Why Han's Fast & Furious Return Never Happened Before F9
Given the buzz surrounding Han Lue's return in Fast & Furious 9, it's curious why he didn't come back earlier. There are so many things to be excited about in the next installment from The Fast Saga; for starters, it introduces Dom and Mia's estranged brother Jakob, who will serve as the movie's primary antagonist. Cipher is also involved again in the story, backing up the villainous Torreto sibling's thirst for revenge. The conflict in Dom's family will be the main narrative of F9, but aside from that, there are also questions surrounding Han's mysterious re-emergence.
Han first debuted in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as the newly-wealthy mentor of Sean Boswell. At this point, his connection to Dom still wasn't established. So when he was presumed dead at the end of the film, it wasn't that big of a deal compared to when it was later revealed that he was indeed a long-time member of the franchise's main crew. Due to the Fast & Furious movies' convoluted timeline, Han's story was subsequently fleshed out in Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6 before his catastrophic car crash in the Japan-set spinoff. Eventually, Furious 7 revealed that Deckard Shaw, brother of the team's adversary, Owen, was behind his tragic accident as part of his revenge plan.
With a more established place in Dom's "la familia" due to his involvement in some of the team's most dangerous missions, Han has become a Fast & Furious franchise favorite. Han's mild manners and quirks including always snacking further endeared him to the audience, so it's interesting that the series took them this long to reveal that he's actually alive. There are a couple of elements here that ultimately lead to his return. For starters, there's a chance that there weren't really any plans to bring back Han; the decision may have stemmed from the backlash from Fate of the Furious where Dom appeared to have accepted Deckard into his crew without the Shaw brother really paying for what he did. Granted that the MI6 assassin was instrumental in reuniting Dom with his kid and Elena, it still doesn't necessarily address his crimes against Han. This birthed the "Justice for Han" online campaign that even some of the cast members backed.
On the heels of this controversy, director Justin Lin was brought back to do F9, and given his personal attachment to the character, it made it so much easier to bring back Han. For context, the filmmaker was the one who created the character long before he debuted in Tokyo Drift; Han's backstory was properly chronicled in the film Better Luck Tomorrow which initially wasn't a part of The Fast Saga but is now considered to be an offshoot. Lin wanted Sung Kang to read for Sean Boswell, and while he didn't get the part, he was brought in as his mentor. Recently, the filmmaker revealed that one of the primary motivating factors in his decision to return to the car-centric film series is to deliver on the Justice for Han calls, and he promises that it will eventually be served.
With Lin set to helm Fast and Furious 10 and 11, there's a good chance that Han will still be involved in the franchise past Fast & Furious 9. Considering Deckard's absence in the upcoming film, it would be tricky to give true justice to what he did to Han. But as The Fast Saga culminates, he, alongside Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs can eventually return to the main franchise for a satisfying send-off. Only then will "Justice For Han" will truly be accomplished.
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