Fast X’s Gisele twist is bad news for another member of Dominic Toretto’s family ahead of Fast & Furious 11. Gal Gadot’s Gisele first appeared in Fast & Furious (2009) as an associate of Braga who got close to Toretto and eventually helped him take down the crime boss. She would then return in Fast Five as part of Dominic Toretto's family for the Rio heist. Gisele continued to be part of the crew until Fast & Furious 6, in which the character died after falling from an airplane that was about to take flight.
Gisele and Han technically died within a year of each other in what was originally a very tragic ending to a fan-favorite couple. However, not only did Han return in F9, but Gisele is now back as well. Han and Gisele’s reunion in the upcoming Fast & Furious 11 will certainly be emotional, assuming that the former does not know that the latter is alive. Still, it means that another Fast and Furious character will probably stay dead, which is quite rare in the franchise.
Fast X’s Gisele Return Means Jakob Toretto Will Remain Dead
Fast & Furious 11 wouldn’t bring back Jakob right after Gisele.
Gisele returned to the franchise at the end of Fast X, which revealed the character had been alive this whole time. Gisele had seemingly died in Fast & Furious 6, although her body was never shown. Gisele’s return in Fast X was yet another example of Fast and Furious bringing characters back from the dead, a problem the franchise had for several years now. Still, considering that Fast X ended with the Gisele reveal, it is safe to assume no other dead character will surprisingly return in Fast & Furious 11.
Whereas Toretto and Little Brian will surely be okay by the time Fast & Furious 11 begins, Jakob’s death seems very definitive.
In other words, John Cena’s Jakob Toretto will most likely stay dead in the next movie. Jakob’s death in Fast X was one of the film’s biggest moments, arguably holding more emotional impact than the cliffhanger ending involving Dom and his son. Whereas Toretto and Little Brian will surely be okay by the time Fast & Furious 11 begins, Jakob’s death seems very definitive. Jakob dying while protecting his nephew was a nice conclusion to the character’s story considering he was introduced as a villain in F9. Cena’s character completed his redemption arc between F9 and Fast X.
Fast & Furious’ Death Problem Only Got Worst After Fast X
Letty, Han, and Gisele have all returned.
Fast and Furious has a serious problem with retconning deaths and messing with the franchise’s timeline so that actors can return. It all started with Han appearing in Fast & Furious (2009) after dying in the previous film, Tokyo Drift. While Han’s “first return” was not actually a return from the dead, it was still a significant timeline retcon that allowed Sung Kang’s character to be around despite his death in Tokyo Drift. The same thing happened in Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6. Han’s death would then be retconned for good when he returned in F9.
Mr. Nobody was behind Han's fakeout death in Tokyo Drift .
Letty was the first presumed dead Fast and Furious character to come back. The character was killed offscreen in Fast & Furious (2009), an event that set the narrative for the rest of the film. However, at the end of Fast Five, Luke Hobbs learns that Letty is alive and working for a criminal organization. The circumstances of Letty’s return were addressed in Fast & Furious 6, in which Gisele died. While the “Justice for Han” campaign made a good argument about Han and Gisele deserving better, bringing back the latter continued the franchise’s death problem.
Which Characters Will Stay Dead In Fast & Furious?
Names like Elena and Jakob will likely remain dead.
Now that Letty, Han, and Gisele have all returned, it will be interesting to see which deaths will stick by the end of the Fast Saga. Elena Neves, who first appeared in Fast Five and had a son with Dominic Toretto, was killed by Cipher in Furious 7. Considering that Elena’s death was the most explicit one in the franchise – she was shot in front of Dom – it is arguably impossible for Fast and Furious to retcon it. Elena’s fate was even addressed in Fast X with the introduction of her sister, Isabel.
Jesse in The Fast and the Furious and Vince in Fast Five are two other major Fast and Furious deaths that might never be retconned considering there was not much else to their stories. Although it would have been fun to see more of Cena’s Jakob Toretto interacting with the family, his death was one of the few moments in Fast X that actually had stakes and consequences. Hopefully, Fast & Furious 11 will not undo any other deaths, although the film does have to resolve the plane crash cliffhanger.
