The “Fast & Furious” films were about street racing at some point, a long time ago. They still include cars moving at breakneck speeds, but only as a component in a blockbuster machine that routinely includes high-profile espionage, military-grade shootings, multi-million dollar bank heists, and villainous plans for global annihilation. You’ve had more in common with James Bond or Mission: Impossible lately than with Gone in 60 Seconds.

As the films have grown bigger and more spectacular, their ensemble has also swelled and broadened, and with the latest issue, F9, the list of marquee names makes “Game of Thrones” look like “Waiting for Godot”. This is made difficult by the franchise’s tendency to mix characters in and out of the troupe without warning or explanation – actors are often written out and then written back in, or killed and then suddenly resuscitated. It can be very, very hard to keep track of who is who and what your business is.

Since “F9” hits theaters this weekend, here’s a handy cast explainer to keep you up to date.

At the heart of the series, Dom is a world-weary, corona-drinking street racer and car hijacker with an obsessive devotion to his family and a tense relationship with the law. He first appeared in “The Fast and the Furious” (2001, the movie that started it all) as a little Los Angeles crook with a heart of gold and has gradually become something of a freelance secret agent and globetrotter. trotting supercop. In “The Fate of the Furious” (2017) it was revealed that he had a young son.

Brian, the hero of the original series, was a police officer who went undercover as a road racer to kidnap Dom and his kidnappers. When it came time to make the arrest, Brian chose to let Dom escape, and the two have been like brothers ever since. Paul Walker died in a car accident in 2013, but instead of killing him, the films wrote Brian into peaceful retirement. He was most recently seen in the closing moments of “Furious 7” (2015), which literally ride into the sunset.

Dom’s wife and accomplice Letty was killed at the beginning of the fourth film, “Fast & Furious” (2009), after she had a conflict with a master criminal. In “Fast & Furious 6” (2013), however, it turned out that she had survived the attempted murder – albeit with severe amnesia, which temporarily led her to team up with the bad guys. At the end of the film she realized her mistake and has been back with Dom and his companions ever since.

Roman, one of Brian’s childhood friends, was featured in “2 Fast 2 Furious” (2003, the first sequel) as the silver-tongued Lothario who sits sensationally behind the wheel. Since he was called in to help with a bank robbery in “Fast Five” (2011), he’s been a mainstay of Dom’s crew and usually serves as a comic relief.

Like Roman, Tej first appeared in “2 Fast 2 Furious” and has been a regular series since “Fast Five”. He’s the crew’s gifted computer hacker, handling communications, tech, and surveillance, even though he’s ready to drive or fight if necessary. Tej and Roman have a friendly rivalry and are constantly teasing each other.

Dwayne Johnson made his debut on “Fast Five” as the beefy diplomatic security agent Luke Hobbs, the antagonist who tries to thwart Dom and his crew’s robbery schemes. After all, Dom and his friends won him over and since “Fast & Furious 6” he has been their frequent teammate and friend. Most recently he was seen in the series spin-off “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” (2019).

Dom’s sister Mia was Brian’s love interest in “The Fast and the Furious” and she continued to accompany him on his adventures. After giving birth to their first child on “Furious 7”, she and Brian retired and are back for “F9” after being sidelined in “The Fate of the Furious”.

Han, a Korean road racer living in Japan, starred in the series’ third film, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), and was killed in a car accident during the finale. In the next three sequels, however, he showed himself to be alive and well, as they obviously took place chronologically before the third film. To add to the confusion, his accidental death was rewritten as murder in “Furious 7”, using a mixture of archive footage and new footage. And now he is alive again in “F9”, for reasons that have not yet been clarified.

As the femme fatale on “Fast & Furious,” Gisele was inducted into the crew on “Fast Five” when she began a romantic relationship with Han. She died in “Fast & Furious 6” and sacrificed herself during the action-packed climax to save Han. She hasn’t been brought back to life – yet.

Ramsey, a world-famous super hacker who was saved from being kidnapped by Dom and his crew in the middle of “Furious 7”, has since been a regular guest on the series helping the team with computer problems. Tej and Roman constantly vie to win their affection.

Sean, the hero of Tokyo Drift, is a clumsy young street racer who hopes to avoid juvenile sentences by disembarking to his father in Japan. Aside from a brief cameo on “Furious 7”, he hasn’t appeared in any “Fast” film since, but surprisingly he’s back for “F9”.

As a top-secret government official with seemingly unlimited resources, Mr. Nobody hired Dom and his crew to save the world in “Furious 7” and again in “Fate of the Furious”. Think of it as the M to Dom’s James Bond.

Shaw, another hero-turned-villain, tried to wipe out Dom’s crew in “Furious 7” before teaming up with them in “The Fate of the Furious”. Most recently he played in the series spin-off “Hobbs & Shaw” and only has a small cameo in “F9”.

Deckard’s cockney-heavy mother Magdalene appeared in “The Fate of the Furious” to help Dom. She was last seen in “Hobbs & Shaw” while in prison.

Deckard’s brother Owen, meanwhile, was the villain who terrorized the crew in “Fast & Furious 6” and chased them across London before he was thrown from a plane in the middle of takeoff. He survived this fall and came to the aid of Deckard (and Dom) in “The Fate of the Furious”.

Cipher is reputedly the most talented and terrifying hacker in the world, so much so that even the notorious Anonymous collective is afraid to mess with her. In “The Fate of the Furious” she tries to start a nuclear war by holding Dom’s young son hostage and killing the baby’s mother in the process. She returns – apparently again as a villain – in “F9”.

A newcomer to the saga. Jakob is Dom’s never-before-mentioned brother and of course the main opponent of “F9”.

Dom’s love interest when Lotty was believed dead was Elena a police officer in Rio who was tapped by Hobbs for help on “Fast Five”. She had Dom’s baby without his knowing it, and was killed by Cipher shortly after telling him the news in “The Fate of the Furious”.

Persevering comic buddies Tego and Rico have accompanied each other on several of Dom’s jobs and usually show up once or twice per film for a few prat cases.

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