, Han didn't actually die. He just went into hiding because he was trying to protect a little girl. Are you following?

Anyways, while the story of Han is a confusing one, there's a small but entertaining detail about his name that we can't get out of our heads. In "Furious 7," it's revealed that his full name is Han Seoul-Oh, a clever nod to Harrison Ford's iconic Star Wars character Han Solo. However, director Justin Lin later revealed that this is actually just an alias that Han uses, and that his full name still remains a mystery (via Wayback Machine).

"The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" introduces drift racing into the franchise. Up until this point, it was all about street racing with a dash of police drama for good measure. This film is the only one in the franchise that does not include either Paul Walker's Brian or Vin Diesel's Dominic. Instead, it's an entirely new cast that takes place in Tokyo, Japan. The film also made the interesting choice to have most of the characters be high school students rather than adults taking part in criminal activities. It's definitely the most divisive story to come out of the "Furious" franchise.

A small scene in the film that holds much weight is when audiences see a fisherman watching Sean (Lucas Black) as he embarrassingly attempts to drift for the first time. The fisherman is actually the real-life "Drift King" Keiichi Tsuchiya. According to an eagle eye Reddit fan, "Tsuchiya helped popularize the art and Touge driving, which also features heavily in the film."

He's clearly a ride-or-die type of man. Do you think that he's driven by the power of family, too?