'Fast X': Scott Eastwood fastens up for return to 'Fast & Furious' franchise

We’d tell ourselves to tap the brakes on the fan speculation that gooses our gas at news like this, but who’re we kidding? This is Fast & Furious we’re talking about. After a one-movie hiatus that saw him sitting out last year’s F9, Scott Eastwood is reportedly charging right back for another lap in the tire-shredding franchise. 

Eastwood is flipping a U-turn to join the Fast X cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter, evidently to reprise his previous role as Little Nobody, the law enforcement agent who’s always close at hand whenever covert ops chief Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) comes into view. Does that mean Russell will also sneak back into the Fast X mix to renew his unlikely partnership with Dom (Vin Diesel)? “It is unclear if Russell is returning to the franchise,” THR notes in its report…though we can hope.

As Little Nobody, Eastwood entered the blockbuster Fast saga’s seedy, speedy underworld in 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, serving as Mr. Nobody’s right-hand man under his “Little Nobody” alias (his character’s real name, not that we’ll ever call him that, is Eric Reisner). His return to the series comes fresh on the heels of Fast X’s big director switch-up, with Justin Lin bowing out in April to stay on as producer while Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk, Transporter, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) slides behind the directing wheel. 

As far as the box office résumé of Clint Eastwood’s famous son, the younger Eastwood boards Fast X after most recently playing lead love interest Noah in Amazon Studios’ rom-com I Want you Back (2022). His longer list of acting credits spans Clint-helmed highlights like Flags of our Fathers (2006), Gran Torino (2008), and Invictus (2009), as well as a turn as Lt. GQ Edwards in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad (2016), plus action thriller Overdrive (2017), Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), and the Guy Ritchie-directed heist thriller Wrath of Man (2021). 

As you’d expect, the Fast X cast is a veritable traffic jam of big names peppered with plenty of recurring franchise favorites. Eastwood joins an ensemble that also includes latecomers Jason Momoa, Alan Ritchson, and Brie Larson, as well as Fast & Furious vets Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez, and Charlize Theron. When your feet are made of lead, though, waiting is the hardest part: Fast X is currently filming in London ahead of the expected green light to race into theaters on May 19, 2023.

If you suddenly find yourself in the mood to play catch-up, perhaps you'd be interested in the Fast & Furious: 9-Movie Collection?