Back when he was doing press rounds for 2015’s Furious 7, Vin Diesel made some pretty bold statements about the movie deserving to be nominated for an Academy Award (and let’s be real, the only thing more emotional last year than the final minutes of Furious 7 was, maybe, Carol). It, of course, wasn’t, which should come as no surprise, even though it was a critical and box office success, but that hasn’t stopped our buddy Vin, who is now saying that the next film in the franchise, Fast 8, should be Oscar-worthy.

Speaking with ET Online about his most recent starring role in the probably overly-technically-ambitious Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, he just couldn’t stop himself from singing some Fast 8 praises, especially about the film’s director F. Gary Gray:

I think he went into making this movie with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, going ‘Oh, really? Ok. Now I’m going to take the biggest saga in the world, and I’m about to throw Oscars at you.’ Wait till you see what he does!

He’s also very excited about the different vibe around Fast 8 and his character Dom Toretto:

Fast 8 is different. It’s very dark. My character is conflicted in a way that is really going to shock you. He’s coming off of a lot of emotion from 7 and the loss that 7 represents.

It’s no secret that Diesel loves the Fast & Furious franchise to death (even if he is a candy-ass). There’s a chance he’s just trying to get a few more headlines in before Fast 8 starts doing press in earnest, which, obviously, is working, but there’s also a chance that he honestly believes the next film in this franchise is that good.

We’ll get to see if he’s right when Fast 8 drifts into theaters April 14, 2017.

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