The Fast & Furious movies have been through several different phases over the years, with one of the biggest changes being Brian’s role in the story following Paul Walker’s tragic death. Fast & Furious‘ more stylistic transformations have been a controversial talking point of the franchise, but the decision to move away from street racing and cars admittedly has its pros and cons. Moving toward more action helped the Fast & Furious movies remain commercially successful and continue drawing in audiences, but it also means that the saga lost its idenтιтy.

Incidentally, many of Fast & Furious’ problems started with the introduction of the Agency in Furious 7. This forced the series away from its grounded roots into a more sprawling story of espionage and terrorism, which gave Dom and his friends much more power than they’d ever had before. However, the franchise never knew what to do with the Agency or its ᴀssociated characters, using them merely as tools to give the protagonists access to cooler tech and vehicles. Characters like Mr. Nobody and Little Nobody helped facilitate many of Fast & Furious’ most ridiculous scenes, but they were quickly forgotten about.

Scott Eastwood’s Little Nobody Was Clearly Meant To Replace Brian In The Fate Of The Furious

The Character Served To Offset Brian’s Absence

While The Fate of the Furious did a good job of giving Little Nobody his own personality and unique traits to separate him from the other characters, it was still clear that his character was intended to be a stand-in for Brian following his departure in the previous film. Paul Walker’s character left a notable absence in the group, and somebody needed to fill that hole. Little Nobody’s taste in cars was similar, his banter with Roman mirrored Brian’s own personality, and his strong moral compᴀss served as a familiar contrast to Dom’s recklessness.

However, the character was ultimately forced into a role where he didn’t necessarily belong. The Fate of the Furious was making audiences question who this character was and why they should care about him. Though Scott Eastwood’s performance was charming enough, and his chemistry with the rest of the cast allowed for a handful of well-deserved laughs, the character just wasn’t developed enough to truly fit in. And with Brie Larson’s character serving as the connection to Mr. Nobody, it’s unclear what Little Nobody’s purpose was anymore.

Little Nobody’s Character Continued Fast & Furious’ Tiresome Special Agents Trend

The Agency Is Just A Plot Device

Unfortunately, Fast & Furious’ inability to make Little Nobody fit into the narrative is indicative of a much larger problem that’s plagued many of the franchise’s later sequels. Ever since the introduction of Mr. Nobody and the Agency in Furious 7, the series has been unusually focused on special agents despite never making characters like Little Nobody actually interesting. Kurt Russell’s character was originally little more than a plot device, as the story needed a reason to give Dom and his friends unlimited security clearance. When he wasn’t needed anymore, Mr. Nobody was simply forgotten about.

The same happened with Little Nobody: he was introduced in The Fate of the Furious as a replacement for Brian, but when that narrative thread didn’t go anywhere, the character was discarded and his screen time vastly reduced. These examples demonstrate the main problem with the Fast & Furious franchise in its current state, as it continues to throw new ideas at the wall and drift further away from the grounded, intentional storytelling of the original movies.

Why Little Nobody Was Not In F9 (But Returned In Fast X)

Fast & Furious Ignored Little Nobody In F9

While the likely reason for Little Nobody’s exclusion from F9 is that the story didn’t need him, the in-universe explanation is that he was simply operating from the shadows. He was still working for the Agency during the events of F9, but his missions no longer overlapped with those of Dom and his friends. As of Fast X, there’s been no explanation for the character’s separation from Mr. Nobody during this story.

Little Nobody returned in Fast X to fill the hole left by Kurt Russell’s character, teaming up with Dom during his conflict with Dante in Rome. While it seemed like Fast X was ready to kill Eastwood’s character off for good, he ultimately survived the encounter and pulled away from the Agency when Dom and his friends were declared enemies of the state. This places Little Nobody in an interesting, unique position ahead of Fast & Furious‘ next movie, as he’ll be forced to balance his allegiance to the Agency with his loyalty to Dom.