After Paul Walker’s death in the middle of filming Furious 7, we were left with a tribute to the actor at the end of the film. It was understood that that was the goodbye. But it now seems like his character, Brian O’Conner, could make a reappearance at some point in the franchise.
Caleb and Cody Walker, Paul’s brothers who helped as stand-ins for the filming of Furious 7 after he died, said that it was possible that Paul’s character could appear again in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“I had a phone call with Vin [Diesel] for about an hour and we really discussed this a while back. He wanted [our] blessing,” shared Caleb. He continued that Diesel, who he called the “godfather” of the franchise, asked if and when the brothers thought it “would be acceptable to maybe bring Paul’s character back… to really kind of let his fans know he’s still out there.”
Cody added about the possibility of another appearance for the character, “Universal wants to make sure to be respectful of Paul and his image too, and his family.”
This is a terrible idea. I am very against it.
Like for many others in the automotive community, Paul Walker’s death was extremely upsetting. Furious 7 ended with a tribute and a goodbye to Paul. It’s all there: talk of goodbye, of the one last ride together, of the road splitting and Paul heading away on his own and the words “For Paul” appearing briefly before the image fades to black.
This was the farewell for us, the audience. It was emotional. This was the point where we were to accept that Paul Walker was gone, that “things are gonna be different now.”
And now folks are saying that no, sorry, this might not be the last that you see of Brian O’Conner. After an ending like that, how could they write Brian back into the story? Wouldn’t that make the whole tribute rather pointless and obsolete, then?
How would Brian actually look in the movie? In the final few scenes of Furious 7, it was clear that they were using a CGI version of him. But that was okay because he died in the middle of filming, they did what they had to with that they had. I know CGI is getting very good these days, but I find the thought of a fake Paul Walker driving about and everybody being okay with it slightly creepy.
Losing someone is hard; I get it. Change is difficult, especially when it shakes the very core that you’ve built an entire film franchise around. But is it really necessary to keep stringing Paul along, especially after that perfect send-off? Let him Rest In Peace, please.
Via Road & Track