Why is Jason Statham not in Fast and Furious 9: The Saga

Jason Statham, who portrays villain-turned-family member Deckard Shaw in the high-octane franchise, will be sitting out the upcoming ninth installment, titled F9 — but the reason has more to do with logistics than anything else. 
Jason Statham isn’t in Fast & Furious 9 because of scheduling conflicts. In an interview with MTV News, Dwayne Johnson mentioned that F9 was prepping for and starting production while he and Statham were doing interviews and promotion for Hobbs & Shaw. Specifically, he says “As of now, we’re not in Fast 9 because they’re getting ready to start shooting. But who knows with Fast 10 and down the road, you never know.” From the sound of that, Statham and Johnson missed out on F9 because their commitments to Hobbs & Shaw wouldn't allow it.

Why Jason Statham Isn't Returning For Fast & Furious 9

Statham, along with franchise co-star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, starred in last summer's spin-off Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, which became the fourth-highest grossing movie in the entire franchise and opened up whole new possible storytelling avenues for the series. Johnson will also be absent from the festivities for F9, for the same reason as Statham: the tail end of production on Hobbs & Shaw conflicted with the commencement of shooting on F9.

Johnson confirmed as much during a 2019 interview with MTV News in advance of the release of Hobbs & Shaw, indicating that he had no doubt that the franchise's other stars — including Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and newcomer John Cena — would have no trouble carrying the load. 

Jason Statham isn’t going to be playing Deckard Shaw in Fast & Furious 9 for a pretty mundane reason: he was busy filming Hobbs & Shaw. In his series debut in Fast & Furious 6, Shaw quickly established himself as a prominent villain. In a flashback, he’s shown driving Han’s car off the road back in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Following that and a villainous turn in Furious 7, Fate of the Furious went to great lengths to redeem Shaw, ending with Dom making him part of the family despite what he’s done.

The absence of Shaw from F9 sits oddly with fans, many of whom have not let go of the favorites’ killing of Han without Shaw facing justice. With Han coming back into the F9 trailer, it seems like the perfect chance to bring that backup. Han is alive again, and Shaw has a chance to deal with what he has done. It would be here if there are a time and a place for salvation, but it could be Fast & Furious 10, which Statham could still be a part of.

There is also a possibility of a series of Hobbs & Shaw complicating things a little. There’s still no evidence, but it seems like a no-brainer despite its financial success. Statham was a writer for Hobbs & Shaw’s first film and would probably continue as a sequel. That could delay his involvement in future installments of the main series, which would require more time for him to become an actor and producer and the prospect of further planning issues.