Some things happen in this world that are just so perfect, and Vin Diesel’s suggestion for who he wants to see in The Fast and the Furious saga next is just that: perfection. From Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron in previous films to Rita Moreno, Brie Larson, and Jason Momoa in Fast X, the franchise loves to have a top-billed actor take on a new role and stick around.
Now, the next person that Diesel has in mind is none other than Robert Downey Jr. himself, and he even has a role in mind for Downey in the franchise. On the red carpet for the trailer premiere (because these movies are just THAT important, and I’m not even kidding, I am jealous of all my friends who got to go), Diesel was asked by Variety’s Marc Malkin who he’d like to see in the next movie. His answer was simple: “Robert Downey Jr.”
But Diesel went on to talk about the character idea in question and how he’d want Downey to be in the series. “There’s a character that without telling you too much that happens in the future, there’s a character that is the antithesis of Dom,” Diesel said. “Who is promoting AI and driverless cars and a philosophy that with that, goes your freedom. And there is somebody that believes that’s the future and that’s in direct odds with the Toretto mentality.”
Look, you had me at “RDJ in a Fast and Furious movie.” But tying him to Dom as a villain? That’s great, and honestly, playing on the Tony Stark of it all is even better! Because if Fast and Furious knows how to do one thing, it is bring to life characters we want to see time and time again.
Honestly, he’d be great
The way that Diesel described the character is, essentially, Tony Stark but if he hated Dominic Toretto, and I’m not exactly angry about the idea. Again, I love Robert Downey Jr. very much. He’s one of my all-time favorite actors, and I think he’d match the energy of the Fast and Furious franchise well.
But they’d have to make sure it was different enough from Tony to appeal to him, because I don’t think Downey would want to just repeat a similar role. That being said, I still think he’d be great in this franchise because an actor has to commit to the bit of the franchise to really shine, and that’s something that Downey knows how to do.
Diesel is right for this casting, and at the end of the clip, he does seem to hint that they’ve at least tried to get Downey on board. And let’s all just put good vibes out into the universe that Downey agrees because come on, this is perfect casting—even if we are clearly going to have Dominic Toretto vs. AI technology in the future of the franchise, which, honestly, that makes sense for everything these movies tackle.
(featured image: Universal Pictures)
