Han Lue is back in Fast and Furious 9, but it's still uncertain how exactly he is still alive after being presumed dead from a car crash. Known for his quiet demeanor and snacking tendencies, the character was a beloved and important member of Dom's squad. Initially introduced in director Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow movie, the filmmaker brought Han into the Fast Saga when he was tapped to helm The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift as the newly-wealthy mentor of Sean Boswell. At the end of the same film, he was presumed to be dead from a tragic car crash in Japan.
Due to the Fast Saga's convoluted timeline, Han continued to appear in subsequent films Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6 which take place before the Japan-set installment of the franchise. It was only at the start of Furious 7 where it was revealed that Han's fatal accident was plotted by Deckard Shaw as part of his revenge scheme against Dom's crew for what happened to his brother Owen. With Fate of the Furious making Deckard an unlikely ally to "la familia," there have been questions about whether or not he will be held accountable for his crimes against Han. While it's unclear when #JusticeForHan will be achieved, Lin's return to the Fast Saga through F9 comes with a promise that it will indeed be accomplished.
Han's reunion with Dom and his crew is the first step towards this. The character joins the team as they gear up to battle Jakob, who is backed up by Fate of the Furious villain, Cipher. Still, F9 will have to provide a solid answer as to how exactly he is alive following his fatal crash in Tokyo Drift.
Han Returns In F9 After Being Presumed Dead
There was an immediate backlash on the heels of Dom effectively accepting Deckard into his crew after the Shaw brother became instrumental in rescuing his secret kid with Elena in Fate of the Furious. Many didn't like how Dom could've seemingly forgotten that Deckard was the reason for Han's untimely death; that includes some stars of the Fast Saga who vocally supported the #JusticeForHan movement. At this point, the focus was just on Deckard getting away from his crimes scot-free so the possibility that Han might still be alive was never considered. That's until he appeared at the end of the first F9 trailer. Since then, he has been regularly featured in the movie's marketing with Universal knowing full well that there's massive interest in the character. Despite this, promotional materials have been carefully crafted to keep people interested in how he's able to survive the car crash in Tokyo Drift.
F9 Needs To Properly Explain How Han Is Alive
Having Han return alive in F9 is a risky creative decision; if not executed well, it could backfire big time and bog down the final two films in the Fast Saga. While the movie has done a great job keeping how exactly he's alive tightly under wraps, the promos have given an idea about what reunites him with Dom's crew. Trailers revealed that Letty and Mia will find their way to Japan where they inevitably run into Han who appears to have stayed in the country following his presumed death. This is despite Dom supposedly bringing his body back to the U.S. to bury in Furious 7. Since the Fast Saga has already pulled a fake-out death before with Letty which received considerable backlash; they can't just use the same explanation on Han where someone apparently pulled him out of the rubble and nursed him back to health. It has to be something unique and justified to satisfy the franchise's fanbase who's fully invested in his comeback story.
F9 Theory: How Han Is Alive
With Lin in the director's chair for F9, chances are that he has a good plan to explain how Han is alive; after all, the character is very important to him. Considering how ridiculously over-the-top the Fast Saga has become in the last several years, the franchise can come up with a way to explain his return — if anything, Hobbs & Shaw established the possibility of resurrection in the universe. That said, the explanation should be simple so as not to take away from the consequences of his near-death experience. Granted the franchise has the tendency to stretch out reality, it's still very much rooted in real elements such as the concept of familial bonds that has kept Dom's crew together despite all the dangerous missions.
Given this, the best way to explain Han's return is for him to pull a page from Nick Fury's book, as seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier; the former S.H.I.E.L.D. director also found himself in a car crash but before the Winter Soldier was able to get to his totaled car, he used a small but powerful igniter to cut through the vehicle's roof and escaped through the sewers. Han was in the same position in Tokyo Drift, with Deckard not really checking if Han was dead following the crash. Granted that the car blew up shortly after the accident, Han could have a similar gadget in the vehicle for emergency purposes that allowed him to escape just in time. Aside from not over-complicating things, taking this route will also highlight Han's ingenuity in a pressure-packed situation, making him more useful in the upcoming the Fast Saga films as they take on more and more over-the-top stunts.
Where Han Has Been Since Tokyo Drift
So if Han has been alive this whole time, where has he been before re-emerging in F9? It has been several years since his supposed death in Tokyo Drift and during this time, he remained underground; of course, it also helped that he stayed in Japan which was seemingly the case until he returns to the U.S. with Mia and Letty in the upcoming blockbuster. In the most recent trailer, more context is provided as to what brings them to Japan — Jakob has a private military, and they need all the help they can get. Considering that Han is ready with a sniper on the scene, it's possible that he has eyes on the area as Mia and Letty battled the goons. Between this and the fortune he made just before moving to Japan, Han may have very well been quietly operating in the country ever since. It's worth noting, however, that when he joined the crew, Dom doesn't seem to be surprised when their supposedly dead friend makes an appearance, unlike Roman. Couple that with Dom being the one who retrieved his body after his crash, it's not outside the realm of possibility that he's in on Han's decision to stay behind and operate underground. More on Han's fate between appearances will be revealed in Fast and Furious 9.
