Ryan Reynolds Taking A Larger Role In Fast & Furious?

Ryan Reynolds could become a regular in Fast & Furious.

By Jason Collins | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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The iconic Merc with a Mouth actor, Ryan Reynold, already had a minor appearance in the Fast & Furious franchise in the Hobbs & Shaw spin-off. According to reports, Vin Diesel wants Ryan Reynolds to make a more prominent appearance in the extended Fast & Furious universe.

Regardless of how fantastic the idea might seem, Reynolds will not appear as a Deadpool crossover character, judging by an article published by We Got This Covered. Instead, he’s likely to appear as the CIA agent Champ Nightengale from the incredibly popular Hobbs & Shaw spin-off, with several appearances across multiple upcoming titles in the expended Fast & Furious universe, separate from any Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham spin-offs. Judging by modern Hollywood’s franchise orientation, Ryan Reynold’s role could be a tying point between several spin-offs and the main narrative.

On that note, Justin Lin, the Fast & Furious franchise’s current director, recently confirmed that the upcoming ninth entry in the franchise sets the foundations for one final trilogy in the main storyline. The announced trilogy is supposed to bring the main story to a close but will not tie into the rest of the franchise’s upcoming spin-offs. This means that the legacy crew, including Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, might finally cross the finish line, with the rest of the franchise still burning rubber on the track. The Hobbs & Shaw spin-off is a good indicator of that, since the movie earned over $750 million at the box office, without direct attachments to the original storyline.

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Any future spin-offs in the extended Fast & Furious universe have the potential to make similar earnings, prompting Universal Pictures to throw more money at the franchise, and cast actors like Ryan Reynolds. Of course, there’s a world of difference between wanting Reynolds to appear more and actually getting him, especially given the actor’s nearly overbooked schedule up until 2024. Just last year, Reynolds had over ten movies in various stages of development, and while most of them finished shooting, the actor still has a jam-packed schedule with promotions and filming. And that is without any extracurricular activities which mostly surround his rapidly expanding business empire.

In fact, the most sarcastic man on Earth wrote a fake review under the pseudonym Champ Nightengale, which is the name of his character from the Fast & Furious franchise, and gave his brand, Aviation Gin, a five-star review. Naturally, this was taken as a good joke, and Reynold’s friends, fandom, and customers loved him for it. While not indicative on anything, at least not officially, Reynold’s use of his role as a pseudonym could be interpreted as the actor’s desire to stick with the Fast & Furious and accept any future appearances in the franchise.

Unfortunately, it’s still unclear whether he’ll actually stay since no official statements or commentary have been made by either Ryan Reynolds or the Fast & Furious IP owners. The actor’s IMDB page doesn’t credit Reynolds with any upcoming Fast & Furious releases, so his future involvement in the franchise remains under a question mark.