Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw's attempt to address the Justice for Han movement, and although it's not nearly enough, Fast & Furious 9 can fix that. After more than a decade and eight films, The Fast Saga launched its first spin-off offering in the David Leitch flick. Headlined by Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw, the movie saw the pair make an unlikely team as they go up against a new threat in the mysterious organization, Eteon.
Universal didn't hide their intention to further capitalize on The Fast Saga's popularity by launching more spin-offs after Hobbs & Shaw. The blockbuster introduced a string of new characters and was set in London, across the pond from the U.S. where Dom's "la familia" operates to ensure there's no overlap. Hobbs and Shaw joined the franchise pretty late in the game; both also started as adversaries to the main crew, but ultimately became allies. Hobbs' arc from being an enemy to a dependable friend played out organically as it was how his character's story was supposed to play out from the get-go. But things are different and more complicated for Deckard.
Introduced at the end of Fast & Furious 6, the older brother of the same movie's primary villain, Owen, sought revenge for what happened to the young Shaw. Deckard targeted Han who was isolated in Japan at that time. He was initially perceived to succeed in killing the beloved member of the "la familia," effectively starting a conflict with Dom's gang. But F9 reveals that it may not be the case with Han re-emerging to join his old crew.
As a fan-favorite character in The Fast Saga, Han's death revealed at the end of Fast & Furious 6 and further explored in Furious 7 didn't sit well with many. Through the years, he endeared himself to the franchise's legions of fans for his quiet charm, deadly driving skills, and quirks - including Han's constant snacking. On top of his importance to Dom's team itself, there were also criticisms for why the franchise killed its only Asian-American lead. However, the movement never really took off until after the release of 2017's Fate of the Furious where Deckard was seemingly accepted into the "la familia" without so much as an apology for what he did to Han. Granted that the eldest Deckars sibling was crucial in saving Dom's secret son with Elena from the villain, Cipher, the fact that the movie never even properly addressed his previous transgressions was perceived as a betrayal to Han's legacy. This invigorated the Justice for Han movement and as Kang himself recently revealed, it's the buzz about the matter that resulted in Lin eventually figuring out a way to return to The Fast Saga and deliver on that statement.
Deckard's redemption at the end of Fate of the Furious was cemented in Hobbs & Shaw where he teamed up with Hobbs to take on a new villain. The spin-off caused all sorts of drama behind-the-scenes, with Tyrese Gibson even accusing Johnson of trying to take over The Fast Saga by doing the offshoot. During this time, rumors were persistent that there was on set tension between Johnson and the franchise's poster star, Vin Diesel, while making Fate of the Furious. Nevertheless, the offshoot moved forward, expectedly riling up the Justice for Han movement as the movie humanized Deckard without holding him accountable first for trying to kill Han. The filmmakers knew full well that there was already backlash surrounding the character, so they tried to address it; in a quiet conversation with his sister, Dottie, Deckard acknowledged that he's done some bad things — primarily referring to Han's incident. Unfortunately, it was done so poorly that instead of appeasing those who wanted to see the matter addressed, it actually riled them, as it barely addressed the issue.
F9 didn't attempt to keep Han's return a secret, revealing him at the end of the first trailer and from then on, his mysterious resurrection has been at the forefront of conversations regarding the project. This allowed the filmmakers to capitalize on the popularity of the character as his involvement effectively piqued the interest of loyal The Fast Saga fans. It also relieved the pressure of keeping it under wraps, risking leaks, and ruining the surprise. The fact that F9 is bringing back Han is already a step in the right direction when it comes to making amends about how poorly the aftermath of his death was handled. While Lin is the primary creative force behind accomplishing Justice for Han, long-time The Fast Saga writer Chris Morgan who also co-writes Hobbs & Shaw teased they are indeed working towards delivering on that promise. Granted that franchise star Michelle Rodriguez slammed him for his comments about the matter, it's an indication that other associated people want to accomplish the same thing. While Deckard's arc progresses separately from the main series and there's no way that justice will truly be served without him involved, chances are that this plotline will play out in the primary narrative line instead of the spin-offs.
While bringing back Han in F9 is a welcome development, it won't be enough to accomplish Justice For Han. Similarly, it won't be realized unless Deckard himself is involved and directly held accountable for what he did. Unfortunately, it would be difficult to achieve this goal in the upcoming flick because Statham isn't in it. Since he and The Rock are now spearheading their own pocked of The Fast Saga through Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, their adventures are no longer connected to Dom and his team's endeavors. That being said, with Lin already locked to direct the next and final two sequels past Fast & Furious 9, there's still plenty of opportunities to deliver on this endeavor. As the Fast & Furious franchise took its creative cues from Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga, its culmination will more likely see Hobbs and Shaw back in the main narrative line, perhaps for a final showdown against Cipher. Given this opening, it would be more plausible to properly confront Deckard for Han's near-death; at this point, it's arguably imperative that at the least they find themselves face-to-face. Anything less than that would be unsatisfying.
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