'F9': Watch Vin Diesel Totally Surprise 'Fast and Furious' Fans Ahead New Movie's Release

This week, Vin Diesel did something special for Fast & Furious fans ahead of the release of F9. In a virtual interview with ComicBook.com, Diesel connected with some of the biggest fans of the franchise out there and made them honorary members of the Fast family. Coming from Dom Torretto himself, that gesture meant a lot.

Diesel has played the leading man of the Fast & Furious franchise since 2001, and he has grown into the role of patriarch of a found-family of sorts. That now extends to fans, as seen in the video below. Diesel spoke to specially-selected fans on Zoom who had no prior knowledge of what was going on. Diesel even assumed a fake name on his profile so that they wouldn't see him coming. The reactions to his grand virtual entrance were priceless.

The fan participants were led to believe they were being interviewed about the Fast & Furious franchise's legacy and cultural impact ahead of the new installment. They also thought they would get to see a new exclusive clip from the new movie and record their reaction to it. Instead, they were greeted by Diesel's smiling face. He took a little time to speak to each of them, making four fans' days.

Along the way, Diesel dropped some revelations about F9 as well. For example, while speaking about fatherhood, he said: "There are moments in Fast 9 that were scripted by my then 4-year-old daughter. That moment when I'm putting little B to sleep, that happened to me in my own personal life. And so I guess you do sometimes pull from your personal life. But it's a great question because you don't know which influences the other, sometimes. You don't know whether your real life is influencing the film or the film is influencing your real life."

The Fast & Furious franchise has grown over the last two decades from an action-drama about the honor among criminals in the underground street-racing world to a global tale of heists, government conspiracies and the power of family. The ninth installment promises to be the biggest yet, topping some of the outlandish stunts from previous movies. As the trailer has already confirmed, at least one car will be converted into a spaceship and put into orbit before the movie is done.

F9 hits theaters in the U.S. on Friday, June 25. It will not be streaming early like other recent releases, so many expect it to be a test of box office potential.