Fast X Will Pit Dom Against 'A Total Sum Of Enemies'

After a turbulent production period that saw a change of directors, "Fast X" is nearly here. With the first trailer set to drop tomorrow and tickets already on sale, there's also new information on the film's story, and the Fast Family has some tough times ahead in the penultimate installment. As much as "The Fast & The Furious" has been about family and belonging, it's also been about some pretty outrageous villains that go up against Dominic Toretto. From the corrupt politician Hernan Reyes in "Fast Five" to the Shaw brothers in "Fast & Furious 6" and "Furious 7," there's been many eccentric villains, with some even allying themselves with Dom in later installments. The latest example is Jakob (John Cena), who was one of the main villains of "F9: The Fast Saga," and Dom's brother, yet ended up switching sides at the end of the movie, leading to a reconciliation between him and Dom.

Now it seems that "Fast X" will ramp up the series' stakes by bringing a larger number of enemies into the fray, all of whom are after Dom. Given that "Fast X" and its as-yet-untitled followup are set to serve as the two-part finale to the franchise, it's no surprise that the "Fast & Furious" team wants to make the movies as big as possible. Finales to franchises also usually feel like celebrations of what came before, and for "The Fast Saga," that includes its colorful villains. Moreover, the series is no stranger to introducing new enemies with a past connection to Dom, so some deep-cut callbacks are to be expected for this grand conclusion.

In an interview with Empire, "Fast X" director Louis Leterrier talked about the newest bad guy making his debut in the movie: Dante, played by Jason Momoa. The character is yet another villain brought into the fold by Cypher (Charlize Theron), who has been a recurring antagonist in the films since 2017's "The Fate of the Furious." Leterrier described Cypher's latest partner Dante as "an incredible new character; it's 1,000 percent, Momoa," He even hinted at an interesting relationship between the villains, saying that "they are bad news, but one is more afraid than the other. One is worse news than the other."

Leterrier's teasing of what's to come in "Fast X" and even the untitled eleventh installment didn't stop there. The director warned that Dom's adventures in previous films would lead to new adversaries: 

"When you have fought so hard to keep your faith and protect your family, and literally change the world, which is the case of Dom Toretto, there is a price to pay. His enemies are coming after him. There's a total sum of enemies that are coming after him."

The "Fast" franchise is one that's thrived off of bringing in new villains that are in one way or another related to previous bad guys (it is all about family, after all). So the "sum of enemies" Leterrier described may very well be not villains who were presumed dead, but perhaps are the relatives of previous baddies recruited by Cypher to go after Dom. Whatever the case, there is sure to be plenty of NOS involved when "Fast X" hits theaters on May 19, 2023.