“It just can’t be a regular snack,” Justin Lin told Collider in an interview in 2021, ahead of the Blu-ray release of F9. “And talking to Sung, I think they had to go — like, they had to import those crackers, you know? And I was adamant, I was like, ‘We cannot fake Han’s snacks. It doesn’t matter.'” This is why you never see Han eating Cheez-its or M&Ms; he’s always munching on something you wouldn’t typically find in an American vending machine. For a character who hails from Japan, he’s got Japanese snacks like Kameda Seika Kakinotane Rice Crackers or Meiji Hello Panda Cookies. Lin added: “Having worked with Sung, like even the way he tosses it, you know, it had to be natural. So I remember that was a big thing.”
While all of this may sound ridiculous, it’s part of the authenticity that helps sell the character. While most viewers may not notice, you can expect Japanese audiences to question what’s going on. It’s a similar kind of attention to detail that inspired William Hartnell, the first Doctor on “Doctor Who,” to decide the exact function of every button and lever on the TARDIS control panel and keep it consistent (via “About Time”). Keen-eyed viewers might have picked up on the fact that he was pressing buttons at random, and it would’ve made the show feel a little less authentic.
As cartoonish and absurd as “Fast & Furious” has gotten over the years — in the latest entry, they ended up in space — the franchise has always seemed to understand that when it comes to the little things that make a character seem real, being authentic and consistent is still crucial.
