F9 Serves Justice For Han — Especially In That End Credits Scene

Spoilers are ahead. Fast & Furious 9, or F9 for short, marks the return of many actors from previous installments in the Fast Saga, including Jordana Brewster and Shad Moss, aka Bow Wow. But the return that has Fast fans the most excited is Sung Kang as Han Lue. Justice for Han is served in F9. More casual fans may not know the fire and the fury Fast & Furious die-hards felt at the death of Han at the end of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift. But it all comes to a head in F9, especially once we get to that end credits scene. The saga of Justice For Han has finally been served.

Han is beloved by the Fast fandom. He was such a fan-favorite character that, even though he (supposedly) died at the end of the third Fast movie, Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, the franchise worked him back in by setting the next couple of films before the events of Tokyo Drift.

But F9 director Justin Lin's love for the character can be traced back to long before Han's Fast franchise debut. Kang first played Han in Lin's 2002 directorial debut Better Luck Tomorrow before Lin went on to direct Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, and F9. Both Lin and Kang agree that the 2002 film is Han's origin story. In the coming-of-age film, Han is the cool older cousin of the main character's best friend, who leads them into a life of crime and doesn't want anyone messing with his car. Eventually, he goes on to join the Fast family.

Then, at the end of Fast & Furious 6, things get... frustrating. Jason Statham's character Deckard Shaw makes a big entrance by calling up Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) from Tokyo and taking credit for crashing Han's car, and effectively murdering him. So the story is tragic, but everything is tied up, right? Wrong.

Shaw goes on to team up with the family in The Fate of The Furious, which, it should be noted, was not directed by Lin. This infuriated fans beyond belief. Why would they invite Han's murderer over for BBQ? How can we not talk about family when family's all that we got? Sure, befriending the bad guy is kind of the Fast saga's "thing" — even human ray of sunshine Paul Walker's character Brian was secretly a cop in the original movie — but cracking Coronas with the dude who killed Han felt like a bridge too far.

If that wasn't insulting enough, Shaw got a spin-off with The Rock's character, Hobbs, and more members of his family keep popping up, played by Helen Mirren and Vanessa Kirby. Plus, both Owen (Luke Evans) and Deckard Shaw have faked their deaths in Fast films, so it felt almost cruel that Han's return was becoming so overdue. Logic clearly no longer applies in these movies, so what, exactly, was keeping them from bringing him back?

In F9, we get the answer. And shocker: It involves faking Han's death.

F9 gifts us a handy flashback montage that explains and shows how Han faked his own death on the bequest of Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), a mysterious government operative who sometimes sends the family on missions. (Whenever Nobody's on screen, it means car chases are not happening, so it's understandable if you tuned out a bit.)

There's some mysterious fantasy tech at play in creating the illusion of Han's supposed death, but don't think about it too hard: Han was not actually in the exploding car. Unbeknownst to Shaw, Han was actually watching from afar with Mr. Nobody. Presumed dead, Han secretly continued to work for Mr. Nobody until Mia (Brewster) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) found him in Tokyo in F9.

It's still a little suspect that Mr. Nobody recruited Deckard Shaw, who he was working against when he recruited Han, during the events of Fate of The Furious... but maybe it's not too surprising that someone who insists on being called "Mr. Nobody" is shady and working multiple sides at once.

If you didn't stay for F9's end credits, you missed something fairly crucial in the Han saga. The bonus scene reveals Han turning up at Deckard's door with revenge in his eyes. Deckard may not have actually killed Han, but he sure tried.

And while getting Han back was a huge victory, establishing that Shaw is no friend to the Fast family was equally important after the betrayal of making him a pal in The Fate of The Furious. He will forever be a foe — everything is as it should be. That's the real justice for Han, and we finally have it.