F9, the latest entry in the long-running The Fast and the Furious franchise, arrived in theaters to massive fanfare from Twitter. Fans have followed the exploits of Vin Diesel’s famous character, Dominic ‘Dom’ Toretto, and his ragtag family for years. This latest installment, however, was given a different welcome from other previous movies in the series.
As soon as F9 hit North American theatres, a ton of memes celebrating Dom and his love of family hit Twitter from seemingly out of nowhere. Some memes even feature Dom crossing over into other fandoms to extoll the importance of family, leading to plenty of hilarious circumstances along the way.
Near, Far, Wherever You Are…
The acclaimed movie Titanic launched the careers of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, but its infamous ending has incited debate even between its fans. Many viewers argue that DiCaprio’s character Jack’s death was completely unnecessary, as both he and Rose could have fit on the piece of driftwood Rose used to get to safety with a little maneuvering.
This Twitter user seems to agree with this notion and posted a meme of Dom saving Jack’s life, rebuking his claims that there’s no room. This meme highlights Dom’s determination to save members of his family, no matter what, and despite its lower quality, its message more than makes up for it.
Vin Diesel Goes To Olive Garden
Aside from elaborate street racing sequences. The Fast and the Furious films are known for their reoccurring scenes of characters enjoying food alongside one another, whether they’re preparing for the challenges ahead or simply celebrating as a family.
Shelby Young, the current voice actress of Princess Leia, contributed by referencing restaurant chain Olive Garden’s famous slogan and editing Dom into the restaurant. According to Hard-Drive.net, Olive Garden had previously collaborated with The Fast and The Furious in a series of ads promoting family, which sparked its own plethora of memes with fans who want to see Dom eat at an Olive Garden in the next movie.
Dom Saves The Lion King
Even animated movies aren’t safe from Dom Toretto memes. In this meme, Mufasa from Disney’s The Lion King is about to face his famously tragic death when he’s rescued by an unlikely savior: Dom, driving through the stampede with no hesitation. With a little Photoshopping, Dom grabs Mufasa in the nick of time and drives him to safety.
Not only does this meme avert one of the saddest moments from many fans’ childhoods, it also provides an interesting concept for future Fast and Furious movies. Dom and his crew have yet to drive during a wild stampede, and it would make a fascinating setpiece. CGI has come very far and could easily capture the intensity of a stampede without endangering Vin Diesel or any other actors or animals.
What’s Stronger Than A Hulk?
@ShivamChatak is the user responsible for bringing many Dom Toretto memes to Twitter, helping to fuel the flames of the ensuing family meme cavalcade. This meme, in particular, has the fortune of featuring another popular character trending right now: Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Here, Dom casually refutes Loki’s threats in a similar way to Iron Man in The Avengers. However, Dom has his whole family ready to go. The screenshot of Dom used here perfectly fits with the screenshot of Loki, and it almost looks like they’re occupying the same space. Dom even looks like he’s staring directly at Loki as he smirks.
Friends ARE Family, Dom
The Fast and the Furious 7 includes a famous quote from Vin Diesel as Dom where he states that he doesn’t have any friends, only family. While @beccagrawl claims to have never seen a Fast and The Furious movie in her life, her meme perfectly captures the essence of Dom’s worldview, where family reigns above all.
This meme borrows its formatting from the Drake meme and contains references to both Friends and Family Matters – two shows that have frequently been mentioned in other Dom memes. While it’s clearly Vin Diesel here instead of his character, Dom, the source for the joke still makes itself apparent.
Dom Joins The Justice League
A common format of Dom Toretto memes involves characters begging Dom not to take on their main villain one-on-one, as it’s far too dangerous. Dom then looks back, remarking that no villain is a match for the sheer all-encompassing power of family.
@Deepans30707976’s take on this format proves the most effective; as a general of Apokolips, Steppenwolf is a dangerous foe and could present a real threat to Dom if he hadn’t had family on his side. Deepanshu seems so confident in this match-up that he has replied to Vin Diesel himself with the hope of him seeing and appreciating the meme.
Fast Wars: The Furious Awaken
One of the most baffling moments of F9 that made no sense involves a sequence where characters Roman and Tej rig their car in order to achieve space flight. This meme takes that scene to its most logical conclusion, as a fleet of hot rods arrives to help Star Wars pilot, Poe Dameron. And leading the cavalry is none other than Dom Toretto himself.
Poe’s look of awe and relief speaks volumes, almost as if he’s reacting to Dom’s proclamation of family being the strongest thing in the universe. If Dom and his family had actually assisted against the First Order, the sequel trilogy would have been only one movie.
He May Be Your Father, Boy, But He’s Not Your Family
In a riff on Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, an entry from another major franchise Vin Diesel featured in, Dom shows up in the nick of time to avenge Meredith Quill’s untimely death at Ego the Living Planet’s hand. The creative use of Quill shooting Ego immediately after the reveal, alongside the immaculate photoshopping of Dom, is what truly makes this meme something special.
This meme was originally posted by @HowieBling at the beginning of the Dom Toretto meme avalanche, whose account has since gone private. Thankfully, the meme lives on for fellow family connoisseurs to enjoy.
Family Is Inevitable
While Groot was present for the final confrontation against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, some fans wonder what would happen if another Vin Diesel character was the one to do Thanos in. Enter @MemesCentral, who provides this meme of Dom wielding the Infinity Gauntlet in Tony Stark’s stead to combat Thanos.
The Infinity Gauntlet is too powerful for regular mortals, and Tony Stark sacrificed his life to use it to defeat Thanos. Dom Toretto’s belief in the power of family is so strong, however, that it may give him the determination he needs to cheat even death.
Dom Wick?
Fellow action series John Wick also has plenty of memes in its fanbase and all dog-loving fans of the movie agree that the title character’s actions in the first movie are completely rational, as they too would enact revenge on anyone who hurt their beloved dog. One of these people happens to be Dom Toretto, who is seen here offering his help to John.
Dogs are a treasured part of anyone’s family and Vin Diesel himself is a dog lover, as seen on People.com. Dom values all family members big and small and fans of both movies are enthusiastic about the idea of Dom and John Wick crossing over.