The Fast & Furious films should not embrace the future of “boring” electric cars, one of the franchise’s stars has said.
The blockbuster movies began with a focus on street racing but now feature international heists and are beloved by petrolheads for the scores of gas-guzzling supercars on display.
But the exotic vehicles could soon become anachronisms, with fossil fuel-powered automobiles facing an uncertain future due to climate change.
Sung Kang, who reprised his fan favourite role of Han Lue in F9, the most recent Fast & Furious film, does not believe the franchise should go electric.
“As a car person I hope not,” he told the PA news agency to mark the release of the director’s cut of F9. “Come on, let’s keep it as petrol as much as possible.
“That’s the future (electric cars), that’s inevitable, and they’re still kind of boring, the electric cars.
“We need some V12s. Electric cars are so quiet, the visceral sound effect isn’t there. You want that American iron or the turbos or the nitrous, the superchargers to be in the backdrop. That’s why we fall in love with these cars.”
F9, which featured a star-studded cast including Vin Diesel, John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Dame Helen Mirren, arrived in cinemas in June and set several pandemic-era box office records.
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The first film, The Fast And The Furious, hit the big screen in 2001 but the franchise was rocked by the death of star Paul Walker in 2013.
The 40-year-old was killed in a car accident in Southern California.
Kang, 49, believes Walker’s death has contributed to the enduring popularity of the films by bringing stars and fans closer together.
He told PA: “We all as cast, crew and audience have lost somebody that’s really important to us.
“And I think that’s why this franchise means so much and it’s so powerful throughout the world. It’s unified.
“There’s this sense of family and it sounds so cliche and kind of stupid at times, but I think that’s where it’s coming from.
“That word, ‘family’, constantly comes out in this franchise and I think when you lose a family member either you come together or you run away. It’s pretty great that we’ve all been able to come together like this.”
The director’s cut of F9 is available now on DVD and Blu-ray.