Over the course of sixteen years and now eight films, the Fast and Furious franchise has become one of the most remarkable and ever-evolving franchises in film history. What originally started as a relatively low-key street racing film has turned into an insane, over-the-top action series with ridiculous stunts and overwhelming cheesiness.
Fast and Furious’ brilliance comes from its ability to realize the series’ faults and learn from its mistakes. With Fast Five - the series’ best, near-perfect installment - the franchise took the best elements of its past four films and created a wholly new experience, a ridiculous heist film that made the build up worthwhile. After four films that varied in quality, Fast Five finally gave the series its niche.
In this sixteen years, there have been many aspects to this series that just haven’t worked. Ideas and choices that have aged poorly, and especially many characters that have fallen by the wayside. While these latter films in the franchise have utilized the best characters of earlier installments, such as Tyrese Gibson’s Roman Pierce, or Ludacris’ Tej, there are plenty of characters that have been missing for far too long.
With The Fate of the Furious bringing us back to the world of fast cars and family, let’s take a look at 15 Characters Who Need To Come Back To Fast & Furious.
15. Clay (Zachery Ty Brian)
Last seen: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift might’ve started as a potential spinoff for the series, but the fact that the film is chronologically the sixth film in the franchise has made Tokyo Drift one of the more intriguing and unique installments in the series. As the start of Justin Lin’s takeover of F&F, Tokyo Drift is a fascinating example of a series trying to find its footing. Tokyo Drift has had a much bigger impact on the story than anyone originally expected, with series’ favorite characters originating from the film, and with Lucas Black apparently planned to appear as his character Sean Boswell in the next three films, Tokyo Drift has become oddly influential within the franchise.
By far the least important character on this list however, is Clay - played by Home Improvement’s Zachery Ty Bryan. Clay exists as little more than a way to get the ball rolling on Tokyo Drift, as his race with Boswell through a building subdivision is what gets Boswell sent to Tokyo. Once Boswell gets to Tokyo, it’s not as if Clay matters to the story in any way, and but it's sort of fun to see the former Brad Taylor make an appearance, then disappear forever from this world. There’s no good reason at all for Clay to return, other than for Bryan to show up once more, but it’s not like F&F always has to make sense!
14. Leo and Rico (Tego Calderon and Don Omar)
Last seen: The Fate of the Furious
Considering how carefully curated the cast of Fast Five seemed to be, everyone in the main crew has stuck around, with the exception of Leo and Rico. While everyone else on the team found their own identity and speciality, Leo and Rico ended up becoming little more than added henchmen.
The unceremonious disappearance of Leo and Rico for several movies was disappointing, especially since so many of the other primary characters found a way to return somehow. Based on their blink-and-you'll-miss it cameo in Fate of the Furious, their purpose seems to be more as hired hands than proper team members.
Some real catchup with these characters would be worthwhile. Maybe the best option would be a short film, considering Leo and Rico figured heavily in the short Los Bandoleros on the Fast & Furious DVD release. It may seem far-fetched for them to rejoin the globe-hopping heist family the series now centers around, but the dynamic duo deserve more than what they got in Fate of the Furious.
13. Twinkie (Bow Wow)
Last seen: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Actually, Tokyo Drift seems like it was full of characters that existed only to incite action for Boswell. Another such example is Twinkie, who taught Boswell how to drift race through the streets of Tokyo. Possibly the main reason that Twinkie hasn’t appeared since Tokyo Drift is that the series has outgrown such a character.
In Tokyo Drift, Twinkie didn’t care for racing, and instead sold stolen items from America to his classmates. Twinkie was still a high school student the last time we saw him, and was trying to stay integrated into the world of racing, so it’s understandable how this character could’ve fallen by the wayside. But considering that Boswell will also be returning to the franchise, it is possible - although extremely unlikely - that Twinkie could join along for the ride. Sure, the cast of F&F has the backing of the American government now, but maybe there are some stolen items that Twinkie could contribute to whatever ordeal the gang has to deal with next.
12. Suki (Devon Aoki)
Last seen: 2 Fast 2 Furious
By many accounts, 2 Fast 2 Furious is inarguably the worst film in the franchise, as John Singleton’s entry is a boring cop story, and the only film in the series to not feature Vin Diesel. 2 Fast 2 Furious has basically been picked clean of its best parts, as Tyrese and Ludacris, two of the film’s best characters, were brought into later entries.
Another character who gets forgotten from 2 Fast 2 Furious is Suki, the leader of an all-female racing group, who worked alongside Tej. Fast and Furious as always struggled with how it presents women - especially in those early films - but Suki was a potentially interesting female character who was never given enough to do. Like the other characters on this list so far, Suki might have outlived her usefulness in this series, but there seemed to be enough to that character to warrant her return, especially considering her connection to Tej.
11. Kiet (Tony Jaa)
Last seen: Furious 7
In the more recent films, F&F has started to integrate athletes from the world of martial arts into the mix. Along with Gina Carano in Fast and Furious 6 and Ronda Rousey in Furious 7, F&F is becoming a great franchise for people who know how to kick ass.
Carano and Rousey have had their chances at standing out in this series, but surprisingly, it’s Tony Jaa at Kiet who didn’t really receive enough time in his one appearance. Jaa made his American film debut with Furious 7, in a fight that only pitted him against Paul Walker. Both Carano and Rousey had intense, hand-to-hand combat scenes, but Jaa never had solid competition in his fights.
Silent and deadly, Kiet could easily become the equivalent of Jaws in the James Bond films, a villain who appears for seemingly no reason to attack our heroes. Jaa followed up his work on Furious 7 with another Diesel film, XXX: Return of Xander CageI, so clearly Diesel likes him enough for him to stick around. Hopefully he’ll pop up again in F&F, now that he’s done his duty of the lesser of Diesel’s franchises. Death can't keep a F&F villain down!
10. Sgt. Tanner (Ted Levine)
Last seen: The Fast and the Furious
The longest absent from the series in this entire list, Sgt. Tanner was Brian’s supervisor in The Fast and the Furious, placing him undercover within the world of street racing. Once again, there are so many reasons why Tanner hasn’t shown up, since the whole undercover angle has been completely dropped, and especially now that Tanner’s connection to the series - Brian O’Conner - seems to be gone for good.
As a character actor, there are few as great as Ted Levine. From The Silence of the Lambs to Joy Ride, Levine is always a wonderful surprise to see on screen. Looking back at the original film, Levine was easily the most accomplished actor in the film, and to have him completely absent from the rest of the films is a damn shame.
9. Arturo Braga (John Ortiz)
Last seen: Fast & Furious 6
Fast & Furious often has very solid villains that we just never see beyond their own films. Arturo Braga was one of these characters, as the main villain in Fast & Furious, then reappearing in Fast & Furious 6, claiming to work for Owen Shaw and explaining that Letty was still alive. Like Levine, John Ortiz is one of those fantastic actors that pops up everywhere, and would be welcome back in the F&F fray as much as possible.
From Fast & Furious 6 to The Fate of the Furious, it does look as if this series isn’t ready to let go of the Shaw brothers yet. If that’s the case, there’s no good reason why their associates like Braga couldn’t join in on the fun. Over the last few films, the villains have become just as exciting as our heroes, and Braga would be a strong addition to this group of villainous heavyweights.
8. Agent Stasiak (Shea Whigham)
Last seen: Fast & Furious 6
Even more so than Levine or Ortiz, Shea Whigham has blown up since his first appearances in the F&F universe. After his debut in Fast & Furious, Whigham has been everywhere, from HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, to films as varied as Take Shelter, Silver Linings Playbook, and this year’s Kong: Skull Island.
As his appearances in two F&F films have shown, Whigham’s Agent Stasiak is little more than a one-note joke. Stasiak’s bit is basically that O’Conner always breaks his nose and that’s about it. There’s little more to Stasiak’s character. But it’s not like F&F hasn’t taken one-note characters in the past and transformed them into something more. Whigham might not be a powerhouse presence or a scene-stealer in any way, but he is a fantastic actor; one that should immediately come back to this franchise, as soon as possible.
7. Agent Riley Hicks (Gina Carano)
Last seen: Fast & Furious 6
Yes, Agent Riley Hicks did die in Fast & Furious 6. Yes, she was impaled by a harpoon gun. Yes, that probably should be the last of this character. But what is Fast & Furious without its ridiculous moments? We’ve already had flying cars, amnesia, and The Rock flexing out of a cast, why not bring a character back from the dead?
Some of the best hand-to-hand combat scenes in the entire franchise came from Gina Carano’s Hicks in Fast & Furious 6, from flying down stairs to mid-air plane fights. More than Rousey or Jaa, Carano is possibly the series’ best badass henchman character.
Most of these henchmen martial artists have been one-offs, but Carano should come back for more of that intense physical combat. Hell, have her come back with a harpoon through her! Let this series get as crazy as possible!
6. Carter Verone (Cole Hauser)
Last seen: 2 Fast 2 Furious
The first excellent villain that the F&F franchise had, Carter Verone was as sleazy of a villain as we’ve ever had. A cocaine smuggler in Miami who hired O’Conner and Roman, Verone just seethes with scumbaggery. Verone is also the series’ first villain who didn't die, but even though he’s put in prison, O’Conner claims that he will hunt Verone down once he leaves prison.
This quest for vengeance could easily be taken on by Roman, now that O’Conner is out of the picture. If F&F is building up a roster of incarcerated former villains, why not have them all team up into a super villain cadre? The Shaw brothers need help taking everyone down? BOOM, just empty out the prison and let these characters run free. We already have a cavalcade of heroes to draw from; why not have a similarly deep roster of villains, all of which could be led by Verone and funded by his massive drug business.
5. Owen Shaw (Luke Evans)
Last seen: Fate of the Furious
Especially in this most recent batch of F&F films, the Shaw brothers have become an integral part of the larger story. In fact, Owen’s injuries in Fast & Furious 6 directly cause his brother Deckard to get vengeance on Dominic’s Crew, even leading to the death of Han in Tokyo Drift. The Shaw brothers have been brilliantly ret-conned deep into the series, and have become a welcome addition, and likely the series’ most captivating villains thus far.
Jason Statham as Deckard was pretty much been forced into the crew in The Fate of the Furious. Since the brothers were reunited in Fate of the Furious, thanks to their hard-as-nails mother played by Helen Mirren, and with a Statham/Johnson spin-off on the horizon, we could see Shaw play a more complex, complete anti-heroic role in the franchise in the future. Luke Evans' charm and acting chops certainly justify it.
4. Gisele (Gal Gadot)
Last seen: Fast & Furious 6
On the same plane in which Agent Hicks met a harpoon to her (supposed) death, Gisele sacrificed herself to save Han, flying off the plane to certain doom. Isn’t it strange that no one even searched for her body once the plane landed? Also, they didn't even have a funeral for poor Gisele? She was family!
If there’s one thing that the Letty story taught us, though, it’s that just because someone seems to be dead, doesn’t mean that they actually are. Especially when we don’t even see the body. Plus, in this universe, where people can jump off tanks and land onto a moving car, or in which cars literally fly, it seems even more absurd that simply falling out of a plane would be a death sentence. If Gadot can find time between saving the world on her own (Wonder Woman) and saving the world in a team (Justice League), it would be incredible to have her back in this franchise.
3. Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes)
Last seen: Fast Five
Probably no actor has been more poorly handled in the Fast & Furious franchise than Eva Mendes. In 2 Fast 2 Furious, she is a double agent who ends up having to be saved by O’Conner and Roman, and at least her appearance in Fast Five, where she appears to be working with Hobbs, hints that Mendes is open to coming back to the series.
Ever since 2015, Mendes has been rumored to return, but in a much larger way than in her past appearances. Mendes has rarely taken on film roles in recent years, likely due to her newest children. Even though Fast & Furious has often had strong female characters, many of them have died or are MIA in recent films, leaving a welcome spot for Mendes to reappear as another great female in this world.
2. Mia (Jordana Brewster)
Last seen: Furious 7
With Brian O’Conner and Mia driving off into the sunset with their child at the end of Furious 7, it also makes sense that Mia wouldn’t be returning to the franchise. In fact, Jordan Brewster has recently stated that with O’Conner out of the picture, it doesn’t really make sense for Mia to appear anymore.
Except Mia was a part of this world long before Brian ever stepped into the picture. Mia started out as one of the most incredible women in this series, a powerhouse behind the wheel, and in Fast Five, she basically became a pregnant action star. In Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7, Mia took a backseat (no pun intended) to raise her and Brian’s kid, while he stayed in the “family business.”
At this point, Mia has retracted into more of a mother than the type of character that we originally knew her as at the beginning of this series. Yet there was no reason why she couldn’t have been a mother and a badass at the same time. It would be great if F&F could somehow get her back behind the wheel - Brian or no Brian - just to see her back at her peak, in the way we once knew her.
1. Han (Sung Kang)
Last seen: Fast & Furious 6
Han Seoul-Oh has a vital character in the Fast & Furious world. He’s the connective tissue between the attempted spinoff of Tokyo Drift and the series proper. Even deeper than that, Justin Lin’s 2002 film Better Luck Tomorrow starred Sung Kang as the character Han, four years before he made his first appearance in the F&F world. At this point, Han is likely the best way to understand the convoluted timeline of F&F.
Han quickly became a fan favorite, thanks to his constant eating and adorable relationship with Gisele. After the flash forward of Tokyo Drift, we all knew what was coming throughout the subsequent films, as we just dreaded the moment to come.
But what if somehow Han escaped the explosion caused by Deckard and survives? The producers of Fast & Furious have hinted that Han could make a reappearance in the series, proving once again that if we don’t see the body, that person likely isn’t dead.
Han had a charming, laid back approach that was missing from this franchise full of explosions, NOS, and testosterone. Han’s absence was felt from the moment he blew up in Tokyo, and he’s been sorely missed ever since. The world needs more Han in it.
---
Which forgotten Fast and Furious characters do you want to see more of in future movies? Let us know in the comments!