After years of thinking that Sung Kang’s Han Lue had died during the events of Tokyo Drift/Furious 7, the character resurfaced during F9, with it being revealed that his death had been faked. However, Han didn’t return to the Fast & Furious fold alone, as during his time in hiding, he was looking after a girl named Elle, played as an adult by Anne Sawai. Strangely though, Elle was nowhere to be seen during Fast X, but Kang has shared that the 2023 new movie release was originally supposed to acknowledge her whereabouts.
Because Han and the rest of Dominic Toretto’s crew were so busy dealing with Jason Momoa’s maniacal Dantes Reyes, it makes sense why there wasn’t time to check in on Elle during the events of Fast X, but it was still unusual that she wasn’t mentioned at all. Thanks to the below statement from Kang while speaking with Insider, we at least now know that there were plans to reference her, but they were ultimately tabled:
Actually, there was a scene shot kind of hinting where she was, but it didn't make the cut. Vin [Diesel] had a great idea because he loves to talk about mythology and minute details of the characters and their origin, their background, and other characters that have connected tissue. Because the whole theme of Fast has always been family, every character has to be rooted in that. Every step that they take in their story has to be rooted in that theme and the purpose and the importance of family.
Sung Kang went on to talk about how discussions Diesel had with director Louis Leterrier and the Fast X producers about things like Han’s motivations, what makes him tick, what keeps him on the straight line, etc. The answer to all that was Elle, who essentially became Han’s adopted daughter when Mr. Nobody tasked him with taking care of her after her parents were killed. Kang then shared that Elle is “in school,” and while the filmmakers wanted to incorporate her into the Fast X story, “there’s just so much real estate. It’s probably for the best that Elle is getting an education rather than racing around and risking death around each corner. The actor continued:
Hopefully, in the next, there's more opportunity, there's more room to explore that because that's what grounds the characters and makes them relatable. Driving fast and saving the world and hair flowing, all of that, that's nice. You need that.
Warning: SPOILERS for Fast X are ahead!
The good news is that with the main Fast Saga’s finale having been expanded to a trilogy, plus Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs scoring his own spinoff (not to be confused with the previously-discussed Hobbs & Shaw 2), there are plenty of places where Elle could reappear. That’s on top of another important woman from Han’s life who’s reentered the picture. The Fast X ending revealed that Gal Gadot’s Gisele Yashar, who was thought to have died in Fast & Furious 6, is also still walking the Earth, as she was seen aboard a submarine rendezvousing with Letty Ortiz and Cipher. Perhaps after she’s done reuniting with Han (we all know it’s coming), there will come a time when Gisele will meet Elle, making the former a mother figure to the latter.
In addition to still playing in theaters, Fast X is now available on premium video on demand, and it will be released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray and DVD on August 28. If you’d rather revisit Elle’s time in F9, Max subscribers can easily stream that movie.
