You gotta love the Fast and Furious’ unique way of never throwing anything out. If they can reuse a character, by golly they will. Think of how the sixth film stops for a bit so Brian can check back in with John Ortiz’s Braga, a character most people didn’t even remember, much less liked. It’s only a matter of time before Cole Hauser shows back up and I am HERE for it.
But in the meantime, some other familiar faces are returning for Fast & Furious 9. According to Deadline, both Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron will be coming back. This isn’t so surprising for Mirren, as she never did get to drive a car during her brief F&F 8 appearance. And since she plays the mother of both Shaw boys, it makes sense they’d find a way to get her back (and also bodes well for the Shaws maybe coming back as well, not a certainty given the existence of Hobbs & Shaw).
Charlize Theron’s return as Cipher is more of a surprise though. For those who don’t remember, Cipher made Dom do very bad things in the last film by kidnapping his kid and former flame, Elena. She ended up murdering Elena - probably a minor crime in a series where the dude who killed Han can attend a F&F cookout - but putting a Toretto child in danger? That’s going to be hard to back down from.
Which confuses the whole villain issue. I assumed series newcomer John Cena might play the villain, but now I’m not so sure. It’s sounding more likely that Cena will be Dom’s new gigantic buddy instead.
Honesty, I don’t care too much. Just give me this movie asap. Justin Lin is back and that’s all I need to know. HAN LIVES, you guys!