Fast and Furious the franchise has come a long way from its humble beginnings when street racing Boiling point. Starring Paul Walker as police officer Brian O’Connor in the first film, he infiltrated Dominic Toretto’s illegal operations (VIN diesel) before romancing Dom and joining his crew. From that point on, the series grew with each entry, until eventually there were plots that would make James Bond blush.
Fast and Furiousfilms have perfected the art of retconning by viewing death as merely an inconvenience. Death in this franchise is hard to take seriously, as characters regularly come back from the dead while other established plot points conveniently change. However, when everything else changes on a whim, the things that always stay the same are family, cars, and the coronavirus.
Spoilers for the Fast & Furious franchise follow, including Fast & Furious X.
10 The cipher is the big villain
Introduced in The fate of the furious, Charlize Theron’s Cipher has become a serious thorn in the family. As a rule, the villains in this franchise appear for one time, and then they are either killed or turned into allies so that a new antagonist can take their place. But not Cypher, as she has played the role of the villain in every entry since her introduction.
While the introduction of a new villain is nothing new to the franchise, the revelation that Cypher was the inspiration behind the last two villains, Jakande (Djimon Hounsou) and Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), and possibly the ones before that look like a retcon. Sure, the writers may have always known that Cypher was manipulating the strings five films ago, but this seems like a convenient plot point to show just how dangerous Cypher is.
9 Dom and Letty are married
Together with Brian and Mia (Jordana Brewster), Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are the main romantic couple at the center of the franchise. Since the first film, the couple have always shared feelings for each other, and this has only grown with the series as the couple now lives together with their son Brian (Leo Abelo Perry).
So it becomes a shock when a fleeting memory in furious 7 reveals that the couple were married before the events of the fourth film. It’s a big moment for these characters that we’ve been following for two decades, so audiences have been expecting to see it on screen in all its glory. Instead, the writers added him there as a plot device to help Letty regain her memory.
8 Deckard Shaw is actually a nice guy
Introduced in a post-credits scene for Fast & Furious 6Deckard Shaw (English)Jason Statham) was presented as the most dangerous enemy of the family. Killing one of their members and quickly imprisoning Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in the hospital, Shaw was clearly out for blood as he wanted revenge on the family for having his brother Owen in the hospital.
But of course Shaw wasn’t so bad. After being defeated by Dom at the end furious 7Shaw quickly realized the fallacy of his path and became a full member of the family. The man who brutally killed Khan (Sun Kang) are now being invited to a family barbecue, presumably to keep someone from Statham involved in the franchise.
7 “Tokyo Drift” - Part 7
Starring new protagonist in American Teen Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), tokyo drift was introduced as a fresh start and helped save the franchise by adding a new twist to racing action. Since Brian is nowhere to be found and Dom only has a cameo, tokyo drift follows Sean as he delves into the Tokyo street racing scene under the guidance of the experienced Han, who dies halfway through the film.
Although many fans believe tokyo drift be one of the best Fast and Furious films, the creative team quickly forgot about him once Diesel and Walker were back on board. However, Khan was a beloved character, so he seemed to rise from the dead to be part of the family, until the writers finally decided that tokyo drift actually the seventh film in the timeline. It feels like a decision made out of necessity rather than an elaborate plot, and it’s confusing to watch movies in chronological order.
6 Shaw killed Khan
One of the saddest moments in the franchise is when Khan dies in a car crash during tokyo drift. Not only the best character in this movie, but also one of the best characters in the franchise, many felt it was a mistake to kill him so early. The writers agreed and rescheduled the events tokyo drift until Fast & Furious 6 just so they can keep him around longer.
Everyone believed that Khan died in a simple accident during street racing, but the scene in the end credits for Fast & Furious 6 revealed that his death was actually caused by Deckard Shaw as revenge for the attack on his brother. It’s an effective retcon, as the revelation of Statham getting out of the car that crashed into Khan’s is one of the series’ biggest buzz moments.
5 Dante was in Fast Five
The last big villain to take a swing at the family, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) is a sadistic killer who wants revenge on his family for the murder of his father in fast five. Momoa is clearly enjoying this role and his presence is one of the highlights. Quick Xwhich leads to better Fast and Furious the villain.
Trying to avenge his father, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), this is one Quick X shows that Dante was present during the events fast five, conveniently behind the scenes all the time. It’s clearly a plot point, only added to tie Dante back to the family in some way, and it sets up an awkward twist that was clearly not pre-planned.
4 Letty is alive
Main plot point fast and furious was the death of Letty. The film marks the first time since the original film that Dom and Brian are back together as they work together to avenge her death. Letty’s murder was a major shake-up for the franchise, as she was one of the original stars and her relationship with Dom was an integral part of the first film.
After Dom got his revenge and continued with the rest of the family in fast five, the end credits of this film reveal that Letty is actually alive. But of course she has amnesia. Letty’s return from the dead was the first major retcon for the franchise, and while Letty is an important part of the series, it paved the way for characters to rise from the dead at will, resulting in death being meaningless in this franchise.
3 Giselle is alive
First introduced in the fourth Giselle film (Gal Gadot) was a link in this film. After meeting Dom, she considers working for the good guys, she becomes a vital part of Dom’s team during the fifth and sixth films, and begins an affair with Khan. Unfortunately, she meets her end after falling from a plane in Fast & Furious 6.
But, of course, death in this franchise is temporary, and it turns out that she is alive in the last moments. Quick X. So far, no explanation has been given for her survival, so it’s unclear how egregious her revival will be. However, it’s hard to imagine them finding a plausible reason for her survival, as falling from an airplane is usually quite fatal.
2 Domina has a brother
Since the beginning of the franchise, Dom’s only blood relative has been his sister, Mia. Of course, he still has a big family as he takes on every new face in the franchise for his team, offering them Corona and a seat at the family barbecue. Everything has changed in F9however, when Dom had never mentioned Brother Jacob before (John Cena) I arrived.
For someone who always preaches about the importance of family, Dom is out of character for never mentioning that he has a brother to his closest friends. The introduction of Jacob seems like a convenient, yet improbable way to introduce yet another big rival with close ties to the gang, and a way to add some wrestling powers to the saga following the departure of Dwayne Johnson.
1 Khan is alive
As mentioned earlier, Khan’s death has always been considered a mistake for the franchise as he remains one of the most popular characters. The series tried to delay his death by moving tokyo drift as soon as possible before having to finally come to terms with Khan’s death in Fast & Furious 6.
But of course, death means nothing in this franchise, and Khan was brought back to life in F9. It reeks of desperation to bring back one of the franchise’s best characters, as the explanation for his survival is a convoluted nonsense involving shady government agencies. While this remains the most implausible retcon in Fast and Furious franchise, the fans don’t mind as they are just happy to see Khan back at the family BBQ.
Source: Collider
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