The Fast & Furious franchise, now a massive action media empire distributed by Universal Pictures, began in 2001 with The Fast and the Furious, which was inspired by the Vibe magazine article "Racer X" and centered on illegal street racing, featuring Dominic Toretto and undercover cop Brian O'Conner. After the first four films focused on underground racing, the series pivoted to high-stakes heists and international espionage with Fast Five (2011), a shift that introduced fan-favorite DSS agent Luke Hobbs. The franchise has expanded far beyond the main films, producing the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw (2019) and the animated series Fast & Furious Spy Racers (2019–2021), with a final installment, Fast Forever, scheduled for 2028. Commercially, it is Universal's biggest franchise and the eighth highest-grossing film series in history, earning over $7 billion worldwide. While critical reception has been mixed, the fifth through seventh films have been more positively received, and notable quirks include 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) being the only main entry without Vin Diesel.