New Alleged Details About Justin Lin’s Fast X Exit Reveal Some Wild Scrapped Plot Twists Involving Jason Momoa’s Character

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A major surprise from the making of 2023’s Fast X wasn’t in the film itself, but behind the scenes. Director Justin Lin, who had directed five previous Fast & Furious movies, left the project just a week into filming, and Louis Leterrier took over. Initially, reports said this was due to disagreements with Vin Diesel. Now, more details have emerged about Lin’s departure, revealing some surprising information about storylines involving Jason Momoa’s character, Dante, that were ultimately cut from the movie.

A new book about the Fast & Furious franchise, called Welcome to the Family, reveals disagreements between director Justin Lin, Vin Diesel, and Diesel’s sister/producer Samantha Vincent over the script for Fast X. The main point of contention was the ending: early drafts suggested that Dominic Toretto’s son, nicknamed “Little Brian,” was actually the biological son of the villain, Dante. While some believed this twist – having Dom protect a child who wasn’t his – was a compelling and dramatic development, Diesel reportedly opposed the idea.

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Louis Leterrier, the director of Fast X, wasn’t sure how Vin Diesel would respond when he first heard the nickname ‘Dommy.’

Okay, so I just read an interview with Alan Ritchson – you know, the guy who plays Reacher? He was asked who from the Fast X cast he could take in a fight, and his answers were hilarious and totally convincing. Honestly, after reading his breakdown, I’m completely on board with his assessment. He’s clearly thought this through, and I wouldn’t dare question his confidence!

If that scene had stayed in Fast X, it would have revealed a romantic connection between Little Brian’s mother, Elena Reves, and Dante Reyes. However, this creates timeline issues. Elena became pregnant with Brian before Fast & Furious 6, while she was with Dom, and after Dante was already injured in the events of Fast Five. It also seems unlikely Elena would have gotten involved with Dante, considering she was a dedicated, honest police officer in Rio and he was the son of a notorious criminal, Hernán Reyes.

Adding to the issues surrounding the film, sources say director Justin Lin and Universal Pictures clashed over a planned finale for Fast X. Lin envisioned a large-scale action sequence where the villain, Dante, would use a massive excavator-like machine to cause destruction. However, this idea would have significantly increased the movie’s budget. Alexander Witt, a second-unit director on Fast X, commented on the decision to scrap the sequence.

The biggest issue was the ending. It’s hard to explain, but the villain gets absorbed into a machine that starts devouring vehicles – it felt like something out of a ‘Transformers’ movie and didn’t fit the tone of the film at all. It was leaning too much into a Marvel-style spectacle, and the main challenge was that it would have required a lot of computer-generated imagery. Ironically, the final version ended up being almost entirely CG anyway, starting with Dom’s jump over the dam.

Many felt the film was leaning too heavily into the style of the Transformers movies, and despite some attempts to fix it, the action scenes still relied heavily on special effects. Ultimately, a serious discussion with Universal led Justin Lin to step down as director of Fast X. This situation is different from other high-profile director departures, like those of Phil Lord and Chris Miller from Solo: A Star Wars Story or Bryan Singer from Bohemian Rhapsody, because Lin chose to leave voluntarily, rather than being fired by the studio.

Although Justin Lin remained a producer on Fast X, he’s no longer involved with the Fast & Furious franchise. He’s now focused on other projects, including Last Days, which came out last month, and he’ll be directing the Netflix movie based on Keanu Reeves’ comic BRZRKR. As for Fast & Furious 11, Louis Leterrier is directing, and Vin Diesel recently shared encouraging news about how the film is coming along, though a release date hasn’t been announced yet.

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2025-11-25 01:12