Summary

• The Fast & Furious franchise has evolved over the years, from street racing to globe-trotting heists and spy plots with intense action sequences.
• The movies can be watched in release order for a growing universe or chronological order for followable character arcs and storylines.
• With characters reappearing, evolving lore, and new introductions, the Fast & Furious franchise continues to expand its universe with plans for more sequels.

The Fast & Furious franchise consists of 11 films that can be watched according to release date or chronological order. Most movies in the franchise center around Dominic Toretto, a street racer, and his loyal circle of family and friends. Over the years, multiple actors have reprised their roles in the Fast & Furious films, either as leads or ing players. Across the different movies, Dom and his team take part in daring street races, heists, and spy plots, mixing the theme of family with incredible action sequences that defy the laws of physics.

With 11 films released and more planned, the Fast & Furious movies have been commercially successful. Because the movies have spanned decades, the franchise represents how the typical Hollywood action blockbuster has evolved over the years. As film technology improves, so do the special effects and stunts shown in Fast & Furious films. The lore behind Fast & Furious movies has also intensified with prequels, sequels, and spin-offs as more characters are introduced. The franchise is expected to expand its universe even more to give its original characters a proper sendoff with the 2025 sequel Fast 11.

The Fast And The Furious

Released In 2001

The Fast and the Furious seems quaint compared to what the franchise has become. In the debut film, LAPD officer Brian (Paul Walker) goes undercover to solve a hijacking case and discovers the world of street racing as he finds himself involved with Dominic's crew. Instead of arresting Dom at the end of the movie, Brian lets him go and gives him a car to escape, calling back to the first night the two street raced together.

Brian and Dom's friendship is a core part of the franchise, and the first film succeeds in setting up the connection between the two. The movie seems to unfold over the course of several weeks or maybe even months as Brian ingrains himself into the pseudo-family and develops a connection not only with Dom, but also a romantic one with his sister Mia Toretto. While the franchise has not gone back to its more grounded origins, the first film laid the important foundation for several of the key relationships in the movies, including Dom and Letty.

2 Fast 2 Furious

Released In 2003

2 Fast 2 Furious is a direct sequel to The Fast in the Furious, but instead of taking place in Los Angeles, the film is set in Miami. It is also the only movie of the main storyline that does not include Diesel's character Dominic. In 2 Fast 2 Furious, Brian is hiding out in Miami, and he works with his childhood friend Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) to help the government arrest a drug lord named Carter Verone (Cole Ha).

2 Fast 2 Furious sets up a recurring plot of the main protagonists working with law enforcement to catch other criminals in exchange for immunity or protection. It is a time-sensitive operation with the entire plot spanning only a matter of days. The film breaks from the friendship between Dom and Brian but introduces two other key of the Fast Family, Roman and Tej (Ludacris). However, Tej is introduced as an organizer of street races rather than the tech-savvy hero he is in later movies.

The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift

Released In 2006

Taking place after the events of The Fast in the Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift follows Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) when he is sent to live in Tokyo with his father (Brian Goodman). In Japan, he becomes enthralled with learning how to drift, and he meets Dom's friend Han Lue (Sung Kang). Diesel also makes a cameo as Dominic at the end of the film. When Tokyo Drift was released in 2006 it mainly functioned as a standalone film.

Because of Han's character arc in later Fast & Furious entries, it now serves as an important connecting piece in the franchise. It also marks the point in the franchise when the simple series about street racing becomes a lot more confusing as the timeline is quite muddled. Han is in this movie as a young and spirited modern outlaw, but the later films suggest that he moved to Tokyo as a more experienced man filled with loss and sadness.

Fast & Furious

Released In 2009

The fourth franchise entry is where the Fast & Furious movie order gets a bit trickier. It is the fourth film in the series but takes place five years after the events of The Fast and the Furious, and before The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The movie cements Brian and Dom's friendship and solidifies that Brian belongs in Dom's family. When Dom is sentenced to prison, Brian becomes disillusioned with law enforcement and resigns from the FBI. At the end of the film, Brian is seen as a member of Dom's crew, helping him escape.

While the movie was not the hit with critics and audiences that would come later, it is an essential part of the franchise as it brings the main players back together to make them the core focus of these movies going forward. There is no connection to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, which means it can be seen as a direct follow-up to 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Fast & Furious also introduces the storyline of Letty's supposed death, which becomes important later and introduces Gal Gadot's character of Gisele. Given that Han is featured in the movie despite the fact that he died in Tokyo Drift, this is the first indication that the third movie takes place later in the franchise.

Fast Five

Released In 2011

Fast Five is a sequel to Fast & Furious, and it takes place before the events of Tokyo Drift. It picks up following the tease of the previous movie, showing Brian helping Dom escape from his prison transport. For fans wanting to watch the Fast & Furious movies in order of release date, it is the fifth movie in the franchise. Fast Five kicks off where Fast & Furious ended with Brian and Mia (Jordana Brewster) helping free Dom.

The central plot follows Brian, Dominic, and Mia trying to conduct a heist while a DSS agent, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), attempts to arrest them. Fast Five signals the transformation of the franchise with the introduction of Hobbs, as it expands the series' worldview outside of Dom's original family. It is also the movie that assembles the characters that make up the core family, bringing back Roman, Tej, Gisele, and Han.

The climax of the film finds Dom and his team robbing drug lord Hernan Reyes, an event which sets up the story in Fast X. The movie also ends with a post-credit scene, featuring Eva Mendes' 2 Fast 2 Furious character of Agent Monica Fuentes, which confirms that Letty is still alive.

Fast & Furious 6

Released In 2013

Fast & Furious 6 takes place before Tokyo Drift and after Fast Five. In the movie, Dom's crew works together with Hobbs to try and overthrow criminal Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). The film acts as a prequel to Tokyo Drift and sets up a future spin-off with the introduction of Jason Statham as Owen's brother Deckard Shaw. Fast & Furious 6 also reintroduces Dominic's love interest Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) after she was thought to be dead in Fast Five.

This starts the trend of characters in the franchise coming back after it was thought they were killed off, making the Fast & Furious saga more complicated to follow. Gisele's supposed death is shown only for her to later be revealed to be alive, and the movie's post-credit scene reveals that Deckard Shaw was responsible for Han's supposed death, only for that also to be revealed as a ruse. The film also kicks off the globe-trotting phase of the franchise, making it difficult to determine how much time es, but it is likely a couple of weeks.

Furious 7

Released In 2015

Paul Walker died during production for Furious 7, and the movie marks the last time Brian appears in the franchise. Following Walker's death, Brian's storyline for Furious 7 was rewritten, and the film ended with Brian officially retiring and raising a family with Mia. Furious 7 also included a tribute to Walker that highlighted his friendship with Diesel and his time as Brian. While the movie's plot features the return of Statham's character Deckard Shaw, what stands out the most about Furious 7 is Walker's impact on the franchise, making it the most emotional film in the series to date.

It is another difficult movie to pin down in of its timespan as the crew travels from Los Angeles to Tokyo to Azerbaijan to Abu Dhabi, with Shaw somehow catching up with them in each new location. Furious 7 sees the events of the previous installments intersecting with the post-credit scene of the previous movie being shown while Dom's appearance from Tokyo Drift is also included here. Some new key players are also brought into the fold, including Mr. Nobody and Ramsey.

The Fate Of The Furious

Released In 2017

The Fate of the Furious is a sequel to Furious 7, and Brian and Mia are not present in the film, as it directly follows the storyline of Brian's retirement. The movie introduces Charlize Theron's villain character Cipher. She manipulates Dom into turning against his own team, putting him in a precarious position that is fresh and nerve-wracking to watch. Deckard Shaw also officially s Dom, Hobbs, and the rest of the group, setting up the spin-off, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw.

Like most of the other entries in the franchise, the eighth installment seems to take place over the course of a couple of weeks to for all the traveling. The film brings back Dom's brief love interest Elena Neves and reveals that he has a son. At the end of the movie, he reveals the boy's name is Brian Jr., a tribute to Paul Walker's character. Helen Mirren also debuts her role as Deckard and Owen Shaw's mother, Magdalene Shaw​​​​​​.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs And Shaw

Released In 2019

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw is the first official spin-off of the Fast & Furious franchise. While not a direct sequel, Hobbs and Shaw takes place after the events of The Fate of the Furious. In the movie, Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw must work together to stop terrorist Brixton Lore (Idris Elba) alongside Deckard's sister Hattie (Vanessa Kirby). While the spin-off features impressive battles between the characters, it deviates from the franchise's original focus of street racing.

The movie unfolds over several days with the two mismatched heroes going on their own global adventure. With the success of Hobbs and Shaw, the film demonstrated that the franchise can be successful without focusing on the original characters. The spinoff also set up a mysterious organization that potentially serves as a villainous threat in the future, though it has not yet been revisited. This marked the last appearance of Hobbs until his cameo at the end of Fast X.

F9

Released In 2021

F9 returns to the primary storyline of the Fast & Furious series. It is the 10th film of the franchise and takes place after The Fate of the Furious and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw. F9 features the return of some familiar faces with Theron reprising her role as Cipher, Brewster returning as Mia, and Kang surprising fans by returning as Han, who was presumed dead. The movie also introduces John Cena to the franchise as Jakob, Dom's younger brother.

With so many characters and connecting storylines, F9 is the best example of how expansive the Fast & Furious universe has become over the years. This installment follows a similar timeline as the other movies, but it also features an expanded opening sequence that serves as a flashback to when Dom and Jakob were younger.

Fast X

Released In 2023

Along with the main beloved characters, Cena returns as Jakob and Theron is present again as Cipher in the franchise's newest release, Fast X. The movie also introduces new characters including Brie Larson as Tess and Jason Momoa as Dante Reyes. Hobbs is only present in a mid-credits scene, which sets up Reyes as a possible antagonist against Hobbs for future films. The movie also reveals that Gisele is alive after her presumed death, setting up a bigger role in the final installment.

The movie overlaps its timeline with that of Fast Five as there is another extended opening with a flashback. This one reveals the events of the Fast Five heist from Dante's perspective. Unlike other films in the franchise, Fast X ends on a cliffhanger instead of the team being safe. This deviation hints that future Fast & Furious movies like Fast 11 can take on a different structure when the original characters eventually exit.

Fast & Furious Movies In Chronological Order

There is a certain appeal to watching the Fast & Furious movies in order of when they were released, particularly because the movies' universe, budget, and tone grow larger as the films continue. When watched in order of release date, the tone of Tokyo Drift fits the style of the first two Fast & Furious films. However, for fans who have difficulty following storylines and time jumps, it can be beneficial to watch the movies in chronological order, particularly with Han's death being retconned in the series due to the character's popularity.