With the notable exception of Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that the Fast & Furious franchise’s female characters haven’t left much of an impression. Jordana Brewster’s Mia Toretto has never really been given anything important to do, and she’s been part of the gang for almost 20 years, while relative newcomer Nathalie Emmanuel is relegated to exposition-spouting tech girl.
Gal Gadot was handy in the action sequences, but her Gisele was very one-dimensional, and Elsa Pataky’s Elena was essentially a walking plot device. Even Charlize Theron, one of the finest actresses of her generation, failed to stand out as the underwritten Cipher, although Helen Mirren is always a welcome presence in a blockbuster action movie no matter how little she gets in terms of screen time.
Vin Diesel has repeatedly claimed that the female Fast & Furious spinoff is definitely going to happen, while Hobbs & Shaw director David Leitch put forward the interesting idea of having Eiza Gonzalez’s Madame M and her crew star in their own outing, but we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us F9 was going to outer space long before it was confirmed, and that Han would be returning in the film – that Dwayne Johnson has reportedly set his sights on recruiting Margot Robbie to join the family.
Of course, Vanessa Kirby played the female lead in Hobbs & Shaw as Deckard’s sister Hattie, but once again, there wasn’t a great deal required from the most prominent lady in the ensemble, and the actress is booked up for the time being anyway with the back-to-back Mission: Impossible sequels. Robbie has plenty of franchise fare of her own to deal with, too, thanks to The Suicide Squad and a Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff, but you can never rule out Fast & Furious when it comes to surprising and unexpected additions and from what we understand, Johnson is hoping to rope her in for a future installment.
