Fast & Furious 9 Director Teases How Han Returns: “It’s All Connected”

The first Fast & Furious 9 trailer revealed fan-favorite Han (Sung Kang) somehow survived his apparent death in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and audiences will come to find out “it’s all connected” when they learn how Han returns to the Fast Universe, according to director Justin Lin. Han appeared to perish in a fiery car wreck after being struck by a random vehicle in Tokyo Drift, but a credits scene in Fast & Furious 6 — also directed by Lin — revealed Han was targeted by then-villain Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), who was carrying out a vendetta against Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) crew for harming younger brother Owen (Luke Evans).

“You’ll find out, but Han is a very special character for me,” Lin told MTV International of the character who technically first appeared in Lin’s Better Luck Tomorrow, treated as Han’s origin story. “He’s been kind of a special character throughout, and when I left in [Fast & Furious 6], we kind of left together. One of the reasons for me to come back was to bring him back.”

“I was at a Q&A for a film and someone in the audience said they were confused about what happened,” Lin continued. “It really kind of got in my head and inspired me that if we’re gonna continue, we should have justice for Han, for sure.”

After revealing Han is alive, the trailer ended with a promise: “Justice is coming.”

When asked to hint how Han escaped what seemed to be a cut and dried death, Lin answered, “It’s all connected, let’s just put it that way. Everything happens for a reason in the Fast Universe.”

Lin didn’t specify if that connection is with Tokyo Drift or Han’s other appearances throughout the Fast Saga in the Lin-directed Fast & Furious, Fast Five and F6. Lin is also bringing back two other characters who first appeared alongside Han in Tokyo Drift.

The director might be hinting at ties to franchise spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, where Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw were forced to partner up against Brixton Lore (Idris Elba) — an ex-MI6 agent who was shot in the head and seemingly killed by Shaw years earlier.

Brixton was recovered by the shadowy Eteon, a terrorist organization, who transformed Brixton into an enhanced super soldier wielding cybernetic and mechanical implants. This clandestine group is expected to resurface in future Fast franchise installments.

Added Ludacris, who returns as tech genius Tej, “We can’t tell you how, but we can tell you he’s back, and there is justice for Han.”

Fast & Furious 9 opens May 22.