The highly anticipated Fast X trailer hit an awaiting internet on Friday and it predictably has everything Fast & Furious fans could hope for and more. Jason Momoa makes his debut as the franchise’s latest villain; legendary actress and EGOT winner Rita Moreno is brought in as the Toretto family matriarch; and Brie Larson is likewise introduced as a new character who we don’t know much about yet.
But the trailer for the 10th and dubiously final installment of the beloved movies wouldn’t be complete without taking it back to where it all began — with a DVD heist and a couple of quick cameos from Paul Walker, who played the character Brian O’Conner, the film’s original co-star opposite Vin Diesel.
Though he died in a car crash nearly a decade ago during the filming of Furious 7 (the late actor’s younger brother Cody Walker helped complete his final scenes), Walker’s presence has not been forgotten throughout the subsequent films. Diesel famously even named his daughter, born in 2015, Pauline after his longtime friend and colleague.
So while fans were quite understandably taken in with the car chases, fight scenes, and helicopters tethered to a car and smashing into one another — because physics, obviously — Walker’s appearance midway through the trailer was just the dose of sentimentality that fans needed to be brought back down to earth.
“Fast X has everything,” tweeted Gothamist arts and culture editor Ben Yakas. “Han’s hair. Inserting a new character into a previous movie’s narrative. Brie Larson head nod acting. Race Wars. Jason Momoa arms. Paul Walker stock footage. Charlize Theron putting in requisite 15 min cameo. Car make helicopters go boom. Famlee.”
Plenty of others likewise chimed in to say how much Walker’s appearance made them miss the late actor.
Fast X comes careening into movie theaters on May 19, 2023, and even without Walker, it can’t get here soon enough.