Cipher Has To Join Dom’s Team In Fast X, Right?

Fast X looks like it is hinting toward a major Fast and Furious twist: Cipher (Charlize Theron) will join Dom Toretto’s team. Charlize Theron joined the franchise in The Fate of the Furious, as the notorious cyber-terrorist, Cipher. She kidnaps Dom’s son, Brian, and the boy’s mother, Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky), forcing Dom to betray his family and work for her. Although Dom is able to save his son, with the help of Owen and Deckard Shaw, Cipher has Elena shot and escapes. Cipher then returned to torment the Toretto family once again in F9: The Fast Saga, by pitting Jakob (John Cena) against Dom.
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Described by Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody as “the ultimate definition of high-tech terrorism”, Cipher is perhaps the most powerful antagonist that Dom Toretto and his family have ever faced. The Fast X trailer promises that her return will mean nothing but pain for Toretto, with its repeated teases that his son will once again be under direct threat from Cipher and her new ally, Dante (Jason Momoa). However, with Dante seemingly pulling the strings, the Fast X trailer also looks as if it is setting up a major Cipher twist: she will eventually betray Dante in the film and join the Torettos in a tentative alliance.

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Fast X’s Trailer Is Already Hinting At A Cipher Villain Twist

Although the Fast X trailer appears to be reintroducing Charlize Theron’s Cipher as a villain once again, there are hints that she could switch sides. One of the reasons that make Cipher so dangerous a villain is her pattern of going rogue. In F9: The Fast Saga, Cipher launches her own plan to kill Dom, once she realizes that Otto and Jakob’s plan is destined to fail. Unlike Dom, Cipher has no sense of loyalty and is more than willing to turn on her own allies. In the process of her attempt on Dom’s life in F9: The Fast Saga, she kills Otto, her former ally.

Thus, this puts her alliance with Dante in Fast X in an awkward position. Should Dante do anything that Cipher deems unnecessary or inappropriate, she would be more than willing to turn on him. Given Dante’s aim to destroy Dom’s family, this would give Cipher the opportunity to align herself with Toretto once again. However, given that the footage in the Fast X trailer includes a fight between Cipher and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), not everyone on the Toretto crew may want to team up with her.

Why Cipher Switching Sides Makes Sense As A Fast & Furious Villain

If Cipher does indeed end up allying herself with the Toretto crew against Jason Momoa’s Dante, this would be far from the first time that a villain has switched sides. Deckard Shaw was introduced as having seemingly killed Han in Fast & Furious 6. However, by the time of The Fate of the Furious, Shaw switched sides to save Dom’s son from Cipher. The Fast X trailer also shows that Shaw and Han have seemingly put their differences aside in light of the threat that Dante represents. Jakob Toretto was also introduced as a villain in F9: The Fast Saga but redeemed himself by the time the credits rolled.

Therefore, Cipher switching sides in Fast X would be far from the first time that a villain had done so in the Fast and Furious franchise. However, given her litany of attempts to kill Dom and the rest of his family and crew, on top of her aversion to loyalty, Cipher’s villain redemption could be short-lived. Whether or not Cipher does indeed team up with the Toretto crew, the Fast X trailer is certainly hinting towards this consistent Fast and Furious villain twist.

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