Love them or hate them, the Fast & Furious franchise has a long history of great villains that have pushed Dom Toretto and company to their breaking points on more than one occasion. And while it always seemed like Charlize Theron’s Cipher was the epitome of pure evil with her introduction in Fate of the Furious, the cunning and dangerous cyber-terrorist more than met her match in Jason Momoa’s Dante Reyes in Fast X.
In an exclusive clip for the Universal Pictures Home Entertainment release of Fast X, director Louis Leterrier opened up about the Fast X villain and why his character topped everything that Cipher pulled off in the franchise’s previous two installments:
Leterrier, who jumped into the director’s chair after Justin Lin’s shocking departure from the project in April 2022, wasn’t alone in thinking that Dante was a dynamic and dangerous foe for the Toretto crew. Later in the clip, Charlize Theron revealed what kind of impression Jason Momoa made during their first scene together during the Fast X shoot, saying:
Our first scene in the movie is the first thing we shot, and so we didn't meet each other until we showed up on set. He just came into this room with this lace-detailed open shirt that was like flowing, and the hair and the body and the tan; He just comes in guns blazing. I catch myself and am like 'Oh my god, I'm in the scene and I have to like act right now.
Theron, who knows a thing or two about playing evil and charismatic characters in and out of the “Fast Saga,” seems to have been taken aback by Momoa’s performance and over-the-top appearance, which is actually something that the Game of Thrones star pitched himself:
The first thing I pitched, I basically said, 'I'd like to play him like this.' I knew the colors I want, it's very pastel. They were like 'We love it, we love it, we love it,' and once they said they would let me do it, I was like 'I'm in, 100%.'
Watching the clip only reiterates the fact that the stand-out member of the Fast X cast was also the actor having the most fun making the 2023 action spectacle. From bringing destruction to Rome to blowing up a dam to being a part of one of the franchise’s most disturbing scenes, Momoa was firing on all cylinders in his debut.
While the latest entry isn’t the best Fast & Furious movie, Momoa was a highlight of the movie, as pointed out in CinemaBlend’s official Fast X review. It’s going to be great to see how the character is further developed in the upcoming Fast & Furious 11 (or whatever it ends up being called).
You can go back and relive Jason Momoa’s absurdly fun performance as Dante Reyes by grabbing a copy of Fast X on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital at online retailers like Amazon. After doing that, make sure to check out our breakdown of the Fast X ending to see what’s in store when the franchise picks up in the near future. Also, don't forget to check out the other great 2023 DVD releases set for release in the coming weeks and months.
