EastEnders fans fear Max Branning 'hasn't changed' after spotting cruel return detail

Christmas has come early for EastEnders fans. After being treated to a dramatic return for icon Zoe Slater this week, viewers were left reeling as it was revealed that she's not the only familiar face returning to Walford. Max Branning is back.

Amid the excitement at the return Jake Woods' dodgy but loveable character, some fans noticed a cruel detail that proves Max hasn't changed at all. Like always, he's prioritising women over his family and is coming back not for his children, but for a girl.

Wednesday's (3 September) episode ended on a cliffhanger as Max's return began. Since Michelle Ryan's Zoe came back, her dark secrets have threatened to catch up with her and she's made it clear that someone is after her.

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After she's shot, her phone is answered by a worried Kat. While Kat never learns whose on the end of the phone, viewers discovered it was Max.

In another episode, the soap dived into Max and Zoe's past, revealing a romantic relationship between the two and it is this that will bring him back to Walford. While fans wait for the inevitable drama that will come with his return - especially given brother Jack's involvement in Zoe's shooting - some have pointed out that it is very typical of Max to come back for a girl, a Slater no less, rather than his struggling children.

"Max Branning hasn't changed one bit," wrote one fan on X. "He wasn't coming back to help his troublesome kids he's really come back for gyal."

Another user highlighted how he was no where to be seen when his daughter Lauren was struggling with addiction and learning her son is blind, or when his son Oscar was released from young offenders, but when a Slater woman is in trouble, he's there "like a flash".

"Max Branning never made it back to Walford for his daughter who struggled with addiction whilst pregnant, had a blind baby, whilst looking after his son who just got young offenders… but Slater Gyal? Oh he’s there like a flash."

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Max first appeared on the show in 2006, the year after Zoe left, when he came to Walford to confront his estranged father Jim and met his own estranged son Bradley. He, his wife Tanya, and two daughters, Lauren and Abi, all moved to the Square, but the family dynamic is troubled as Max is established as a womaniser and almost the opposite of a family man.

One of Max's most controversial moments was when he had an affair with his son's on-and-off again girlfriend and later fiancee, Stacey Slater, despite his wife being pregnant with their third child. Max's relationships with Tanya, Bradley and Lauren all deteriorate after his affair is revealed.

Max continues to cycle through more relationships and cheat on more partners, often prioritising his latest fling over his children, even choosing to sleep with Lauren's best friend Lucy while Lauren is struggling with her alcoholism. His self-destructive ways even indirectly cause the death of his daughter Abi, after she falls from the roof of The Vic, having climbed up there after him.

Talking about his return Jake Wood said: “I’m over the moon to be coming home to Walford. Max has got lots of unresolved drama with many characters, so I’m sure he’ll be busy.“I’m excited to see what he’s been up to, and what is next for the character, but if his last 15 years in the Square are anything to go by, I’m sure there will be plenty of chaos.”

Chaos already reigns for the Branning family so fans are sure Jake is right and expect even more drama. One fan went so far as to call his return "legendary" whilst summarising his character.

"Max Branning is back," they wrote. "Liar, conman, worst father, best womaniser, biggest manipulator, gaslighter, storyteller, dodgy insurance salesman, loveable rogue, traitorous husband, cowardly all-rounder, walking mid-life crisis, bald yet ginger king.

"This is legendary."

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