If we ignore the fact that his character’s mere existence marks just the latest in a ludicrously long lines of retcons, Jason Momoa is poised to steal the show as Fast X villain Dante Reyes.
Introduced 10 mainline installments in – and five after his canonical father perished in Fast Five – the son of Joaquim de Almeida’s Hernan is ripped right from the Jakob Toretto playbook of “villain related to a key figure in The Fast Saga who nobody ever mentioned before, but suddenly turns up with a deadly vendetta.” Hey, if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it right?
Either way, all of the early reviews and reactions have been celebrating the Aquaman alum as the star of the show, and it’s no doubt due to his intense levels of commitment to the cause. He’s already been compared to the Fast & Furious version of the Joker, but Momoa was giving off distinct Hannibal Lecter vibes in an interview with ScreenRant.
“You come from a crime family. My father was taken from me and then everything was taken from me. Not only that, but all our money. He was left to fend for himself in Brazil. He just spent a good part of his life obsessing about Dom and having that revenge, so someone who’s had everything taken from them just wanted to hurt him in the worst way and take away that legacy of his. Obviously, it’s his child and to break his family apart.
I feel like if you studied someone that much, you actually want to be them. You love them, and you want to wear their skin and become that. You just kind of play it that way and, emotionally, anything can come out. It can be funny; it can be sexy; it can be scary. But at the root of it, I’m going to wear your skin.”
Funny sexy, and determined to wear the skin of his enemy? If that’s not a wild concoction, then we’ve got absolutely no idea what is, but it does ramp up the excitement for Fast X by several more notches ahead of its theatrical release tomorrow.