The first Fast & Furious 9 trailer revealed several new details about the movie, but it also confirmed the return of three characters who first appeared in Tokyo Drift: Sung Kang as Han, Lucas Black as Sean Boswell, and Jason Tobin as Earl. The Fast & Furious timeline is a bit messy, considering that the Tokyo Drift spinoff takes place in between Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7, despite those movies releasing several years after the spinoff hit theaters.
This timeline was done this way to allow for the return of Han Lee in Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6, since he was originally killed in Tokyo Drift. And then, part of Furious 7's story included getting justice for Han's death by taking out Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw. But before that happened, Vin Diesel's Dom visited Japan and met with Black's Sean Boswell. After that, it was believed that Sean would return in future movies since it was reported that Black was meant to have bigger roles in The Fate of the Furious and Fast & Furious 9 (officially titled F9). While he didn't come back for the previous movie, he is back in this one.
At about the 2:16 mark in the F9 trailer, viewers can very briefly see Black as Sean before he steps out of view. But in addition to that, the person talking to Ludacris' Tej Parker and Tyrese Gibson's Roman Pearce is Jason Tobin, who reprises his Tokyo Drift character Earl in the upcoming sequel. This is the first time that more than one Tokyo Drift character has appeared in another Fast & Furious movie, and considering that two of them believed Han was dead, there may be serious consequences.
Right now, a lot remains unclear about exactly when Fast & Furious 9 takes place in the overall timeline, but it must be at least a few years after The Fate of the Furious since Dom's son, Brian, has already grown up. And since everything about this movie is about family, it will be the first installment to truly tie the entire franchise together. So it makes sense that this movie would bring back characters who haven't been seen on-screen in several years.
Of course, exactly why or how Sean and Earl return may not be revealed until later. And seeing them back will beg the question, where's Bow Wow's Twinkie? He was Sean and Earl's friend in Tokyo Drift, but he hasn't returned at all. Perhaps he'll show up in a cameo when the movie releases, but for now, it's only Sean and Earl who are returning - aside from Han, that is - and they will be working alongside Tej and Roman on building a rocket car for Roman to drive in.
