The Fast & Furious franchise is officially heading to the small screen. If Peacock and Universal TV want to immediately win over the fandom, it would be in their best interest to develop shows that stay true to the franchise’s core theme of family.
Now, while franchise lead Vin Diesel’s claim of four television shows being in the works at Peacock has been disputed by at least one insider, it’s clear that Universal, Diesel, and Peacock have big plans for the franchise.
With the film series officially set to conclude in a few years with Fast Forever, the Peacock show is the perfect opportunity to flesh out some of the supporting cast properly or jump around the series’ timeline. Just as Dominic Toretto doesn’t turn his back on family, neither should Universal and Diesel look away from these four premises that make the most sense for Fast & Furious on the small screen.
Han Lue
A character so beloved that the franchise resurrected him not once, but twice. For a long time, Sung Kang’s Han Lue was the glue holding the black sheep of the franchise, 2006’s Tokyo Drift, to the rest of the series.
The retcon that made Tokyo Drift a sequel to Fast & Furious (2009), Fast Five (2011), and Fast & Furious 6 (2013) paid off in the end, adding more weight to Han’s emotional death. Unfortunately, F9 (2021) introduced another, far worse retcon that revealed that Han faked his death.
That said, with Han alive again, he’s the clear choice to lead the first Fast & Furious show. Not only do the fans love him, but F9 gave him an adoptive daughter and a past with Mr. Nobody that a show could easily explore more. A Han-centric show would also allow for the franchise to bring in more Tokyo Drift characters in a way that doesn’t feel shoehorned.
Roman & Tej
A show centered around Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) is arguably the one spin-off fans have requested the most over the years. A lot of that has to do with the pair’s dynamic and chemistry. There’s a great buddy energy to them with their conflicting personalities. It’d be easy to make them the “Bad Boys” of the Fast Saga, stopping car-related crime in Miami with Nathalie Emmanuel’s Ramsey.
Prequel series following a young Dominic Toretto
Hollywood loves to take a popular character and flesh out their backstory with a prequel, whether fans wanted it or not. F9 introduced teenage versions of Dom, Mia, Letty, Jesse, Tego, and Rico. Since these roles are already cast, it would be a waste not to explore more of the 10-ish years between the F9 flashback and the events of The Fast and the Furious (2001).
A prequel would also allow the franchise to further develop Dom’s OG Family — Letty, Mia, Jesse, Leon, and Vince — from The Fast and the Furious. While Vince reappeared in Fast Five, Leon is a blank slate, with the 2001 original serving as his only appearance in the franchise.
However, the real selling point would be Vin Diesel narrating every episode à la Jim Parsons in Young Sheldon or Patton Oswalt in The Goldbergs.
Sequel series with Dom and Brian’s children
The Fast & Furious has no regard for continuity. Tokyo Drift was released in 2006, but is now set in 2014 due to the decision to bring Han back for the fourth through sixth films. The Fate of the Furious featured Dom’s son Brian as a baby, even though it’s set years after Dom’s relationship with Brian’s mother, Elena, ended.
So, why get technical about the Fast timeline now? Let’s jump ahead a decade and introduce the next generation of Torettos. Mia and Brian O’Conner’s son, Jack, and daughter will be all grown up, as will Brian Toretto, so they can become the new Brian, Mia, and Dom. Set the sequel series in Los Angeles, and you’ve already gone a long way to replicating that OG Fast feeling.
As a fan, I’m hopeful the Peacock shows will be worth fans’ time and not just unnecessary franchise offshoots. But if they are, well, at least we’ll have the movies.
