When Paul Walker tragically died in the midst of production on Furious 7, Brian O’Conner’s story was completed thanks to CG doubles and Walker’s own brothers. Against all odds, Brian was given a touching sendoff, but the franchise has obviously continued and the absence of Paul Walker has been very noticeable. In the first trailer for Fast X, we get to see Paul Walker return as Brian in footage from Fast Five, but it’s hard to imagine the series wrapping up without a proper appearance from the character.
Fast X director Louis Leterrier, who took over the film from Justin Lin, sat down with Total Film to break down the trailer, and spoke of bringing Paul Walker back to the franchise.
“Well, Brian is very much alive in the world of Fast & Furious, and they’ve teased him a lot in the previous movies,” Louis Leterrier explained. “In 9, we see the car coming. It’s something that is planned. This movie jumps back and forth between the past and the present. You will see Brian in the past, you won’t see Brian in the present. It’s something that everybody has to be on board with. The Walker family is still very much a part of this franchise, you’ll see how in this movie. It just has to be the right moment, the right tone. I think what James Wan did at the end of 7 was perfect. The tone was perfect. Brian has to re-enter the franchise as perfectly as he left it.” The last few years have seen incredible advancements in visual effects, as well as voice replication, so if Paul Walker’s family gives their blessing, I would be shocked if Brian didn’t make a heroic return by the time the franchise crosses the finish line.
As we saw in the Fast X trailer, Jason Momoa’s character is revealed to be the son of drug kingpin Hernan Reyes, who was the villain in Fast Five, and we’ll be revisiting the events of that film in Fast X. “So what we tried to do was to Rashomon the Fast Five safe heist, which is my favourite of all time,” Leterrier explained. “We were like, ‘What if we filmed it through the eyes of the bad guys? Where the bad guys, in that vision, are Dom and Brian, and they’re stealing this family safe?’ So we play with time. We play with perspective. That felt like a very strong thematic direction to start the movie. The movie then takes off. There’s craziness that ensues. But thematically, it’s very relatable.“
Fast X will hit theaters on May 30th, but would you like to see Paul Walker return as Brian once again?