After meeting Brian O’Connor and Dominic Toretto in 2001’s The Fast & the Furious, and then following along with the former character alongside Roman Pearce in 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious, 2006’s The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift took us to a different corner of this car-centric universe. Aside from Vin Diesel cameoing as Dom at the end of the story, Tokyo Drift starred all-new characters, with Lucas Black’s Sean Boswell moving to Tokyo and joining the city’s drifting community under the watchful eye of Sung Kang’s Han Lue. Although F9 is finally bringing Han back into the fold, the upcoming movie will also see Sean being prominently featured in the Fast & Furious franchise since Tokyo Drift, and Black is jazzed about that.
Yes, Lucas Black did show up 2015’s Furious 7, but that was a cameo intended to show how the Fast & Furious franchise had finally caught back up with Tokyo Drift’s ending after winding the clock back in 2009’s Fast & Furious. Regarding that appearance, as well as Sean Boswell’s role in F9, here’s what Black had to say to EW:
There was always talk of bringing my character back. And so when they called me for 7, you just want to know what that entails. It was a small role, more of like connecting the dots with Han, which I think was good and I was willing to do. But, for me, I just want to know the plan for Sean Boswell, and not really just to be stuck in there. I think the producers and writers and studio realized that the fans really wanted to see the Fast family and everyone that was involved, the hero characters, united in the same movie. So I know everyone's been super excited about F9, and we get to reunite with everyone in the other movies, and contribute in a big way to the success at the end. And so they made it happen for F9, and we'll see what happens from there.
Nine years passed between Tokyo Drift and Furious 7’s respective releases, followed by an additional six years between Furious 7 and F9. So it’s been a decade and a half since Sean Boswell’s Fast & Furious debut, i.e. the only time he’s been deeply explored in this franchise. While it’s still unclear how Sean factors into F9, Lucas Black was obviously pleased to be brought back after all this time. With two more main Fast & Furious movies left to go, we’ll just have to wait and see whether Black is brought back again or if F9 is intended to be his third and final appearance. No doubt Tokyo Drift fans would love to see him back behind the wheel before this saga concludes.
As previously noted, it’s fitting that Sean Boswell is appearing in F9 considering this movie will also feature the long-awaited return of Han Lue. In Tokyo Drift, Han was thought to have been killed in a car crash (caused by Deckard Shaw, as shown in Fast & Furious 6’s mid-credits scene/early into Furious 7), but somehow he’s still alive. And they’re not the only Tokyo Drift alums who are back for F9, as we’ll also reunite with Bow Wow’s Twinkie and Jason Tobin’s Earl Hu.
You can enjoy the Tokyo Drift reunion when F9 races into theaters on June 25, with the movie’s other notable players including John Cena, Charlize Theron and Jordana Brewster. Keep track of what else will play on the big screen later in the year with our upcoming 2021 movies schedule.
