Although Fast & Furious 10 will be the final film in the franchise, there's really only one fitting way to end the franchise: bring back Brian O'Conner.
Paul Walker's untimely death during the filming of his brothers, Cody and Caleb Walker.
Now, almost two movies later with Fast and Furious 9, the film's over-arching plot has continued apace. The eighth installment in the franchise, The Fate of the Furious, saw Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto coerced into helping a cyber terrorist named Cipher (Charlize Theron). Cipher had kidnapped Dom's former lover Elena Neves, along with a baby boy Dom had no idea he had fathered, threatening their lives. Dom agrees to help Cipher obtain a 'nuclear football.' The movie ends with Dom and his team fighting a submarine, Cipher escaping, and Dom naming his newfound son Brian.
What's Expected For Fast 9
The Fast & Furious 9 — which was meant to release this spring, but has now been pushed back a whole year — revolves around Dom's pleasant domestication with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and son Brian being interrupted by Cipher's return. There's also a new player in town: Dom's long-lost younger brother Jakob (John Cena), an apparent operative of Cipher's. How the film, which is expected to release April 2, 2021, ends is anyone's guess.
Fan-favorite character Han (Sung Kang) is back, according to the beef with Vin Diesel is quashed. With so many important cast potentially returning, why not Paul Walker? Brian O'Conner can, and should, make a return to the Fast & the Furious franchise for the finale.
The Fast Saga Can't End Properly Without Brian
If Fast & Furious 10 is really the 'end of the saga' — allegedly requiring two parts to wrap everything up — it should end as it began; with Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Although there was a rocky start to the franchise, with Vin Diesel not participating in 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), and Paul Walker then disappearing for The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), the majority of the first seven movies really did hinge on Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in the starring roles.
After all, the franchise began, way back when, with Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in 2001's The Fast and the Furious. Originally hailed as a fun, if unoriginal, spin on the classic undercover-agent-infiltrates-extreme-sports template made popular by Point Break. In the first Fast and the Furious, Brian O'Conner ends up letting DVD-player thief Dom Toretto escape after a thrilling chase through the streets of L.A.
To wrap up the Fast & the Furious franchise without one of its two original lead stars, even in a brief cameo, would be tantamount to not including Anakin Skywalker in the chorus of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (the end of that franchise's ongoing saga). Even the original director, Rob Cohen, wants to return to bring the franchise full-circle.
How Fast & Furious 10 Can Bring Back Paul Walker
When Fast Seven needed a fitting send-off for the unfortunately dearly-departed Paul Walker, it was modern technology to the rescue. With the help of Paul Walker's brothers (and two other actors) in real-life providing body doubles as a template, Walker's face was ultimately pasted (for want of a better term) onto said doubles via the use of CGI. The process uses the main unit cameras as well as three additional cameras just to capture the body doubles. The footage is then sent to Peter Jackson's acclaimed digital effects company WETA to alter the image and insert Walker's visage.
It's a technique that has been used before and since; The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 are two such examples. Even Carrie Fisher received similar treatment for her unfinished scenes in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. All three actors had a combination of body doubles and CGI employed to complete their roles or give them a solid sendoff.
After much deliberation — even considering cancelling the film altogether — Universal Studios enlisted the help of Paul's brothers, Caleb and Cody, in order to complete his performance. It was expensive work, ballooning the budget, but arguably paid off. Whilst the final result teetered uncomfortably at the edge of the uncanny valley, the combo of CGI and body doubles worked well to give fans an emotional sendoff to both Brian O'Conner the character, and more importantly, Paul Walker the actor. Who's to say that Fast & Furious 10 can't employ the same techniques once more?
What Brian's Role in Fast & Furious 10 Should Be
Even though the Marvel refuse to bring back dead actors via computer-generated means, Caleb and Cody Walker the idea of a Brian O'Conner cameo, one where he swoops in and saves the day, or some other small, tasteful moment.
According to the series' current writer Chris Morgan, the 8th, 9th and 10th installments in the Fast & Furious saga will form a trilogy, with plot elements from The Fate of the Furious being paid off in Fast & Furious 10. This means that Charlize Theron's villain, Cipher, will most likely survive the events of F9 and continue to be a thorn in Dom and the gang's side in Fast & Furious 10. When this new trilogy-within-a-franchise reaches its climax, it can be expected that Dom and both his real and extended surrogate familia will be celebrating their final victory with a classic Toretto cookout. Who better to appear at the BBQ and raise a beer to the family than Brian O' Conner?
Brian & Dom Together Again Can Give the Fast Saga a Perfect Ending
Dominic Toretto's main motto in life is that family is the most important thing, so much so that the appearance of a son forced him to stop living his life "a quarter mile at a time." Brian is such a massive part of Dom's family, to the point of being married to and having a child with Dom's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). Reports have confirmed that Mia is coming back for Fast & Furious 10, so a perfect bow on her cameo would be to have her appear side-by-side with husband Brian.
The majority of Walker and Diesel's appearances in the Fast Saga have been all about brotherhood and family, and to wrap up the franchise without addressing their friendship would be a disservice not only to the characters, but to Walker himself — a solid actor who helped build the Fast & Furious franchise alongside Diesel.
