Fast X Is The Avengers: Infinity War Of The Fast And Furious Franchise In More Ways Than You'd Imagine
This post contains spoilers for "Fast X."
Walking out of Louis Letterier's "Fast X," you may find yourself reminded of the sensation you felt leaving Denis Villeneuve's "Dune," when it became abundantly clear that, despite that film's title, only half of the story was being told. Fans knew long in advance that both stories would be split across multiple films, but it's one thing to read about that beforehand and another to viscerally experience it when the credits begin to roll.
Still, even though the Fast and Furious movies frequently flout the laws of physics in a way some may argue borders on science fiction, I'd argue "Fast X" actually shares much more DNA with Marvel Studios' "Avengers: Infinity War" than it does with Villeneuve's epic. "Infinity War" and "Fast X" were both billed as the first of a two-part conclusion (or is "Fast X" now the first of a three-part conclusion?), and while "Dune" does just sort of ... end, both "Fast X" and "Infinity War" feature even more abrupt cliffhanger endings that feel as if the rug has been pulled out from under you. But that's far from the only similarity the two films share.
The family is split across numerous storylines
Both movies take a page from "The Empire Strikes Back," splintering the core teams that audiences love to see together and scattering their members across their respective stories. In "Infinity War," Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Peter Parker (Tom Holland), and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) go to space, while the Guardians of the Galaxy are off on their own side quest and Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), and Vision (Paul Bettany) hop from Scotland to Wakanda.
"Fast X" begins with a typical Toretto family barbecue, but it's not long before half the crew heads to Rome on a mission that turns out to be a trap. The result is that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is captured by the Agency and paired up with fellow captive Cipher (Charlize Theron); Tej (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Han (Sung Kang), and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) are left in the wind with little money and fewer resources; Jakob Toretto (John Cena) picks up Little B from Mia (Jordana Brewster) and takes the boy around the world to try and protect him; and all the while, Dom (Vin Diesel) gets help from Tess (Brie Larson) to face off against the franchise's new (and best) villain, Dante (Jason Momoa).
There are a few crossover moments between some of the groups in both films, but for the most part, the characters are walled off into their own subplots. That approach has its ups and downs: If the chemistry is great (is it is between Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland), those scenes can crackle and you barely notice the gang's been broken up. But if any part of the equation is unbalanced, it can feel like you've taken a detour away from the more important aspects of the story that you're more invested in.
The best villains
"Avengers: Infinity War" and "Fast X" both feature the very best villains of their respective franchises. Thanos (Josh Brolin) and Dante both have a single-minded determination to achieve their goals, and a ruthless approach that results in several of their henchman being murdered. But more than that, these baddies were seemingly engineered to stand in direct opposition to everything our heroes stand for.
Thanos wants to cull half of the universe's population, whereas Captain America's moral compass does not allow him to sacrifice even a single life for the greater good. Meanwhile, Dante wants to make Dom suffer to get revenge for his father's death, and he does so by repeatedly forcing Dom into situations where he must choose which of his family members he's going to save. The villains get a leg up by using the heroes' limitations against them. Those dastardly scamps!
Heroes are seemingly dead
At the end of "Avengers: Infinity War," Thanos successfully gathers every Infinity Stone and snaps his fingers while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet, causing half of all life in the universe to disappear like dust in the wind. Beloved characters like Black Panther, Star-Lord, Falcon, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man are seemingly dead, and the film ends on a total downer note, sending some audience members out of the theater in tears.
"Fast X" isn't quite as dire, but it does end with a significant number of characters seemingly meeting their demise. Dom and Little B are facing down an oncoming wave from a dam that's about to burst — but odds are extremely high they'll both be fine when "Fast 11" picks up. It will be slightly more difficult to justify the survival of Jakob Toretto, who sacrificed himself in an explosive crash in order to buy Dom more time to escape. Similarly, Tej, Roman, Han, and Ramsey were all in the bowels of a plane that was shot down by the backstabbing Aimes (Alan Ritchson) — although, like the heroes in "Infinity War," it seems pretty clear those characters aren't going to be "dead" for long. Hell, this franchise has already brought several characters back from what appeared to be clearly established deaths (Hi, Gisele!), so even if they are actually supposed to have canonically died on screen, it's not outside the realm of possibility that they'll be somehow resurrected before all is said and done.
Pete Davidson cameos
Of course, the final thing both films have in common is a Pete Davidson cameo in which his character provides a character with drug-laced muffins. In "Fast X," Davidson plays a sort of dark web broker and former pal of Ramsey. After the crew has made it on the international most wanted list, Ramsey, Tej, Roman, and Han meet with him in London to try to purchase supplies and weapons before he ultimately tries to turn them in for the reward money. Ignoring Roman's warning, the always-hungry Han snacks on a muffin laced with some sort of hallucinogenic drug, briefly causing his vision to warp (but otherwise having zero consequences and no impact on the story).
Naturally, everyone remembers Davidson's cameo in "Avengers: Infinity War" — so much so that I probably don't even need to recap it since it's so baked into our culture. But for those who may not recall, when beloved and memorable characters Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian drop into New York City to try to procure the Infinity Stones for Thanos, causing untold damage in the city, Davidson walks up before the Avengers arrive on the scene and offers Ebony Maw a muffin. "Welcome to Ear–" he tries to say, holding a muffin out in his outstretched hand as a peace offering. But before Davidson is even able to complete his sentence, Maw dismissively uses his telekinetic abilities to hurl the young man backward so hard that Davidson eventually exits Earth's atmosphere, leaving only the muffin behind. Maw pockets the snack for later, and in a deleted scene on the Blu-ray, he pulls it out on the spaceship later in the film and is seen chowing down on it. What most people don't know is that if you look very closely out the window in the bottom right corner of the screen at that exact moment, you can spot Davidson's frozen corpse floating past the ship. What an Easter egg!