F9 director Justin Lin on the Toretto family twist & the return of Han

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The first trailer for FAST & FURIOUS 9 was released just hours ago, and brought with it physics-defying stunts, musings on family, and a few shocking twists sprinkled in for good measure. The biggest were certainly the revelation that John Cena is playing Jakob Toretto, the brother of Vin Diesel's character, as well as the return of Han Lue (Sung Kang), who was assumed to be dead following his murder at the hands of Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham).

F9 director Justin Lin, returning to the franchise for the first time since FAST & FURIOUS 6, spoke with Entertainment Weekly following the release of the trailer to offer his thoughts on the big developments, including introducing a new member of the Toretto family.

Again, a lot of the theme of family kind of reflects my immigrant story. I feel like my 10-year-old son growing up, he’s got Uncle Vin, Uncle Sung, and it’s not by blood. I feel like our family is truly this earned relationship. But at the same time, it’s one thing we have not explored through bloodline. And Michael Rooker, who is in this movie, said it best when he came and we were talking about the film, he said some of the bloodiest fights he’s seen in his life were either at funerals or weddings. And that’s something that really excited me when the idea came to me, that we could really start this new chapter exploring family through the traditional bloodlines. But then the next emotional beat for me was that I was kind of scared s—less of like, “Well, who is going to be a Toretto?!” And I was so relieved when I sat down with John, and within a minute of talking to him you could feel the strength and discipline, but also the fact that he could be vulnerable. He was just a pleasure to work with, and I really do think he’s going to bring a lot as the antagonist to Dom.

As far as the return of Han, Justin Lin said that he has a "very personal connection" to the character. "To be honest, when we first started, the community of Fast was not the community that it is today," Lin said. "I feel like, together, every kind of connection with the audience, we had to earn. With these sequels, sometimes people take it for granted and think it’s just going to happen; I always think we have to earn the next one. And so to be able to go through that journey with Han… when I left, I felt it was appropriate and I felt like we were putting the character to bed, but it’s because of some of the things that happened that didn’t quite make sense to me, and so I felt like if I was going to come back, I really wanted to explore why. I think it’s really up to us to bring him back and explore it throughout the themes that we’re all used to." Much like Sung Kang when he discussed the return of his character, Lin wouldn't spill any spoilers regarding just how Han has returned. "In this world, I feel like things happen for a reason. I won’t go into details or anything, but I do think that bringing him back is nothing I take lightly — and it took a lot — but I think what I appreciate is that this universe has really grown and it allows us to evolve and really kind of redefine ourselves as we go," Lin said.

Justin Lin also spoke of the insane action scenes which the franchise has become known for, joking that he delights in scaring the crap out of his production crew. "The one thing that I take a lot of pride in is really scaring the crap out of my crew. [Laughs] When we have these production meetings and I’m sitting there in front of people and describing what we are about to do, I love that kind of nervous silence before we all focus and figure out how we’re going to do it," Lin said. "Personally, I feel that good action sequences are nothing if you don’t have a connection with these characters, and one of the big things I wanted to do coming back was elevate and really push growth in every character. And so when we went to Phuket and found the location, I felt like that was really appropriate for that sequence, to catch the audiences up with the state of each character. And, of course, I like to push our characters into really impossible situations and have how they get out of it define who they are at that moment."

The official synopsis for F9:

Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto is leading a quiet life off the grid with Letty and his son, little Brian, but they know that danger always lurks just over their peaceful horizon. This time, that threat will force Dom to confront the sins of his past if he’s going to save those he loves most. His crew joins together to stop a world-shattering plot led by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they’ve ever encountered: a man who also happens to be Dom’s forsaken brother, Jakob (John Cena). F9 sees the return of Justin Lin as director, who helmed the third, fourth, fifth and sixth chapters of the series when it transformed into a global blockbuster. The action hurtles around the globe—from London to Tokyo, from Central America to Edinburgh, and from a secret bunker in Azerbaijan to the teeming streets of Tblisi. Along the way, old friends will be resurrected, old foes will return, history will be rewritten, and the true meaning of family will be tested like never before.

F9 will hit theaters on May 22, 2020.