#F9 Director Consulted Some Very Confused Scientists About Taking the Franchise to Space

They did it. They actually did it. After years of fans joking that the only way for the Fast & Furious franchise to top its previous over-the-top, logic-defying stunts was by literally going into space, the trailer for Fast & Furious 9 has revealed that Dominic Toretto’s merry crew of drag-racers turned government secret agents will indeed be going into space in this film.

Justin Lin, who returns to directing a Fast & Furious movie after leaving the series some time back, revealed in an interview with THR that he consulted with actual scientists to make the space action scenes believable, and his consultants were just as flummoxed as the fans are.
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“I’m on the phone with scientists, learning about fuel and physics. It was great, having the scientists on the other line going, ‘Wait, what? What are you trying to do?’ I love it.”

Of course, the Fast & Furious franchise has proven that audiences can have so much fun watching a ridiculously over-the-top action movie that the logical inconsistencies no longer matter. Apart from getting to watch Dom and his crew possibly punch an alien species in the mouth while in space, F9 will also feature the triumphant return of fan-favorite character Han.

The character has been a part of the series before even Vin Diesel as Dom came into the picture. That was why fans were shocked when Deckard Shaw, the new Fast & Furious villain played by Jason Statham, seemingly killed Han offscreen.

To add insult to injury, later movies had Shaw become one of the good guys, even getting his own spinoff series, Hobbs and Shaw. Fans started an online #JusticeForHan campaign to ensure the franchise honored Han in a proper manner. In a previous interview, Lin had revealed that he himself felt deeply committed to ensuring justice is indeed done regarding Han.

“Han means so much to me because he was a character before Fast & Furious. Somebody asked me about Han and [Deckard] Shaw. I was like: ‘Wait, what? Shaw is at the barbecue in 8?’ [laughs] Really, I was so confused. One of the big reasons to come back was I felt like we needed to correct something.”

The trailer for F9 has confirmed that Han is back, and as much a badass as ever, rapidly taking down multiple enemies with a sniper rifle. Also in the mix is newcomer Jakob, the younger brother of Dom, who hates the entire Fast & Furious crew, and plots with Cipher, the main villain played by Charlize Theron to take them down. What all this has to do with going into space is yet to be revealed, but as long as the sequence is suitably epic, fans won’t really care much about the reasons.

Directed by Justin Lin, F9 stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell, and Charlize Theron. The film arrives in theaters on June 25. This news comes from the Hollywood Reporter.

Topics: Fast and Furious 9, Fast and Furious