#F9 Star Sung Kang Calls Han’s Return a Once in a Lifetime Event

When action star Jason Statham joined the Fast & Furious franchise in the role of the baddie Deckard Shaw, one of the first things he did to prove he was not playing around was kill the fan-favorite character Han Seoul-Oh, played by Sung Kang. The plot point kicked off an unprecedented level of fan outrage, especially when Shaw came back into the franchise as one of the good guys.

Fast & Furious star @sungkang talks to Empire about the ‘crazy’ return of Han Seoul-Oh in #Fast9 and the #JusticeForHan campaign. Read more and see a full exclusive image here: https://t.co/hVU7AByyWPpic.twitter.com/5ybgq5zahF

— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) April 13, 2021

After years of an online #JusticeForHan campaign, Han is making his dramatic return in the upcoming Fast & Furious 9. In an interview with Empire, Sung Kang expressed his gratitude over how much fans cared about his character.
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“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, this whole Fast & Furious journey. How do you get killed off multiple times and keep coming back? Like, come on. This is crazy… “The whole #JusticeForHan thing – it made me think, ‘Wow, there are actually people that appreciate the work I did as an actor. In my own Hollywood struggle as an Asian-American, in your darkest hours, you go, ‘Wow, there are actually people from all over the world that appreciate what I did with that character.'”

No explanation has been provided so far for why or how Han is able to come back from the dead. But considering the on-again-off-again relationship that the Fast & Furious franchise has with real-world logic, it should be easy to explain Han’s return. In any case, what fans want to see is Han back on screen being a badass with the rest of Dominic Toretto’s crew of protagonists, not long and involved explanations regarding his death and resurrection.

The biggest question that fans have regarding Han’s return is whether the movie will address the elephant in the room, the fact that Han’s killer Deckard Shaw is now an unofficial member of Dom’s group. In a past interview, filmmaker Justin Lin, who left the Fast & Furious franchise after directing several installments, before returning for F9, hinted that a major reason for his return was to ensure true justice for Han.

“Han means so much to me because he was a character before Fast & Furious. Somebody asked me about Han and [Deckard] Shaw. I was like: ‘Wait, what? Shaw is at the barbecue in 8?’ [laughs] Really, I was so confused. One of the big reasons to come back was I felt like we needed to correct something.”

How Han will finally get justice against Shaw remains to be seen. It is unlikely that Han will get to kill the latter character, but a minor fight scene does seem warranted at the very least, possibly along with a heartfelt apology from Shaw before the two partner-up to take on the film’s new villain.

Directed by Justin Lin, F9 stars Vin Diesel, John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Sung Kang, with Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, and Cardi B. The film arrives in theaters on June 25, 2021. This news originated at Empire Online.

Topics: Fast and Furious 9, Fast and Furious