The Fast and the Furious franchise has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a street racing take on Point Break. Starring Paul Walker as police officer Brian O'Connor, the first film saw him infiltrating the illegal operations of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) before forming a bromance with Dom and joining his crew. From there the series escalated with every entry until they eventually featured set-pieces that would make James Bond blush.
The Fast and the Furious movies have perfected the art of retconning, treating death as merely an inconvenience. Death in this franchise is hard to take seriously, as characters regularly come back from the dead while other established plot points are conveniently changed. With everything else changing on a whim, however, the things that always remain the same are family, cars, and Corona.
Spoilers follow for The Fast and the Furious franchise, including Fast X
10 Cipher is the Big Baddie
Introduced in The Fate of the Furious, Charlize Theron's Cipher has become a major thorn in the family's side. Typically, villains in this franchise show up for one entry, and then are either killed or turned into an ally, so a new antagonist can take their place. But not Cipher, as she has taken the role of villain in every entry since her introduction.
While introducing a new villain is nothing new for the franchise, the revelation that Cipher was the mastermind controlling the past two villains, Jakande (Djimon Hounsou) and Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), and possibly the ones before that, feels like a retcon. Sure, the writers may have always known Cipher was controlling the strings five movies ago, but it feels like a convenient plot point to establish how dangerous Cipher is.
9 Dom and Letty Are Married
Alongside Brian and Mia (Jordana Brewster), Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are the primary romantic couple at the center of the franchise. Beginning with the first movie, the pair have always shared feelings for each other and that has only grown with the series, as the pair now live together with their son Brian (Leo Abelo Perry).
So it comes as a shock when a throwaway flashback in Furious 7 reveals that the pair have been married since before the events of the fourth movie. This is a massive moment for these characters that we have been following for two decades, so audiences expected to see it on-screen in all its glory. Instead, the writers threw it in there as a plot device to help Letty regain her memory.
8 Deckard Shaw is Actually a Good Guy
Introduced in an after-credits scene for Fast & Furious 6, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) was presented as the family's most dangerous foe yet. Killing off one of their members and swiftly putting Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in the hospital, Shaw was clearly out for blood as he sought revenge for the family putting his brother Owen in the hospital.
But of course Shaw was not so bad after all. After being defeated by Dom at the end of Furious 7, Shaw quickly realized the error of his ways and become a fully fledged member of the family. The man who savagely killed Han (Sung Kang) is now invited to the family barbecue, seemingly as a way to keep someone of Statham's action credentials involved in the franchise.
7 'Tokyo Drift' is Part 7
Starring a new protagonist in American teenager Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), Tokyo Drift was pitched as a fresh start and helped save the franchise by adding a cool new spin on the racing action. With Brian nowhere to be found and Dom only having a cameo, Tokyo Drift follows Sean as delves into Tokyo's street racing scene, guided by the experienced Han, who dies halfway through the movie.
While many fans consider Tokyo Drift to be one of the best Fast and the Furious movies, the movie was quickly forgotten about by the creative team once Diesel and Walker were back on board. Han was a beloved character, however, so he was seemingly brought back from the dead to be part of the family, until the writers finally decided that Tokyo Drift is actually the seventh movie in the timeline. This feels like a decision made from necessity rather than careful plotting and makes watching the movies in chronological order confusing.
6 Shaw Killed Han
One of the sadder moments of the franchise is when Han is killed in a car accident during Tokyo Drift. Not only that movie's best character, but one of the best characters in the franchise, many felt killing him so soon was a mistake. The writers agreed, and moved the events of Tokyo Drift until after Fast and Furious 6 just so they could keep him around longer.
Everyone believed Han died in a simple accident while street racing, but the end credits scene for Fast and Furious 6 revealed that his death was actually caused by Deckard Shaw as revenge for the attack on his brother. This is an effective retcon, as the reveal of Statham walking out of the car that crashed into Han's is one of the biggest hype moments in the series.
5 Dante Was in Fast Five
The latest big bad to take a swing at the family, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) is a sadistic killer who wishes to take revenge on the family for the murder of his father in Fast Five. Momoa is clearly having a blast in the role, and his presence is one of the highlights of Fast X, resulting in the best Fast and the Furious villain.
While trying to avenge his father, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), is one thing, Fast X reveals that Dante was present during the events of Fast Five, conveniently off-screen the entire time. This is clearly a plot point thrown in just to connect Dante to the family somehow, and it makes for an awkward twist that was clearly not pre-planned.
4 Letty is Alive
A major plot point of Fast and Furious was the death of Letty. The movie brings Dom and Brian back together for the first time since the original film, as they work together to avenge her death. Killing Letty off was a major shake-up for the franchise, as she was one of the original stars and her relationship with Dom was an enduring part of the first film.
After Dom gets his revenge and carries on with the rest of the family in Fast Five, the end credits of that movie reveal Letty is actually alive. But of course, she has amnesia. Bringing Letty back from the dead was the first major retcon for the franchise, and while Letty is a big part of the series, it paved the way for characters to come back from the dead at will, resulting in death being meaningless in this franchise.
3 Gisele is Alive
First introduced in the fourth movie, Gisele (Gal Gadot) was a liaison working for that movie's big bad. After an encounter with Dom sees her considering working for the good guys, she becomes a vital part of Dom's crew during the fifth and sixth movies and forms a romance with Han. Unfortunately, she meets her end after falling out of a plane in Fast and Furious 6.
But of course, death is only temporary in this franchise, and she is revealed to be alive during the closing moments of Fast X. No explanation for her survival has been given yet, so it is unclear how egregious her revival will be. It is hard to see them finding a plausible reason for her survival, however, as falling out of an airplane is usually pretty deadly.
2 Dom Has a Brother
Since the start of the franchise, Dom's only blood relative has been his sister Mia. Of course, he still has a large family as he adopts every new face in the franchise to his crew by offering them a Corona and a place at his family's barbecue. That all changed in F9, however, when Dom's never before mentioned brother Jakob (John Cena) arrived.
For someone who is always preaching about the importance of family, it is pretty out of character for Dom to never mention that he has a brother to his closest friends. Jakob's introduction feels like a convenient yet unbelievable way for another major rival to be introduced with a close connection to the gang, and a way to add some wrestling credentials to the saga after Dwayne Johnson's exit.
1 Han is Alive
As mentioned previously, Han's death had always been seen as misstep for the franchise, as he remains one of the most popular characters. The series tried to put his death off by moving Tokyo Drift as far back as possible before having to finally come to terms with Han's death in Fast and Furious 6.
But of course, death means nothing in this franchise and Han was brought back to life in F9. This reeks of desperation to get back one of the best characters in the franchise as the explantation for his survival is convoluted nonsense involving shadowy government agencies. While this remains the most implausible retcon in the Fast and the Furious franchise, fans do not mind as they are just happy to see Han back at the family barbecue.