Universal Reportedly Developing 'Fast & Furious' Spin-Off Focused On Charlize Theron's Cipher Character

As the box office money keeps rolling in at a record pace for “Avengers: Endgame,” now more than ever studios are trying to figure out how to replicate that success. There have to be other franchises out there that can spin-off, branch out, and come back together for massive event films, right? Well, Universal sure thinks so with its ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise.

After eight films, the latter three being massive blockbusters, the “Fast and Furious” franchise is as healthy as ever. And this summer, Universal takes the first step in expanding the street-racing/world-saving action series with the upcoming “Hobbs & Shaw.” But don’t think the Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham film is the only spin-off the studio has planned. Not by a long shot.

According to THR, Universal is quickly trying to figure out how to grow the franchise into a Marvel Studios-esque behemoth. And that means finding the biggest stars in the film series and seeing how they may operate without Vin Diesel and fast cars at the center.

The report states:

“And the studio is exploring other ideas, including a female-fronted ‘Fast and Furious’ spinoff built around Charlize Theron’s character Cipher from ‘The Fate of the Furious.’ The question for Universal, says a rep with important talent in the films, is ‘How do you broaden the franchise? How do you Avengers-ize it?’”

For those not current with your ‘Fast and Furious’ knowledge, Cipher is the villain that was introduced in the latest film. Played by Theron, the character is a cyber-terrorist that finds herself involved with the “Family” when she turns leader Dom into one of her lackeys and uses him against the rest of his crew. And by the end of the film, she’s still at large.

This isn’t the first time that a female-led spin-off of the franchise was hinted at. Earlier this year, Vin Diesel announced that writers had been hired to develop a script on an all-female ‘Fast’ film, presumably with Michelle Rodriguez starring. Of course, we could be talking about the same film, with Theron as another name in the cast.

Then, of course, we can’t forget everyone’s favorite Tyrese Gibson, who is usually the first to chime in about wanting his own spin-off. Back in 2017, he hinted that he was offered a spin-off, but turned it down. Then again, we aren’t sure if this was actually true, as the actor has been known to be mad that The Rock and Statham were given their own film.

Obviously, with the cast of characters as varied and diverse as in the ‘Fast’ franchise, there are plenty of options for spin-offs. But we’re willing to bet that the likelihood of these coming to fruition depends on “Hobbs & Shaw.”

“Hobbs & Shaw” arrives in theaters on August 2.