This news literally made me jump out of my seat with pure, franchise-linking excitement. Lucas Black, the actor who played the lead character Sean in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, will reprise his role in James Wan‘s Fast and Furious 7. But that’s not all. His contract installs him as a new series regular and he’ll be back for not only the 2014 installment, but at least two more after that. Yes, we’re likely getting at least three more Fast and Furious movies.

Deadline broke the news.

For those who may not know, though The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was released years before the fourth, fifth and sixth films in the series, it takes place after them in the timeline. Why is that? Because director Justin Lin loved actor Sung Kang’s performance as the character Han so much, he decided to bring him back for the fourth film even though he killed him in the third. Lin made inside jokes about the continuity error in subsequent installments before finally linking the franchise back at the end of the sixth film.

SPOILERS FOR FAST AND FURIOUS 6

In the credits scene for Fast and Furious 6, we see Han driving in a scene straight out of Tokyo Drift. It’s the scene where he gets into a car accident and dies. The footage is almost straight out of the third movie, except when it’s revealed the man who killed Han is the brother of the deceased bad guy Vin Diesel’s Dom killed at the end of Fast and Furious 6, played by Jason Statham. It all came together.

Then, at the end of Tokyo Drift, Dom shows up in Tokyo and meets up with Sean, who has been the lead character of his movie and a friend of Han. They meet briefly. Dom’s past friendship with Han acts as the ice breaker, and the film ends. This scene, obviously, takes places in the Fast and Furious 7 timeline.

END SPOILERS

Knowing all that, it’s not really a “surprise” Black is returning for the franchise. It makes perfect sense in the scheme of things. Plus, his ability to drive would make him a great addition to Dom’s crew, hence him showing up in multiple installments. So that’s all well and good. What makes me so, unbelievably excited by this news is how my long time fandom of Tokyo Drift is finally paying off.

While many consider Tokyo Drift to be the worst installment in the franchise, it’s long been my favorite, simply because it was the most purely car-centric of the group. Plus it’s really nothing more than a teen movie. It holds a spot in my heart for its sheer innocence and gloss. And to see that film now becoming a crucial installment in much larger franchise makes me jump for joy…even if Black will be about eight years older in the blink of an eye.

Are you excited about Black returning to the Fast and Furious franchise? And yes, this means we’re likely getting at least three more Fast & Furious movies.