The mainline Fast & Furious series continues after four years with the release of F9 in June 2021, as Dominic Toretto and his crew return to cinemas around the world. In their fight against Dom’s brother Jakob and Charlize Theron’s conniving Cipher, the protagonists had a task ahead of them that required most to develop further as characters.
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Some of them got more to do than others, with their development also more appealing to watch. F9 also had setups for the tenth installment of the series, which served to bolster some characters’ arcs while holding back the rest to an extent. It’s interesting to see how each main character stacks up when their individual arcs are considered.
Cipher
![Charlize Theron as Cipher in a flight simulator in F9]()
Unlike her role in the previous movie, Cipher wasn’t directly involved with the story, being a prisoner to Jakob for the majority of F9. It was only after she manipulated Jakob’s men to turn on him that her importance came through, although even then she was unable to take down Dom through her drone.
Cipher was mainly an additional villain whose character remained the same as it was in The Fate and the Furious, and it’s clear that she will have a bigger part in the sequel. For F9, Cipher left more to be desired as her confinement to her cell didn’t do her character any favors.
Mr. Nobody
Mr. Nobody appeared sporadically through archive footage and flashback sequences to provide the team with their mission and explaining how Han survived his attack from Shaw. Overall, he had a better role in The Fate of the Furious, as he didn’t appear in real-time during F9.
Still, he remained an interesting character due to Mr. Nobody pulling off Han’s escape to perfection that was left mysterious enough for viewers to remain intrigued by who Mr. Nobody is truly supposed to be. It would still have been better had his disappearance been resolved.
Letty Ortiz
Out of all the characters from the original Fast & Furious series, Letty’s personality has remained largely the same. She didn’t get to show off motherly instincts toward Dom’s son in F9, but she still had a good arc leading the female characters independent of Dom’s plans.
While this was a nice change from the norm of Letty following Dom’s lead, her individual arc didn’t have any personal stakes involved and she never needed to prove herself either. Nevertheless, her action-based role was more welcome than before, which should set up for a larger part to play in the sequel.
Mia Toretto
After sitting out the previous movie, Mia returned for F9 due to her role as Jakob and Dom’s sister. However, she didn’t get directly involved in their conflict, with Jakob having no bad blood with her. It would have been better if Mia had a hand in the family issue, though, as the Toretto drama would’ve been complete.
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Still, it was great to see her getting the chance to whoop some bad guys, as this is one area Mia was never given a chance to shine. In F9, Mia developed into a far more fearless person who didn’t shy away from a fight.
Tej Parker
Tej’s role was always to have a hand in preparing the cars and gadgets the protagonists used in their fights, with F9 taking this a step further as he went to space with Roman. Unlike before, Tej had a heroic part to play due to his inclusion in a mission that was likely to kill him.
Although his main dialogue remained to make fun of Roman, Tej did show more care for the former as opposed to simply calling him dumb. Mainly, it was Tej’s part in getting out of his comfort zone and putting himself more at risk that stood out for him in F9.
Roman Pearce
The designated comic relief of the group doled out some more one-liners as always but had a slow build toward being taken more seriously. He was the one who truly took a big risk as he was never sure of the plan to go to space yet followed through, showing Roman’s inherently noble character.
Roman didn’t take as much teasing as he did before, making him a more formidable individual compared to previous appearances. He played the supporting role required of him to perfection while setting up a potential serious arc to come for the next movie.
Ramsey
Ramsey seemed like the last character who needed a Fast & Furious spin-off before F9, yet she changed this perception in this movie. That comes down to her finally getting into the action, as she overcame her fear of driving to be the person who even took the wheel while Dom was in the same vehicle.
Another aspect Ramsey improved in was to present a comedic side of her, as her nervousness over moving away from simply being a hacker brought hilariously dorky moments from her. Out of the characters who didn’t have a personal stake in F9, Ramsey’s arc was definitely the most engaging.
Han Lue
F9 had a task in hand to explain how Han survived, and while it was out of the realm of believability, Han was given a heartwarming arc to make up for it. As it was, he wanted to protect his adoptive daughter, and keeping her safe was his main story.
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It allowed Han to remain interesting apart from the intrigue behind his survival, as he can now move on from Giselle’s demise and take on the role of a father. Of course, his confrontation with Shaw in the stinger ensures that fans will want to see a lot more of Han.
Jakob Toretto
It was expected of Jakob to turn into a good guy as the Fast & Furious formula usually sees a villain reforming, but F9 surprised audiences by providing the explanation of the Toretto patriarch’s demise through Jakob’s role in it.
It made Jakob’s beef with Dom understandable, as he had his own point of view that the latter just never saw. Due to this, Jakob became more of a tragic villain, as deep down he wanted Dom’s love back and felt guilty for his part in their father’s demise.
Dominic Toretto
The main character had the most engaging arc once again, as Dom’s backstory had another layer added to it. This time, it was his most personal yet as he solved the ambiguity behind the death of his beloved father, reconciled with his brother, and kept his son safe.
Dom didn’t dominate the story as before either, which gave viewers enough space from him to appreciate Dom’s return to the screen. Unlike before, Dom learned how to control his rage and admit his mistakes, which allowed him to be a multifaceted protagonist.
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