Finally! Lucas Black Confirmed for FAST & FURIOUS 7!

Posted by Stephen Lambrechts (@Slambrechts) Oh shit -- it's on like Donkey Kong now!

Deadline today reported that Lucas Black, star of my personal favourite entry in the FAST & FURIOUS series, THE FAST & THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT, is confirmed for the seventh entry in the car-based action saga, directed this time by James Wan.

Black's return has long been inevitable for the series, with TOKYO DRIFT actually taking place after the last few films. The reason for this, I guess, is to keep the character of Han (Sung Kang) around for as long as possible, as he died in TOKYO DRIFT. But now that the two storylines have converged at the end of FURIOUS 6 with the shock reveal that *SPOILER ALERT!* it was Jason Statham that killed Han, we will finally get that sweet, hillbilly drifting action we've (read: 'I've') longed for over the last seven years.

I unashamedly love TOKYO DRIFT. Many consider it the (Lucas) black sheep of the franchise, but to me it's like a wonderful return to the '80s tradition of underdog sports/martial arts movies. You know the ones; a kid moves to a new and unfamilar town, immediately makes enemies with local assholes, gets a mentor, does a training montage, and then against all odds, beats the local asshole at his own game and ends up a victorious champion. Which movie am I talking about specifically? THE KARATE KID? NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER? TOKYO DRIFT? Answer: every glorious one of them. Stay tuned to find out if Lil Bow Wow will be along for the ride, too.