Brian O'Connor's return in Fast & Furious 11 creates a massive challenge for the franchise in of closing his story. After starring in all but one of the first seven Fast & Furious movies, Paul Walker's character was firmly established as one of the franchise leads. Tragedy hit the series when Paul Walker died during the production of Furious 7, which resulted in changing the movie and effectively ending Brian's story with a touching tribute to the star. Even though the sendoff was incredibly successful, there have been continued discussions about how Brian O'Connor could return to Fast & Furious.
The latest Fast & Furious movies have continued to drop new hints about what Brian's life is like after Furious 7. But, it has become increasingly challenging for the franchise to keep ignoring a character who is still alive and was once such a vital part of the story. This has resulted in F9 delivering a huge tease of Brian still interacting with Dom's crew, while speculation has risen regarding a CGI return for the character in sequels. Now that the franchise is nearing its end with Fast & Furious 11, the expectation that Brian O'Connor will be featured brings a huge challenge for the final movie.
Fast & Furious 11 Will Give Brian O’Connor A Proper Sendoff
It has been confirmed by franchise star Vin Diesel that Fast & Furious 11 will include a proper goodbye to Brian O'Connor. There have been a lot of questions about how the franchise will end without acknowledging one of the series' biggest characters. While the specifics of how Brian returns in Fast 11 are being kept under wraps, Diesel told GamesRadar that he "couldn’t imagine this saga ending without truly saying goodbye to Brian O’Conner." That confirms that audiences will see more of Brian in some capacity.
Even though the specifics of how Paul Walker's character will return are still a secret, there have been previous discussions about how Fast & Furious could use Brian again. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker's family have openly ed the idea of bringing Brian back using CGI and body doubles to make it possible. This is the same tactic that Furious 7 used to finish any scenes with Brian that were not filmed prior to Paul Walker's death. It would seem that more of this approach is how Brian's Fast 11 return comes to be.
Brian’s Return In Fast & Furious 11 Is A Huge Risk
Fast & Furious 11 is taking a huge risk by bringing Brian O'Connor back. Fast X is taking the safest approach to keep Paul Walker's character around by using flashbacks and old movie footage. However, Fast 11 using the actor's likeness could turn audiences off. This will depend on how the movie accomplishes Brian's return, but seeing a CGI Paul Walker could feel manipulative or even disrespectful if it is done incorrectly. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker found a good way to keep Carrie Fisher around and make it work, but they used deleted scenes and dialogue that she filmed.
Brian's Fast 11 return is also not a situation where the franchise will recast the character with a new actor taking the role. This might be an option that is easier for audiences to accept than more CGI Paul Walker. But, there is still a risk with the story reason to bring the character back. There is no doubt that it will be weird for the Fast & Furious franchise to end without acknowledging Brian O'Connor, but not including him is the safer option for Fast & Furious 11.
Fast 11’s Brian Role Could Ruin Furious 7’s Perfect Paul Walker Tribute
The other challenge for Fast & Furious 11's Brian return is that the franchise already gave Paul Walker the perfect tribute. Furious 7's ending was changed following the actor's death to include a moment on the beach where the characters say goodbye to Brian, while he and Dominic Toretto drive off into the sunset together. Combined with Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again" and a montage of clips from past Fast & Furious movies featuring Brian's journey, Furious 7's ending delivered the best possible tribute to Paul Walker's life and career.
The effectiveness of Furious 7's tribute is why having Brian return in Fast & Furious 11 is so difficult to accomplish. Featuring the character again means that the movie needs to top the Paul Walker goodbye the franchise already featured. While even Furious 7 used CGI to pull off its sendoff, there was a sense of necessity in that case due to the timing of Paul Walker's death. Fast & Furious 11 would bring Brian back over 10 years later, and seeing CGI Paul Walker again would cheapen the emotional impact of Furious 7.
How Fast & Furious 11 Can End Brian O’Connor’s Story The Right Way
Barring a complete change of plans, Fast 11 will include Brian O'Connor, and there is a way that the movie could end his story the right way. Instead of continuing to use CGI and body doubles or recasting the role, the film could elect to never show Brian's face. Only showing him from behind would be a more respectful way to keep the character around without needing to completely recreate Paul Walker's likeness. It allows Brian to still have a presence in the franchise finale but not be a main character or overutilize advanced technology to posthumously use the actor.
When it comes to figuring out the right story for Brian O'Connor's return, Fast X could largely shape what state the crew is in when he might re-enter the picture. Theories about time travel in Fast 11 could help explain how Brian returns. Meanwhile, if Dom's crew changes drastically during Fast X and sees some of his closest allies leave his side, bringing back Brian for a small role to help out would make sense.
No matter what specific role the character plays, the best way for Fast & Furious 11 to say goodbye to Paul Walker's character is to show how great Brian is as a father. This is the reason given in the franchise for why he has been absent from recent films. Showing that Brian's child and relationship with Mia are thriving would be a good way to close out his story. This can allow Fast & Furious 11 to honor Brian's legacy by showing that he left the main story for the right reasons.
