The return of Han Lue shocked fans when the trailer for Fast & Furious 9 was released, but his return could be trying to redeem Deckard Shaw due to the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff movie. The Fast & Furious franchise has been one of the most long-running and financially successful sagas in modern film history, with the tenth installment, Fast & Furious 9, coming out in May 2020. Han’s return was by far the most talked-about moment of the trailer, which featured a gaggle of eyebrow-raising, gravity-defying stunts that the films are known for.

In addition to Sung Kang reprising his role as Han, Fast & Furious 9 will also introduce John Cena as Jakob Toretto, the (seemingly long-lost) brother of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). Both of these twists spiked a huge reaction from fans. And although the production has been plagued with behind the scenes drama - involving everything from actresses threatening to quit over the lack of female representation to feuds between actors - it seems that all beef has been squashed for now, as the majority of the film’s major players are showing out in full form for Fast & Furious 9.

One duo, however, is noticeably absent from the trailer and the movie: Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw. This is likely due to the fact that the duo was busy filming their own spinoff film Hobbs & Shaw while Fast & Furious 9 was in production, but there’s another notable connection - Shaw was the one who killed Han in the first place. Bringing him back for his own movie - and having Dom induct him into his “family” - were seen as injustice for Han. But the good thing is, Fast & Furious 9 can fix that.

Han Was (Supposedly) Killed By Deckard Shaw

While the Fast & Furious movies typically don’t have a history of killing major characters (they’re certainly no Game of Thrones), the franchise shocked audiences when fan-favorite Han (Sung Kang) was seemingly murdered in Tokyo Drift. Han was one of the film’s leads, and thanks to the franchise’s jumbled up timeline, he was also featured in Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Fast & Furious 6.

Along with his love interest Gisele (Gal Gadot), Han wormed his way into the hearts of fans with his quick wit, laid back personality, and top-notch driving skills, so it was a shock to see him die in a horrific car wreck, caused by none other than the now-reformed mercenary Deckard Shaw. At the time, the reveal that Deckard Shaw was responsible for Han’s death made total sense - he wanted revenge for his brother, and fans only knew Shaw as a villain. In fact, he was so dastardly that upon finding out that Shaw caused Han’s demise, Dominic Toretto swore revenge, promising to kill Shaw to honor Han’s memory.

Flash forward a few movies, however, and suddenly the franchise is painting a very different picture. Due to the chemistry fans noticed between Hobbs and Shaw, Shaw’s role was increased in subsequent films, and he became more of an anti-hero so that he and Hobbs could be coupled together. Although other characters did react negatively to seeing Shaw in The Fate of the Furious, they had nowhere near as much hate as Dom did in the previous films. In fact, that movie ends with Dom smiling at Shaw and inviting him to his family cookout- hardly the right way to take revenge on the man who murdered your friend.

How Hobbs & Shaw Tried To Address Han’s Death

While some fans enjoyed Shaw’s new status as a hero in the franchise, some fans were furious that the films seemingly forgot that he killed Han. Adding salt to the wound was the fact that a few short months later, it was announced that Shaw would be starring in his own spinoff movie alongside Hobbs - a buddy-cop style action-comedy creatively titled Hobbs & Shaw. 

With the film’s release, it’s become clear that Shaw was now being treated as a full-on good guy, and Dom’s promise of revenge was all but forgotten. Hobbs & Shaw did make a vague reference to Han’s death, however. When talking about guilt, Shaw confesses that “There’s things I’ve done that I have to make amends for.” According to an EW interview with the film’s writer Chris Morgan, Shaw was talking about Han: “That line was specifically written and put in there just to let everyone know that he is talking about Han — it is on his mind. It tortures him, and he’s going to get to it.”

For many fans, though, one throwaway line wasn’t nearly enough for the death of a beloved character, and coupled with the fact that Shaw got away relatively scot-free with Dom and the gang, it seemed that Han would never truly get retribution for his untimely death. Hobbs & Shaw was the perfect opportunity for the series to give justice for Han, but in the end, all he got was nothing more than a throwaway line.

How Fast & Furious 9 Can Redeem Hobbs & Shaw

Cut to the present day, and Han is back in action. His return surprised and delighted fans, who were happy to see their favorite (presumed dead) racer back in action after believing that his story had ended several movies ago. While Han’s return is certainly a great twist, it also raises a few questions, one of which being - is the franchise bringing Han back to try and redeem Shaw? But more specifically, to fix the problem with Hobbs & Shaw skipping over Han’s death?

While Shaw’s red ledger certainly may not be the only reason to bring Han back, retconning history so that he survived, after all, would mean that Shaw is no longer guilty of the murder so many fans hated him for. Whether Han survived by luck (in which case, Shaw spent the last few years feeling guilty over a death he didn’t cause) or he faked his death (which could imply that Shaw helped him in some fashion), Shaw can now continue being a hero, guilt-free about Han’s supposed death.

How fans react will likely depend on how Fast & Furious 9 explains Han’s death, but this twist could end up redeeming Shaw - and Hobbs & Shaw, for that matter, which chose to prioritize the buddy-cop story over the franchise - once and for all in the eyes of fans. When the dust is settled, if all goes according to plan, Han’s return in Fast & Furious 9 will not only have revived a fan favorite character but also cleared the way for future Hobbs & Shaw sequels to move forward with treating Shaw as a hero.

Next: Fast & Furious 9 Trailer Breakdown: 15 Character & Story Reveals

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