Over the years, the Fast & Furious franchise has introduced many great female characters. But, let's be honest, beyond Letty and Mia, hardly any of these women have really stuck. And that's why casual fans might need a bit of a refresher on who Elena is in the Fast & Furious movies. As played by Elsa Pataky, the character hasn't had a large role in the franchise since her debut in Fast Five, but you're going to want to remember what happened to Elena in the Fast & Furious movies before going to see The Fate of the Furious.
As stated above, Elena burst onto the Fast & Furious scene in 2011's Fast Five. A Brazilian cop, Elena was recruited by Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to help him track down fugitives Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) where they were hiding in Brazil. She acted on the right side of the law, but developed a mutual attraction with Dom — the two bonded as they were both mourning the loves of their lives. And, in the end, she went away with him. The two lived together until Fast & Furious 6, when Dom found out Letty was still alive. And the last we saw Elena, in Furious 7, she was leaving her job working in the U.S. with Hobbs.
Elena returns again in The Fate of the Furious and reveals the real reason she stopped working with Hobbs in Furious 7 — spoiler alert — she was pregnant with Dom's baby. (Don't try to figure out the timeline, just accept it.) Fans of the Fast & Furious franchise know that the films are all about one thing: family. Without giving too much away, just know that Elena and her child will feature heavily in the eighth film in the franchise. Whether or not Elena survives the movie to appear in future Fast & Furious films... well, you'll just have to wait and see.
