Vin Diesel is one of the most social media-savvy stars out there today – over the past few years, he’s used it to tease us with his involvement in superhero movies (he ultimately ended up voicing Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy), pay tribute to his co-star and friend Paul Walker in a touching musical performances and of course, plug the Fast & Furious franchise.
Now, even as Diesel and company are taking a well-deserved victory lap in the wake of Furious 7‘s smash success, he’s taking to Instagram to unveil a new teaser poster for Fast & Furious 8.
The image confirms that the eighth Furious film will be taking Dominic Toretto and company to the mean streets of New York City, where it’s expected that they’ll again run into the shadowy government forces overseen by Kurt Russell’s enigmatic Mr. Nobody.
The blood-stained title suggests a darker, grittier installment, which could be exactly what the franchise needs after the high-octane popcorn thrills of Furious 7 (though it should be noted that, courtesy of horror-honed director James Wan, the seventh installment did feature some darker moments than the past films).
Fast & Furious 8 will of course find Diesel reprising his role. It’s also expected that most of the principal cast of Furious 7 will be returning, including Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel and Elsa Pataky. The biggest question marks are Jordana Brewster, whose character was seemingly given a send-off alongside Walker’s protagonist at the end of Furious 7, and Jason Statham, whose Furious 7 villain is presumably still rotting in maximum security prison.
We’re expecting to see Fast & Furious 8 zoom into theaters in the summer of 2017.
