F9 Reveals How Han Survived The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift
Contains spoilers for "F9"
As of June 25, audiences stateside can finally see "F9" in theaters. The ninth entry in the "Fast & Furious" franchise was originally supposed to be released on May 20, 2020, less than a year after the spin-off film "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw." As fans of the "Fast" films are already well-aware, however, its release was pushed back considerably, given that its original premiere date would have been unfeasible due to the ongoing pandemic. Rather than compromise the release of a tentpole film, Universal Pictures opted instead to put out "F9" at a time during which wide availability could be guaranteed.
As a result of the delay, fans have long been waiting for the answers to certain questions about its contents. A reference to Paul Walker's character Brian O'Conner in a February 2020 trailer for "F9," for example, caused fans to speculate whether or not O'Conner might somehow factor into the new "Fast" story.
Another lingering mystery prior to the release of "F9" was the appearance of Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang) in that same February 2020 trailer. By all appearances, Han died in a car crash first depicted in "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift." Now that "F9" is in theaters, audiences in the U.S. have finally learned how Han survived the seemingly fatal crash.
Han's survival was thanks to Mr. Nobody
Han first appeared to die when a speeding Mercedes collided with his Mazda RX7 in "Tokyo Drift." Han then appeared in the subsequently released "Fast & Furious 4," "Fast Five," and "Fast & Furious 6," which were revealed to take place canonically before "Tokyo Drift." The sixth "Fast" film depicts Han's supposed car crash anew, revealing that the driver of the Mercedes was mercenary Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham).
Han remains alive in "F9" thanks to the intervention of anonymous government agent Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell). The main thrust behind the story of "F9" involves Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel)'s newly arrived brother Jakob (John Cena) attempting to obtain a virtual weapon called Aries. Elle (Anna Sawai) is the daughter of two scientists who once obtained and split apart Aries in order to prevent others from using it for evil. In doing so, they made Elle's DNA key to its activation.
This fact turns out to have been the lynchpin in Han's survival. Mr. Nobody, during his efforts to obtain Aries for himself, found out that its activation required Elle's DNA. He thus faked Han's death so that Han could covertly help obtain the parts of Aries and later act as Elle's guardian.
The mechanics by which Mr. Nobody helped fake Han's death are never detailed but can simply be explained away by Mr. Nobody's considerable experience as a government agent. With Han now fully back in the fold, as revealed in a mid-credits scene after the film's ending, he's now primed to properly get revenge on Deckard Shaw for the unsuccessful but nevertheless sincere attempt on his life.