WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Fast X.
Fast X may have featured an important death, but Gal Gadot’s return as Gisele is the latest example of how Fast & Furious refuses to truly kill off characters. Dwayne Johnson’s return as Hobbs in Fast X was reported before the film’s release, but the latest Fast & Furious movie had another surprise in store. Gisele returned in Fast X’s final minutes, adding another name to the list of Fast & Furious characters who died and came back.
After Fast Five brought together actors from all previous Fast & Furious films to form a heist crew, each new Fast & Furious installment now featured a bigger ensemble cast than the previous one. Not only is Fast & Furious always introducing new characters, but the saga also refuses to truly kill off important names. Fast X almost broke that tradition by seemly killing off Jakob Toretto, but Gisele’s return means that the saga has not stopped retconning deaths.
The Fast & Furious Movies Have A History Of Bringing Back Characters Who Were Presumed Dead
The first Fast & Furious dead character the franchise brought back was Sung Kang’s Han, although Han’s death itself was initially not retconned. Instead, Fast & Furious (2009), which was released after The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, took place before the events of the saga’s third movie. A similar trick was used in Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6, both of which featured Han before he died in Tokyo Drift. The first actual Fast & Furious death retcon happened in Fast Five, which revealed that Michelle Rodriguez’ Letty had not really died in Fast & Furious (2009).
Han was a Tokyo Drift standout, and Sung Kang’s return in the following two movies only made Han’s “revisited death” in Fast & Furious 6 more tragic. Claims for Fast & Furious to bring justice to Han intensified after Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, who was retconned as Han’s murderer, found redemption and joined Dominic Toretto’s family. After years of “Justice for Han” campaigns, F9 retconned Tokyo Drift once again and revealed that Han never really died. Now, Gal Gadot returns as Gisele in Fast X, meaning that Gisele’s death in Fast & Furious 6 also never happened. Essentially, none of the three big Fast & Furious deaths truly happened.
Bringing Back Characters Gives The Fast & Furious Movies More Power
Fast & Furious has been around since 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, but the saga only really found its path in 2009’s Fast & Furious 4, which saw the returns of Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner. Tokyo Drift’s timeline retcon exemplifies how Fast & Furious took a while to find its tone and shows that Han’s definitive return was bound to happen. Starting with Fast Five, the saga became an Avengers-like reunion of fan-favorite characters from all previous films, and Han had to be part of it. Fast & Furious capitalized on the power of nostalgia, making Han’s return an F9 selling point.
Likewise, whereas Letty’s death served as the driving force for Fast & Furious 4’s story, Letty’s return added to Fast & Furious’ family themes. The Fast & Furious family memes picked up traction during Fast & Furious 6, in which Dominic Toretto tried to prove to Owen Shaw that a family was more valuable than a crew. Michelle Rodriguez had been part of the saga since the beginning, and Dom’s family would never be complete without Letty. Finally, Gisele’s return in Fast X highlights Fast & Furious’ power to bring big names like Gal Gadot, who is now much more popular than when she left the franchise.
Why The Fast & Furious Death Trend Continues In Fast X
Fast X is the beginning of the end of the Fast & Furious saga. Initially, it was announced that Fast X and the upcoming Fast & Furious 11 would conclude the saga, but Vin Diesel has recently teased a potential Fast & Furious 12. Still, Fast X can be described as the Avengers: Infinity War of the Fast Saga, meaning that the actual finale is expected to be the franchise’s biggest movie ever in terms of scale. Fast & Furious thrives on its ensemble cast. Therefore, bringing back as many characters as possible in Fast X can help Fast X, Part 2 achieve the necessary sense of scale.
A Fast & Furious finale can be much more entertaining if characters such as Sung Kang’s Han, Jason Statham’s Shaw, Gal Gadot’s Gisele, and Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs are all involved – even if means retconning deaths. The tragic real-life death of Paul Walker also helps explain why Fast & Furious avoids saying goodbye to other original characters. That said, John Cena’s Jakob Toretto died in Fast X, sacrificing himself to protect Dom’s son. Fast X’s cliffhanger ending didn’t allow the film to mourn Jakob, and a body was never shown. The answer to whether Jakob really died in Fast X is perhaps Fast & Furious’ final chance to have a definitive death.