Michelle Rodriguez Is Officially Done With ‘Fast & Furious’ Going Full James Bond
Actor Michelle Rodriguez has called for the "Fast & Furious" franchise to return to its street-racing roots for its final instalment, "Fast Forever", rather than continuing down the increasingly far-fetched, spy-thriller path it has taken in recent films. Speaking at the franchise's 25th-anniversary celebrations, she argued that the globe-trotting, high-tech direction the series has adopted since "Fast Five" has strayed too far from what made the films connect with fans in the first place. Her comments carry weight given the franchise is entering its concluding chapter, and reflect a wider debate among cast and fans about whether the saga should end true to its origins.
Rodriguez, who has appeared in the series across various roles since its 2001 debut, told The Hollywood Reporter she hopes the 11th and final film abandons the "James Bond" style plots involving space missions, nuclear submarines and skyscraper stunts in favour of the community-driven car culture that originally inspired the franchise. She noted that this global fan community has sustained the series for 25 years and urged filmmakers to "get back to what it all started as", pointedly rejecting the direction taken since 2011's "Fast Five", when Dominic Toretto's crew began working with government agencies to thwart international criminals.
- Michelle Rodriguez wants the final "Fast & Furious" film to ditch its spy-thriller style.
- She wants "Fast Forever" to return to street-racing, community roots.
- Criticised the franchise's shift since "Fast Five" into space and submarine stunts.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Advocates for returning to the franchise's street-racing roots argue that the series built its devoted following on character-driven stories about family, loyalty and car culture, not on globe-trotting espionage. They contend that as the plots escalated to space missions and submarine heists, the human stakes that made audiences care about Dom's crew were diluted by ever-larger spectacle. Ending the saga by reconnecting with the community and culture that inspired it in the first place, they argue, would honour long-time fans and give the story a sense of narrative closure rather than another exercise in scale for its own sake.
The case against
Those who favour the franchise's evolution into higher-stakes, spy-thriller territory point out that this shift, beginning with Fast Five, is precisely what transformed a modest street-racing series into a global blockbuster phenomenon, drawing in vastly larger audiences and box-office returns. They argue that audience tastes and the franchise's own mythology have grown over 25 years, and that scaling back to smaller, low-stakes races for the finale risks feeling anticlimactic after a decade of ever-bigger set pieces. For them, embracing the spectacle the series has become known for is a more fitting way to conclude an saga built on constant reinvention.