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TheFast & Furiousfranchise, starring Vin Diesel, has come a long way since the original 2001 movieThe Fast and the Furious,and its relatively simple story about an undercover cop entering the world of illegal street racing.
Now, with11Fast & Furiousmovies, plus spinoffs and a video game series,theFast & Furioustimelinehas become notoriously confusing, incorporating retcons, flashbacks, and characters seemingly coming back from the dead.One of theseFast & Furiouscharacters that returned from the dead is Han Lue, whose original popularity triggered a re-ordering of the timeline.
Han, played by Sung-Ho Kang, first appeared in the thirdFast & Furiousinstallment,Tokyo Drift,and quickly became a fan favorite.
The snack-loving retired drift racer was witty, likable, and effortlessly cool, andHan has often been considered theFast & Furioussaga’s best character.
While he originally died in a car crash in the movie,Tokyo Driftwas retconned into aFast & Furioussequel so that Han could returnas part of the team in the fourth, fifth, and sixthFast & Furiousmovies released, withTokyo Driftnow set afterFast 6in the timeline.
Han Returning In Fast Five Is What Made The Timeline So Confusing
Fast Five Continues A Fast & Furious Character Tradition That Started With Han
Han appeared at the beginning ofFast & Furious 4, with the rest of Vin Diesel’s character, Dom’s family, and he mentioned wanting to go to Tokyo.
This appearance might haveworked as one of theFast & Furioussaga’s many Easter eggs, as Justin Lin directed bothFast & Furious 4andTokyo Drift.Still, the timeline became confusing when Han returnedto theFast & Furioussaga as a main character inFast Five.To some, it wasn’t clear thatFast Fivewas set beforeTokyo Drift,so Han appeared to have returned from the dead, thus making his status quite perplexing.
To find out more about Han, Justin Lin’s 2003 movieBetter Luck Tomorrowwas later recognized as Han’s origin story.
A credits scene inFast Fiveestablished that another presumed dead character was also alive: Dom’s wife, Letty, thought to have died inFast & Furious 4.ThisFast & Furioustradition of bringing dead characters backcontinues throughout the franchise.
Even Han’s girlfriend, Gisele, played by Gal Gadot, was seemingly killed when she sacrificed herself for Han inFast 6, but was confirmed to have survived inFast X.This habit of retconning character deaths would later complicate the franchise even more, making it difficult to keep track of who is alive.
Fast & Furious' Timeline Became Even More Complicated Between Fast 6 & Furious 7
Welcoming Deckard Shaw Into The Family Was Controversial Among Fast & Furious Fans
Elena’s pregnancy gives the impression of another Fast & Furious plot hole.
She and Dom dated inFast Five,but, though Elena appeared throughoutFast 6andFurious 7, she is revealed inThe Fate of the Furiousto have had Dom’s child, with audiences raising the question of when she became pregnant.Family is a central value in the Fast & Furious franchise, even for the villains, including Deckard Shaw, played by Jason Statham, whose introduction in theFast 6credits scene reveals he is Han’s killer, and Han’s death is confirmed for the third time at the beginning ofFurious 7.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson officially returned to Fast & Furious as Luke Hobbs in 2023, but his future in the franchise looks incredibly complicated.
Killing Han is Deckard’s retaliation for the presumed murder of his brother,Fast 6’s antagonist Owen Shaw.
Deckard is the primary antagonist throughoutFurious 7, but whenDom welcomes Deckard into the family inThe Fate of the Furious,without even an apology for Han’s death,this storyline was received terribly, andFast & Furiousaudiences called for “justice for Han”.
The Fast & Furious franchise revs through the adrenaline-fueled lives of Dominic Toretto and his crew of street racers turned global heroes. From the neon-lit streets of Los Angeles to the bustling cities and remote outposts worldwide, they take on high-stakes heists, espionage, and the underground world of street racing. Bound by loyalty and driven by the need for speed, they confront mercenaries, corrupt officials, and personal vendettas all in the name of their found family.
Revealing Han was alive, with no real explanation for how he survived theTokyo Driftcrash, besides telling government agent Mr Nobody"pretty nifty magic trick"did nothing to fix the confusion or the timeline.
Han Being Alive In F9 Makes Fast & Furious' Timeline Struggles Hilarious In Hindsight
If Han Had Stayed Dead At The End Of Tokyo Drift, Most Of The Confusion Could Have Been Avoided
Deckard’s revenge mission against Dom’s family for the death of his brother, who turned out to be alive, by killing Han, who also turned out to be alive, means that, in hindsight,there were no dramatic stakes for Dom’s family or Deckard inFurious 7.
The anger and retaliations had no foundation, as none of the intended targets died, making the storyline seem more like a comedy, and even lessening the impact of theFast & Furiousfranchise.Fast & Furiousmovies have emotional moments, but when few characters remain dead, this lowers the tension for all of them.
The Fast & Furious franchise revs through the adrenaline-fueled lives of Dominic Toretto and his crew of street racers turned global heroes. From the neon-lit streets of Los Angeles to the bustling cities and remote outposts worldwide, they take on high-stakes heists, espionage, and the underground world of street racing. Bound by loyalty and driven by the need for speed, they confront mercenaries, corrupt officials, and personal vendettas all in the name of their found family.
The cast and crew kept Han’s return in F9 secret from the audience, by keeping actor Sung-Ho Kang out of group pictures.
TheFast & Furiousfranchise tied itself in knots to work around Han’s return inFast Five,which then confused the timelines of the otherFast & Furiousmovies, affecting other characters' storylines.Gisele will return inFast 11, after being killed to avoid an explanation for why she wasn’t inTokyo Drift.SettingFast Fiveup as a prequel sent theFast & Furioustimeline into a confusing tailspin, in which characters could be brought back from the dead any time, and all of this confusion could have been avoided if Han had instead starred inTokyo Driftspin-off prequels.
The Fast & Furious franchise revs through the adrenaline-fueled lives of Dominic Toretto and his crew of street racers turned global heroes.
From the neon-lit streets of Los Angeles to the bustling cities and remote outposts worldwide, they take on high-stakes heists, espionage, and the underground world of street racing.
Bound by loyalty and driven by the need for speed, they confront mercenaries, corrupt officials, and personal vendettas all in the name of their found family.
