“Fast is now the longest franchise in motion picture history… with the same actors playing the same characters,” Diesel said at the CinemaCon stage (via Entertainment Weekly), “This is our family, the audience is our family, and as we were building towards this achievement we attracted directors who brought their own magic to the saga.” The claim is indeed true — the only actor to ever be replaced was Brian, played by Paul Walker, who was replaced by his brother in parts of Furious 7, following the former’s demise in a car accident in 2013.

On stage, Diesel was joined by his Fast X co-stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, and Sung Kang, who reportedly presented an extended trailer featuring Brie Larson’s character Tess getting briefed on Dominic Toretto and his family’s history. The trailer was not uploaded to the public domain and was only seen by those who were in attendance at CinemaCon.

The announcement comes a few weeks before Fast X even hits theatres, adding two new cast members — the aforementioned Larson and Jason Momoa. The latter plays Dante Reyes, son of the nefarious drug lord Herman Reyes, whom Dom and crew took down in 2011’s Fast Five. Unbeknownst to the family, young Dante witnessed the entire affair and has been planning his revenge for the next 12 years. Universal Pictures recently dropped a trailer for the same, which detailed how Fast X would top the preposterous action sequences the franchise is lauded for. This time, it seems to be massive explosions — be it Dante setting a bomb loose in the streets of the Vatican, or Jakob Toretto (John Cena) messing around with ‘cannon cars’. They’re armoured vehicles with cannons attached, essentially.

Advance ticket bookings for Fast X have been live since February, a full three months before its premiere on May 19. The film also stars Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw, Jordana Brewster as Dominic’s sister Mia, Charlize Theron as the cyberterrorist Cipher, Daniela Melchior as a Brazilian street car racer Isabel, and Rita Moreno as Abuelita, the Torettos’ grandmother. As for which characters survive and make it into Fast X: Part 2, only time will tell. Does Leterrier plan on stretching the Dom v Dante story into the actual finale, or introducing an entirely new villain for the finale?

Fast X: Part 2 will release sometime in 2025. Meanwhile, Fast X races into cinemas worldwide on May 19.