Is Fast X's Jason Momoa the Franchise's Best Baddie? Every Fast & Furious Villain, Ranked

Family is all well and good, but they’ve got to have someone to race. They’ve also got to have someone to threaten global armageddon. When it comes to the Fast & Furious movies, both are needed. What would these movies be without villains? They are as vital to the series as the cars.

Brian (the late Paul Walker), Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Tej (Chris Bridges), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Han (Sung Kang), and glorious Mia (Jordana Brewster) have gone up against the worst of the worst over the years, and the real magic of this series is that they continually keep villains around so they can be added into the cast. This is why Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), Jakob Toretto (John Cena), and some other fine faces are still bopping around. The franchise is racing back into theaters this weekend with Fast X, and the family is going to be up against their greatest challenge yet.

Jason Momoa is coming for the extended Toretto clan, and they'd all better buckle the hell up. 

But how do all of the series villains stack up? Do we have our favorites? We surely do. Where does Momoa fit in? We'll tell you. In honor of Fast X, it’s time to rank all the bad guys (villains, adversaries, antagonists, etc.) in this high-octane saga.

WARNING: Small spoilers follow for Fast X. Major spoilers follow for every other movie in the Fast & Furious franchise. Drive on at your peril.

15. Johnny Tran (Rick Yune)

Who? Johnny may not register because he’s not a spy, a robot, or a genetically enhanced mutant who can turn into a car. He’s just a bully with huge daddy issues, and he was the "villain" in the original The Fast and the Furious. With no slight to Yune intended, the first movie is all about the family, especially Brian and Dom. We don’t care about Johnny. Neither does the movie.

14. Riley Hicks (Gina Carano)

She pulls a betrayal, and that’s the only interesting thing about her. She’s working with Owen Shaw in Fast & Furious 6, but she can’t compete with that heat.

13. Takashi (Brian Tee)

The “Drift King” of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift has some real menace in his eyes. He’s one of the driving-based adversaries, and he’s no slouch. He's not at the same level as Brian and Dom, but he’s enough of a challenge for the heroes of the third movie.

12. Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson)

He’s not a villain. He’s never a villain. He’s a hindrance in Fast Five before he reluctantly gets swept up in the family. Before he even knows which way is up, Hobbs is flexing casts off of his arm and joining the romp. He’s been around long enough that it’s weird to think of him as anything other than an invaluable member of the team. Is he an unstoppable flesh machine? Yes. Is he a villain? No. He shouldn't even be on this list. We're sorry. 

RELATED: Where is Hobbs? Remembering Where We Left Dwayne Johnson's Fast & Furious Character

11. Carter Verone (Cole Houser)

What would Beth Dutton say? Let’s not forget that everyone’s favorite cowboy from Yellowstone once tried to face off with Brian and Roman in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Houser looks like he’s having fun playing the ever-shifting moods of this douche, and that helps the installment along. He pulls the “put a rat in a bucket, strap the bucket to a person, light the bucket on fire, see what happens” torture routine on someone, and the first movie certainly didn’t have that in it! Carter is dumber than a bag of broken brakes, but Houser makes him fun.

10. Mose Jakande (Djimon Hounsou)

Mose is a villain in Furious 7, but he's not the one you remember. The movie is dominated by another villain entirely, and Hounsou is given almost nothing to do. All of the good stuff has already been given away, so Mose is just kind of there. Still, it’s Dijmon Hounsou. There’s no way that we were going to put him any lower.

9. Jakob Toretto (John Cena)

And his name is John Cena! The stealth Toretto brother is a good adversary for much of F9. As the backstory of the Family Toretto unfolds, it becomes clear that Jakob is a good man. Cena doesn’t get to use much of his charm on this side of things, but that changes once he turns hero. Fast X deploys the full power of John Cena, and that truly makes Jakob a welcome addition. 

8. Arturo Braga (John Ortiz)

What a heinous piece of sh-t. For most of Fast & Furious, we think that Ortiz is playing Braga’s henchman, Ramon Campos. Surprise, he’s actually Braga, and he has been the whole time. It’s an interesting turn, and it works because of Ortiz. Braga is dangerous and deadly, and he makes all of the villains who came before him (save one) look like chump change. The series keeps him alive, so Brian gets to consult with him in Fast & Furious 6. Ortiz plays a Hannibal Lecter-esque scene brilliantly.

RELATED: How to Watch All the Fast & Furious Movies in Chronological Order

7. Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida)

Things got real with this man. Fast Five is commonly known as the movie where this franchise started to become what it has grown to be. A lot of that came down to a villain who was a far bigger threat than Johnny Tran. Enter this corruption-loving mother f-cker, who we just hate. We really do. We want to see him taken down so bad that we root for the family like never before. We recently discovered that Hernan left a legacy of awfulness behind in the form of his son, so he has become an even more pivotal POS character.

6. Kamata (Sonny Chiba)

This is another instance where we’re not being remotely fair, because this character has very little screen time in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The time he does have is magical. Why? Sonny Chiba, that’s why. The legend struts around clad all in white, and he’s cool as hell. He’s also dangerous, with just a hint of twirling mustache. That's all Chiba. If he was given more to do, he’d top this list. 

5. Brixton Lore (Idris Elba)

As Brixton himself says, he’s “Black Superman.” The villain of the spin-off, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, is unrelenting and nigh unstoppable. He’s partially cybernetic, he’s lethal, and he doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about your mother, either. He’s a full-on villain, no “antagonist” here. He’s not going to reform and join the barbecue. He’s the T-1000 of the series, and Idris Elba plays him with fastidiously evil glee.

4. Owen Shaw (Luke Evans)

Get a load of the guy on the racing sled! Evans upped the antagonist game once again for the sixth movie, pulling moves and looking cool while pulling them. He’s a huge challenge for the family, but the real joy of his emergence is that he would prove to be a herald. We didn’t know it at the time, but he was the harbinger of the Shaw family and their rise to prominence. He changed his ways enough to help the heroes in The Fate of the Furious, and we really hope to see him again. Luke Evans deserves more recognition than he gets.

3. Cipher (Charlize Theron)

Never let her near a computer; she’ll start a nuclear war just for the fun of it. The Fate of the Furious had Cipher turning Dom against his family with a head full of dreadlocks. F9 had her secretly using Jakob while looking like a blonde Romulan. She endangered Dom’s son, and she had Elena (Elsa Pataky) shot dead. She was in charge even when she was behind bars. She could hack a shoebox if she wanted to — thankfully, she doesn’t.

Fast X brings her back yet again, this time with a whole new layer. In Theron’s hands, Cipher is hard to beat… but it’s not impossible. 

2. Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham)

Sometimes we wonder if he’s the real star of this whole thing. He hits the scene after the defeat of his brother Owen, and in Furious 7 he cuts a furious gash right across the family’s bow. He was a fierce adversary because, if nothing else, he’s Jason Statham. The man was built for movies like these. Wouldn’t you know it? The franchise enveloped him (and his brother, and mother, and sister) into the main group of heroes, and that’s where he has remained. We hated him for the death of Han (Sung Kang), but somehow Han returned. All good?

RELATED: Every Celebrity Cameo & Surprise Returning Character in Fast X

Pair him with anyone and you have gold. Han, Dom, his brother Owen for a tag team baby save, a spin-off with Hobbs, it doesn’t matter. Thankfully he’s with the good guys now, but when he wasn’t? Watch out. He was the most ruthless, frightening, and entertaining adversary that the family ever faced... until…

1. Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa)

“Oh Dommy!” Yes, Jason Momoa really is that good.

A month ago, we’d have laughed in someone’s face if they said a Fast Saga villain would come along to knock Deckard Shaw out of our top spot. Fast X made it happen with Dante Reyes, the son of the villain from Fast Five. Back to whack and out for blood, Jason Momoa takes the role and lights himself on fire with it.

Momoa’s Dante is the highlight of Fast X. He may be the highlight of cinema itself. Scorsese would agree! He is truly (truly truly) outrageous, and he’s sociopathic. He’s a cold-blooded murderer. He’s the most devious and cunning villain that the family has ever faced, yet at the same time, he’s a three ring circus of fun. No one in these movies is having a better time than Momoa, who plays the role like it’s an audition reel for the Joker. When he’s not painting his toenails, he’s talking to corpses. When he’s not doing that, he’s throwing a giant bomb at the Vatican.

If Reyes proves to be the last villain in the series, then they’ll be going out on their highest note. Make a million Dante Reyes spin-off movies, we’ll watch them all. If you're taking requests, put Jason Statham, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, and Richard Ayoade in them too. Dressed like a bat! He digs it. 

Do you agree with our rankings? To be certain of where your own rankings stand, go and see Fast X in theaters starting May 19. Buy tickets here!