‘Fast & Furious 9’ teaser drops; full trailer promised Friday

This summer, we’ll welcome the still-unnamed ninth installment in the core “Fast and Furious” franchise, and we now have our first teaser trailer for the upcoming entry. 

The teaser is titled “Things Change …” and appears to portray series lead character Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel, who posted the teaser on Facebook Tuesday) in a retirement of sorts, working on (or for) a farm.

Our glimpse into this latest chapter is brief and not particularly informative, as the action never appears to leave this agricultural setting. 

We open on Toretto working on his tractor with a young helper, who, based on the voice-over, is Toretto’s son. Toretto’s wife, Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) later calls the little assistant Brian, meaning he was named for Brian O’Conner, the character played by the late Paul Walker.

 

“Things change,” Toretto’s voiceover says. “Now that I’m a father, I can’t live my life a quarter mile at a time anymore.”

We then catch a glimpse of Toretto inside a barn, looking at what appears to be a photo. His Dodge Charger is shown behind him, and it’s the only recurring character besides Toretto and Ortiz to make an appearance in the teaser.

Also expected to make appearances in the final film are John Cena, Cardi B, Michael Rooker, Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron.

The tone turns ominous shortly thereafter, as Ortiz offers their son the cross-adorned chain that she says Toretto once gave to her. 

“It’s for protection,” she tells Brian, “from what’s coming.” The trailer ends there, offering us nothing more to go on.

Both the notion that Toretto is either retired or otherwise in hiding, and the fact that both he and Letty know something big is coming, lead us to suspect that there’s a “one last job” sort of angle to the plot of “Fast 9,” and since the series has leaned heavily into the action heist genre that has been woven into a few previous franchise installments, that seems like a logical leap. 

Filming of the ninth installment in the “F&F” franchise wrapped in the fall.