Anna Daniels
In Tokyo Drift, Bow Wow wasn’t making a cameo as himself, the rap star. He’s had a side hustle as an actor for nearly 20 years, first appearing in the 2001 film Carmen: A Hip Hopera before landing roles in Entourage, Like Mike, CSI: Cyber, Roll Bounce, and Scary Movie 5. For the third Fast and Furious film, Bow Wow was in character as Twinkie, the best friend of the film’s protagonist, Sean Boswell, played by Lucas Black. Twinkie and Sean bonded as children of military families often left alone due to a nomadic childhood, and Twinkie is who introduced Sean to the street racing circuit that makes up the core of the film’s story.
The most important point here, however, is who they both know: Han Lue, portrayed by Sung Kang. Longtime Fast and Furious fans will remember Han seemingly died in Tokyo Drift as result of a crash that, when the film was first released in 2006, appeared to be part of a street race. Fast and Furious 6 twisted that plot point by revealing that Han was actually murdered by erstwhile antagonist Deckard Shaw, played by Jason Statham. The plot twisted again with the first trailer for F9, which confirmed that Han isn’t dead at all. Surprise!
The other half of that surprise is the revelation that Lucas Black will be returning as Sean, likely to explain how Han got away with his little death-faking scheme. It’s entirely possible that Sean and Twinkie have remained thick-as-thieves buddies all this time and have stowed Han away, feeding him his snacks and keeping him safe. That may not result in a lot of screen time for Bow Wow in F9, but the potential for that storyline to play out represents something massively consequential.
Elsewhere in the F9 trailer, Sean’s other friend from Tokyo Drift, a car modder named Earl Hu (Jason Tobin), is seen slapping an honest-to-god jet engine on a tiny old Pontiac that Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) later drives. If he gets to do something fun, surely Sean and Twinkie will get to do more.
Written by: Looper
