Fast X Director Reveals the One Scene So Extreme Universal Studios' Chairman Had to Approve It

Fast X hit theaters last night, and if there's one thing fans can agree on it, it's that Jason Momoa stole the show as the villainous Dante Reyes. The movie is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 53% critics score, which is slightly worse than the previous installment's 59%. However, even some of the harshest reviews are praising Momoa's performance. ComicBook.com's own Spencer Perry gave the movie a 2.5 out of 5, saying "Jason Momoa steals this bloated sequel." Momoa has plenty of moments in the new movie worth noting, but there's one especially disturbing scene that folks can't stop talking about. Dante is seen painting the toenails of two dead henchmen as he chats with their lifeless bodies. During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Louis Leterrier explained they needed to get permission from Universal Studios' chairman Donna Langley to include the scene in the movie.

"We wanted to see Dante behind closed doors and realize that he is really twisted. It's not just an act," Leterrier explained. "So we shot that scene, but we thought it would be a DVD extra at best or in the director's cut version later down the road. So we started testing the movie without it, and then we started testing the movie with that scene. And the audience went crazy for it. Some were angry and some loved it. And frankly, it was the studio's Donna Langley who watched the scene and said, 'I love it. I love the insanity of that scene.' And so she gave us the OK." 

How Does Jason Momoa's Dante Reyes Fit Into The Fast Saga?

Jason Momoa's Dante is the son of Hernan Reyes, who was played by Joaquim de Almeida in Fast Five. You can read the official description of Fast X's connection to Fast Five here: "In 2011's Fast Five, Dom and his crew took out nefarious Brazilian drug kingpin Hernan Reyes and decapitated his empire on a bridge in Rio De Janeiro. What they didn't know was that Reyes' son, Dante (Aquaman's Jason Momoa), witnessed it all and has spent the last 12 years masterminding a plan to make Dom pay the ultimate price. Dante's plot will scatter Dom's family from Los Angeles to the catacombs of Rome, from Brazil to London, and from Portugal to Antarctica. New allies will be forged and old enemies will resurface. But everything changes when Dom discovers that his own 8-year-old son (Leo Abelo Perry, Black-ish) is the ultimate target of Dante's vengeance." 

Fast X is now playing in theaters.