When picturing the Fast and Furious franchise, what first comes to mind? The bombastic action set pieces? Street races? Family? Well, one thing is for sure, the Fast and Furious franchise isn't particularly well known for its roster of villains. However, the franchise's collection of villains is, for the most part, spectacular, especially considering the crew's humble beginnings as street racers.
Throughout the franchise, Dom's crew have come up against world-dominating hackers, drug cartels, a sociopathic murderer, and ex-government spies. So without further ado, here are the 10 best villains in the Fast and Furious franchise.
10 Riley Hicks
As a villain in Fast Six, Riley Hicks was a great surprise villain who double-crossed her partner Luke Hobbs and the rest of Dom's team. Working for Owen Shaw's team, Riley Hicks fooled everyone around her and the audience into thinking she was a trustworthy member of the team. Hicks was an incredibly deadly officer, whose physicality and hardcore demeanor were all thanks to Gina Carano's awesome performance.
9 Luke Hobbs
Luke Hobbs is easily one of the best characters in the franchise, and his antagonistic introduction in Fast Five skyrocketed the franchise to the multi-billion-dollar success it is today. As a villain, Hobbs was intimidating and incredibly cool, his hilarious yet awesome one-liners enhanced his character, and the stature of Dwayne Johnson made it hard not to love him. But as much as we loved Hobbs as the villain, he shines as a core member of Dom's crew. His absence has been sorely missed.
8 DK Takashi
Tokyo Drift may not be the best movie in the franchise, but since its release almost two decades ago, the third Fast and Furious movie has become a cult classic. The drifting and racing were exhilarating; the introduction to Han was amazing, and the villain, DK Takashi, was a great antagonist for the film he is a part of. Sure, DK may not be as sadistic or world-dominating as many of the other villains on the list, but he works great as a sort of high-school bully character and the performance from Brian Tee was compelling.
7 Hernan Reyes
The villains of Fast Five were great. With Luke Hobbs being the most memorable of the film's plethora of villains, as well as Hernan Reyes being a compelling stereotype of the heist movie genre. The kingpin of Rio de Janeiro serves as the main antagonist of Fast Five, and although the character lacks any real depth, the power that Reyes holds over Rio and the performance from Joaquim de Almeida made Reyes a greatly intimidating villain.
6 Jakob Toretto
Living in his older brother's shadow, Jakob Toretto was an incredible villain in F9. The performance from John Cena was engaging, and the character's backstory delivered a greatly fascinating villain, especially compared to the other irritating villains of that movie. Hiding the truth behind his father's death led to some brilliant dynamics between Jakob and Dom, after Dom always believed that it was Jakob who killed his father.
Although we do prefer Jacob as a protagonist, his time as a villain, and battling against Dom and his crew were definitely some of the better aspects of F9.
5 Cipher
Charlize Theron is one of the best modern-day action stars, and her role in Fate of the Furious was highly anticipated, especially considering her roles in Mad Max: Fury Road and Atomic Blonde. Despite her questionable hairstyles and lack of action scenes, the action superstar certainly did not disappoint.
Cipher is an incredibly powerful villain, who has access to every piece of technology on the planet. Not only that, but she is also an incredibly capable hacker who even puts Ramsey to shame. If it wasn't for Theron, however, Cipher would have felt like an utterly lackluster villain.
4 Deckard Shaw
Deckard Shaw had the two best introductions of any villain or character, for that matter, of any franchise. The first time we see his character is during a phone call with Dominic Toretto, where he blows up Han's car in Tokyo. The second is a brilliant one through a devastated hospital that Deckard Shaw laid to waste, showcasing the extent of his skills. Deckard was a phenomenal villain and foil to Dominic Toretto and his family, but Deckard shines as a protagonist, constantly throwing insults at the Rock's expense.
3 Brixton Lore
Brixton Lore, or "the Black Superman" is easily the most powerful villain in the franchise. His cybernetic enhancements allow Brixton to predict his enemies' next moves, as well as increase his speed and durability, making him near indestructible. An entire building fell on him, and he still walked away without a scratch.
Appearing in the spin-off movie Hobbs and Shaw, Idris Elba delivers a phenomenally intimidating and incredibly fun performance. With Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, and Vanessa Kirby in the lead roles, Elba does more than enough to stand out as an exceptional antagonist to the powerhouse protagonists.
2 Owen Shaw
Fast 6 is one of the best Fast and Furious movies in the franchise. The exceptional stunts, awesome cast, and compelling story make for a great action movie. However, Fast 6 would not be as great without its highly intelligent villain, Owen Shaw. Owen Shaw, played by the amazing Luke Evans, is a former SAS-turned-military and the younger brother of Deckard Shaw. Owen was responsible for an assassination attempt on Letty Ortiz, but after that failed, he recruited Letty to his team after losing her memory.
Owen's numerous heists across the world were an attempt to collect military resources in order to build nightshade, an EMP device, to sell to the highest bidder. It's later revealed that Owen was corrupted by Cipher, leading the Shaw family to seek their revenge on her. Owen is an incredibly proficient driver and combatant as evident with his military past, but what elevates Owen above the rest is his intellect, always finding a way to be three steps ahead of his enemies.
1 Dante Reyes
The sociopathic antagonist of Fast X, Dante Reyes is without a doubt one of the best villains of 2023. Jason Momoa's off-the-wall performance is simply sensational, as the actor is clearly having the time of his life tormenting Dom, spouting out hilarious one-liners, and wearing some truly stunning, creative, and flashy costumes
As the son of Hernan Reyes, Dante seeks revenge on Dom for stealing his family's money and killing his father, (even though Hobbs killed Hernan Reyes, but that’s a story for another day and maybe a question the post-credits can answer) Dante spends the entire movie wreaking havoc on Dom and his entire family, defeating Cipher and claiming all of her overpowered tech, essentially giving the already sociopathic Dante the power of god.
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