This put up comprises spoilers for “Fast X.”
It is the start of the top for the Fast Saga as “Fast X” has hit theaters, serving as the primary half in what might be a two-film finale to the long-running sequence. Though Vin Diesel has indicated that it might flip right into a trilogy. In any occasion, Universal Pictures is starting to wind issues down with Dom Toretto and the gang. As anticipated, meaning a number of acquainted faces from the previous are going to reappear earlier than all is alleged and accomplished. But one wildly sudden face did make a return, albeit in a really “blink and you’ll miss it” kind of approach. Depending on how issues shake out, it does recommend a potential, extra significant return in “Fast & Furious 11.”
The core plot of the movie sees Jason Momoa’s Dante getting revenge on Dom and his household for killing his father throughout the occasions of “Fast Five.” The crew is essentially cut up up for nearly the whole film, with Han (Sung Kang), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Tej (Ludacris), and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) performing some globetrotting to rendezvous with Dom. At one level, they make a discovery whereas making an attempt to trace down their stolen cash. Dante is focusing on everybody who has ever helped Dom and his buddies throughout the course of all 9 earlier movies!
During this transient sequence, the pc display flashes glimpses of people that appear to be on the goal listing. Among them? Eva Mendes’ Monica Fuentes! Indeed, although it was a tiny little second, a once-important character within the sequence who hasn’t appeared on display in properly over a decade has been acknowledged. So, does this imply we’re really going to see Monica make a return? It’s sophisticated.
When final we noticed Eva Mendes
Mendes first appeared in “2 Fast 2 Furious,” serving as a serious character in that movie. She performed an secret agent named Monica Fuentes who was working with Paul Walker’s Brian O’Connor and Roman Pierce, with Tyrese Gibson making his entry within the franchise in that movie as properly. But that film has all the time been a little bit of an outlier within the sequence since Vin Diesel’s Dom was nowhere to be discovered. On the opposite hand, each Roman and Tej went on to grow to be mainstays.
The final time we really noticed Monica previous to this was on the tail finish of “Fast Five,” which is extensively thought-about to be the most effective within the sequence. It’s additionally price noting that “Fast X” has a substantial amount of connective tissue with that film, nearly serving as a direct sequel in some methods. In a post-credits scene connected to the 2011 entry, Monica seems and drops some necessary data on the desk of Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs, letting him know that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) remains to be alive. But that was it! One credit scene and he or she was by no means to be seen once more.
Monica Fuentes is on the market someplace
This acknowledgment in “Fast X” tells us that Monica Fuentes is on the market someplace. Is she nonetheless within the FBI? Has she retired in an try and stay a quiet life? Is she really in peril as Dante continues to threaten those that wronged him? On that be aware, the credit scene connected to “Fast X” strongly means that one other huge participant from the previous is being introduced again into the fold. So something is feasible.
The actual potential challenge is that Mendes has been semi-retired for almost a decade. Her final precise, vital position was again in 2014’s “Lost River.” Save for lending her voice to an episode of “Bluey,” she’s seemingly content material to only stay her life. In an interview with Variety in 2022, Mendes addressed strolling away from the enterprise saying, “I don’t really miss it.” She did not completely rule out a return to Hollywood, but it surely actually does not appear excessive on her precedence listing:
“There are more opportunities for Latina actresses now, but when I bowed out 10 years ago I wasn’t being offered things that weren’t specifically Latina. It is exciting that things are different now, so who knows what I will do in the future. But right now, I’m keeping it in the home with my kids.”
Could a paycheck discuss her into coming again for one final experience with the Fast Family? We’ll see what director Louis Leterrier has in thoughts.
“Fast X” is in theaters now.”