Fast X: Vin Diesel Says Franchise Will Say Goodbye to Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner
The entertainment world lost a star in November 2013, and the Fast and Furious franchise lost one of its two cornerstones, as Paul Walker was killed in a tragic accident. Furious 7 was in production at the time, and the creative braintrust behind the film had to figure out how to address Walker's death on-screen. The decision was made to keep Brian O'Conner alive in memory of Walker, ending the film with his character driving off into the sunset.
Brian remains alive in the Fast universe, but there will be some closure as the series comes to an end. Vin Diesel recently spoke to Total Film about the upcoming Fast X, and he confirmed that there would be an official goodbye for Walker's character.
"That moment in 2013 when the world was struggling with his loss, the studio made a very bold and righteous and daring decision to keep Brian O'Conner alive," Diesel explained. "I will give you this without spoiling anything: I couldn't imagine this saga ending without truly saying goodbye to Brian O'Conner."
After addressing Brian O'Conner, Diesel went on to talk about the ending of the Fast series as a whole. Fast X will be the second-to-last movie in the main series.
"I've spent a lot of time putting my ear to the ground, and getting a sense of what the true fans have desired, and what their feelings are, and also just a 50,000ft view of how a saga should end – with dignity and integrity. Everything has led us to this point," Diesel said.
"I will say that you only have to look at where we are in the world, where technology is flying so fast we don't have a moment to consider the ramifications or the implications of how our future could be impacted by it, and imagine what the Toretto philosophy would be," he added. "If you think of a car as representing freedom, the antithesis of that is AI – it's driverless cars. Somewhere in there will lie the contrasting themes, the philosophies that will be at war in this finale."
Fast X hits theaters on May 19th.