It looks like Vin Diesel has bested Dwayne Johnson in at least one arena, clocking in at number one on Forbes’ list of the highest-grossing actors of 2017 — and throwing a little more fuel on that Fast & Furious feud (say that five times fast). Thanks to The Fate of the Furious and xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Diesel edged out his Fast co-star / arch-nemesis, and with fewer 2017 releases under his belt.
Audiences who stuck around after the end credits of newly released cinematic demolition derby The Fate of the Furious were disappointed to learn that there would be no bonus stinger scene, as has been customary in past installments of the franchise. (In addition to the pre-existing disappointment resulting from learning that Charlize Theron’s character is named Cipher.) It’s atypical for the series to refrain from teasing its next ride, and many fans are wondering what gives. Wonder no longer! Vin Diesel, as fate would have it, is reportedly to blame.
In The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in the car-jacking, street racing franchise, Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto does the worst thing a man of his values can do: He turns his back on family. That six letter, three syllable mantra is the sentimental thread that holds the Fast and Furious crew together, and what adds heart to an action series suffused with cars and criminals. One would assume there must be good reason to plot an entire film around something so antithetical to the spirit of the series. But that reveal winds up being the silliest and most left-field twist since the time the movies explained Letty’s (Michelle Rodriguez) return with amnesia.
With the eighth on the way and two more planned sequels after that, it seems like the Fast & Furious franchise will never end. And you know what, if Vin Diesel, The Rock, and Jason Statham want to keep making movies where the good guys win by driving quickly and angrily, more power to them! Diesel himself revealed during CinemaCon on Wednesday, after an emotional tribute to the late Paul Walker, that The Fate of the Furious is the first in a new trilogy of films.
Marvel’s breakout hit Guardians of the Galaxy is all about teamwork, and putting aside a group’s differences in order to achieve something great. It would appear that the cast has taken this same philosophy to heart when promoting the film, as the latest push for viral buzz has embodied the one-for-all, all-for-one camaraderie that made the original film such a likable presence at cineplexes. Much like the assorted aliens converging from far-flung planets to battle the force of evil, the assorted stars of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 have converged from far-flung social media platforms to battle the forces of underexposure.
I’ll be honest: I didn’t get the pun in the title of The Fate of the Furious until just now, when I got my eyes on the film’s latest poster. Take a look at it and see if you get it. (Maybe you got it already. If you did, sit quietly and give the rest a moment to figure it out.)
It’s funny how things work out. When Marvel was putting together the cast for Guardians of the Galaxy, they probably never dreamed that it would be former professional wrestler and MMA fighter Dave Bautista who would emerge as the film’s most likable character. And yet, with his deadpan line deliveries and awesome physicality, Bautista stood out among his live-action costars — I mean, nobody was going to beat Groot — as the funniest and most sympathetic of all the Guardians. Just like that, Bautista was a bonafide movie star and one of the biggest strengths of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Groot has proven wildly popular in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, thanks in no small part to the introduction of Baby Groot, and even though Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 doesn’t hit theaters for another four months, he’s already become everyone’s favorite character. And while such intensely beloved characters often work better in slightly smaller doses within an ensemble (like the Guardians movies), Vin Diesel, the number one source for breaking Vin Diesel news, seems to think a solo Groot spinoff is “inevitable.”