A scene from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift made a lot more sense following the release of Fast Five in 2011. Tokyo Drift, directed by Justin Lin, initially served as the third film in The Fast Saga but it was retroactively placed later in the timeline as the franchise continued. The movie steered away from characters like Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Conner by introducing a new crew, including Han Lue, played by Sung Kang.
Tokyo Drift primarily focused on Sean Boswell, a high school student sent to live with his father in Tokyo. While there, Sean found himself thrust in the world of drift racing where he met Han. After encountering Takashi, the current Drift King, Sean decided he wanted to learn how to drift. He turned to Han, who happened to be a business partner of Takashi and his uncle, in order to learn the art of drifting. Han ultimately became one of Sean's closest friends and a skilled mentor despite his involvement with Takashi's family and their ties to the Yakuza.
Toward the beginning of Tokyo Drift, Sean showed an interest in a girl named Neela. Since she was Takashi's girlfriend, it resulted in a confrontation between him and Sean. Having no experience, Sean still agreed to race against the Drift King. Han offered up his 2001 Nissan Silvia to Sean to use in the race and, of course, it ended up getting totaled. Sean later questioned why Han would give up his expensive car to an inexperienced drifter, knowing it would be destroyed, which Han coyly replied, "Why not? ...I have money." However, he wanted to test the trust and character of the newcomer. It was insinuated that Han got his wealth from stealing from Takashi's uncle and the Yakuza, but that wasn't necessarily the case according to the events of Fast Five.
How Fast Five Added Conext To Han's Past
It's true that Han was stealing from the Yakuza's operations for a period of time, but he was already wealthy before Tokyo Drift. Following the death of Han at the end of the film, it was revealed that he was an old friend of Dom. Their history was first put on display in Fast & Furious when Han helped Dom steal fuel tankers. He was also heavily involved in Fast Five, a movie that debuted five years after Tokyo Drift but technically took place before it, timeline-wise. Han joined Dom and his crew to steal $100 million from a corrupt businessman in Brazil. After the team was successful, Han got a cut of about $10 million dollars. He and his new love interest, Gisele Yashar, took their earnings and traveled around Europe.
Both Han and Gisele returned to help Dom and the crew face off against Owen Shaw in Fast and Furious 6. Gisele was killed in the big showdown, which drove Han back to Tokyo where he opened up his new garage, linking back to the events of Tokyo Drift. Fast and Furious 6's post-credits scene revealed a better look into Han's death at the hand of Owen's brother, Deckard Shaw, setting up the conflict for Furious 7. Despite the series of events, Han has been alive all this time and will make his return in F9, set to release in April 2021. Sean and a few other Tokyo Drift characters will also make their return as the upcoming film will fill in a few blanks surrounding Han's supposed death.
