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‘The Fate Of The Furious’ Trailer: Vin Diesel A Villain? Fans React To 8th ‘Fast And Furious’ Film With Punchlines

By Glenn Hadley
Published on: 14:33 PST, Dec 11, 2016

Does Vin Diesel play a villain in TheFate of the Furious, the highly-anticipated eighth Fast and Furious movie?

Most longtime fans of the blockbuster franchise were excited to see the first official trailer of the newest installment when it made its big debut online Sunday. However, moments after the trailer starts, it becomes clear that Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) is not the same family-oriented leader from past movies.

Those who may have assumed that the Fate of the Furious would feature the return of Jason Statham as the main bad guy may be sadly mistaken. As shown in the video, the former villain (and infamous Hobbs rival) is actually asked to join forces with the gang in order to capture and take down an “evil” Dominic Toretto.

It did not take very long at all for fans and critics to chime in with reactions and responses shortly after the Fate of the Furious trailer was first posted. The vast majority of responses emphasized positive reactions – expressing anticipation and excitement over the 2017 action film.

However, there were also a few punchlines that poked fun at the franchise primarily for continuing to add movie after movie to its growing list. Keep in mind that the tagline for the seventh installment (and final film featuring the late Paul Walker) was “One Last Ride.” Therefore, to have a total of three more movies set to be released starting with the Fateof the Furious essentially leaves the franchise open for jokes like these.

The loss of Paul Walker – a memorable, leading character that helped to launch the Fast and Furious franchise alongside Vin Diesel back in 2001 – placed the entire franchise in a questionable state. As mentioned by Furious 7 co-stars in past interviews, whether or not to continue the franchise at all was a major concern after Walker’s tragic passing. With the help of CGI and a little assistance from Paul’s brothers Cody and Caleb, the cast and crew were able to keep things moving at least long enough to finish the film.

When Furious 7 generated over $1.5 billion at the box-office worldwide back in 2015, it was very clear that Universal Studios was more than likely not going to allow the franchise to end there. The Fate of the Furious actor and producer Vin Diesel confirmed that they were actually building a brand new trilogy for the Fast and Furious franchise which would extend the list to a total of 10 films.

Perhaps turning fan favorite and leading family man Dominic Toretto into a bad guy while crossing Jason Statham to the good side and adding a little more star power to the line-up with Charlize Theron is exactly what the franchise needs to last for three more movies without crashing.

The Fate of the Furious reunites longtime franchise stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Dwayne Johnson, and Ludacris with new faces Scott Eastwood and Charlize Theron. The film will also feature appearances from actor Lucas Black – who starred in Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift as well as Furious 7 actor Kurt Russell.

Fans and critics have more than likely already marked April 14, 2017, as the U.S. theatrical release date of The Fate of the Furious on their calendars.

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

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