Recent Fast and Furious movies have had a big antagonist problem, and Fast X will have to fix it in order for Jason Momoa’s villain to work. From stealing DVDs to preventing World War 3, the stakes for the Fast and Furious movies have drastically increased over the course of 20 years. For the car stunts to continue getting bigger and more unpredictable, Fast and Furious also had to make its antagonists more skillful, although having all sorts of weapons and armies does not necessarily make for a good villain – especially when the same trick is played more than once.
At first, the Fast and Furious villains were not particularly memorable, as seen with 2 Fast 2 Furious’ Carter Verone and Fast & Furious’ Braga. That started to change with Fast Five, which brought The Rock’s Hobbs as the villain in Dominic Toretto’s heist adventure. The Rock as the Fast Five antagonist set the bar high for Fast and Furious' villains, and thus the franchise could no longer go back to forgettable and generic crime bosses like the ones from the first few movies. The Rock’s Hobbs was followed by Luke Evans’ Owen Shaw in Fast & Furious 6; Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw and Djimon Hounsou’s Mose Jakande in Furious 7; and Charlize Theron’s Cipher in The Fate of the Furious and F9, the latter of which also featured John Cena’s Jakob Toretto as an antagonist.
Of all the Fast and Furious villains, Charlize Theron’s Cipher was the only one to be the main antagonist in more than one film. Cipher was introduced in The Fate of the Furious as a hacker-terrorist with countless resources all over the world who had blackmailed Dom Toretto, but her plans backfired once the Fast and Furious family came to Dom's rescue. Despite the marketing being heavily focused on John Cena’s Jakob Toretto, Cipher was also the true F9 villain, as Dom’s lost brother would eventually go down a redemption arc towards the end of the film. Cipher was defeated again in F9, but Charlize Theron’s character is confirmed to be returning in Fast X – which presents a problem. Cipher has already been the main villain in two movies in a row, and the character actually prevented Jakob Toretto from being a true menacing antagonist, as he was more of a third party in the now repetitive clash between Dom and Cipher. Jason Momoa’s Fast and Furious villain could fix that problem, but Fast & Furious 10 risks repeating the same F9 mistake if Cipher is once again the main antagonist.
Fast & Furious’ Cipher Failures Make Her Less Interesting
In The Fate of the Furious, Cipher and her resources served as the perfect match for protagonist Dominic Toretto and his family, who were now also skillful secret agents. Having an Academy Award winner like Charlize Theron playing a Fast and Furious villain was a remarkable feat for the franchise, and it proved how far the Fast and Furious films had come. Cipher was the only Fast and Furious villain to actually hurt Dominic Toretto’s family, all of which made her downfall at the end of the movie even better. However, once F9 brought Cipher back, she was no longer that menacing, precisely because she had already been defeated by Dom and his crew in The Fate of the Furious. A similar thing is now set to happen in Fast & Furious 10, officially titled Fast X, as Cipher is once again returning after being defeated in F9. Once a villain is shown losing that many times, they lose their appeal – which is what is happening with Cipher.
John Cena’s Jakob Toretto Should’ve Been F9’s Only Villain
In hindsight, Fast and Furious should have not broken its tradition of one-time only antagonists in F9. John Cena’s Jakob Toretto had all the ingredients to be a new, different type of Fast and Furious villain, but, in many ways, he was more of an instrument to Cipher’s plans. Even if the plan was to redeem Jakob Toretto at the end, John Cena’s character could have worked perfectly without Cipher. One of the most interesting things about the Fast and Furious franchise is how each movie often features an entirely new set of threats, a tradition that was broken in F9 as Cipher’s plans were way too similar to the one she had in The Fate of the Furious. Therefore, had Jakob been F9’s only villain, the movie could have been more unique when compared to The Fate of the Furious.
Fast X Can’t Repeat F9’s Mistake With Jason Momoa’s Villain
Just like The Fate of the Furious, F9 saw Cipher being defeated but surviving. Charlize Theron is part of the large Fast X cast, which also stars Jason Momoa as a brand-new villain. The situation is already looking very similar to what happened in F9 - that is, a new villain is brought into the mix while Cipher also returns. The idea of a Jason Momoa Fast and Furious villain sounds incredibly exciting, which further supports the idea that the Fast & Furious 10 movie should avoid the F9 mistake of having two main antagonists. Cipher has already fulfilled her role in the story, and while a Charlize Theron Cipher spinoff could work, the character could come off as repetitive in Fast X. It will be better if Fast X resolves Cipher’s story right at the beginning, allowing for Jason Momoa’s villain to bring something new to the tenth Fast and Furious movie.
