Does Leon return in Fast and Furious 10? Fast X, the first part of the saga’s finale, is finally here – but is Leon in it, and if not, where is he?
In our review, we wrote: “Fast X won’t welcome any new apostles to the familia’s way of cinema; this is a hysterical, NOS-fuelled ode to big-screen ridiculousness that’s beyond parody.”
Dominic Toretto’s family has grown quite a bit over the past 20 years, but one earlier member of his crew hasn’t been seen since The Fast and the Furious: Leon, played by Johnny Strong in the 2001 movie.
The franchise has brought characters back before: Vince returned in Fast Five, Eva Mendez made a post-credits appearance to set up Fast & Furious 6, and Han was resurrected in F9. So, is Leon in Fast X?
Is Leon in Fast X?
No, Johnny Strong doesn’t return as Leon in Fast and Furious 10.
In the first movie, Dom had four members in his crew: Letty, Jesse, Vince, and Leon. Towards the end of the film, they attempted to hijack another truck on the highway, but Letty’s car ended up spinning off the road, while Vince’s arm was tangled in the harpoon wire he used to climb onto the truck.
Dom told him to fall back to help Letty, and when Vince is airlifted to the hospital, Letty and Leon drive away. Brian later arrives at Dom’s house and asks where they are, and he says they’re “long gone.”
That’s the last time we saw him, and he’s not been mentioned since. He wasn’t shown in F9’s flashbacks, so he joined Dom’s crew after Jakob was exiled for his role in their father’s death.
In a 2017 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Strong said: “I get asked on a weekly basis by fans of my work and fans of Fast & Furious, ‘What happened to Leon?’
“If you watch the film and you understand the characters, it would be understandable that he would disappear and move on, just as he showed up.”
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We never learned much about Leon, other than he “just showed up one night and never ever left.” However, while Jesse was murdered by Johnny Tran in The Fast and the Furious, Strong doesn’t believe Leon is dead – he just thinks he had enough of Dom’s shenanigans, and he’s a bit of a “lost loner.”
“As the film progresses, towards the end, there’s a scene where Leon kind of voices his disapproval and he’s shut down by Dom, which showed at this point, Leon is doubting his leader and Dom is losing control over his gang and mission,” Strong added.
“After that, Jesse is killed, Letty and Vince almost die, so I think it’s understood that Leon had had enough of that situation. The heat had become too risky and he didn’t want anything more to do with the gang.”
Would Johnny Strong return as Leon?
Yes, Johnny Strong has said he’d consider reprising his role as Leon – but he wouldn’t do it for the sake of it.
“It would have be the right situation and it would have to make sense character and story-wise… I would hope if I was involved that it would go back to the gritty beginnings of the franchise,” he said.
“They might not be open to it, but if it’s just something for me to collect a big check and do it just to do it, then I’m not really interested.
“I love knowing that Leon is out there in that Fast & Furious universe somewhere. Because there’s no resolution to him, that’s what keeps the spirit alive. I think it’s awesome that fans still talk about a character who was probably in the movie for a total of five minutes.”
Fast X is in cinemas now, and you can check out the rest of our Fast and Furious 10 coverage below:
Fast X review | Post-credits scenes | Ending explained | Who dies? | Is Fast X streaming? | Will there be a Fast & Furious 11? | Fast X cast and characters | Fast X soundtrack | How long is Fast X runtime? | Fast X budget | Is Paul Walker in Fast X? | Meadow Walker cameo | Does Gad Gadot return? | Who does Pete Davidson play? | Is Mr Nobody in Fast X? | Is Leon in Fast & Furious 10? | Is The Rock in Fast X? | Will there be a Hobbs & Shaw 2? | Who does Alan Ritchson play? | How to watch Fast and Furious movies in order