Paul Walker’s Character Brian O’Conner Set to Return in ‘Fast & Furious’ Finale, Says Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel has surprised every Fast & Furious movie fan with a new update. He revealed that Paul Walker’s character, Brian, will return for the final Fast & Furious movie.

During FuelFest in Southern California, Diesel announced that the final Fast & Furious film will hit theaters in April 2027 and confirmed that Dominic Toretto (his character) will reunite with Brian O’Conner, the character originally played by Walker.

On the FuelFest stage, Diesel said Brian O’Conner could be returning for Fast & Furious 11:

Diesel said,“The studio said to me, ‘Vin, can we please have the finale of Fast and Furious in April 2027?’ I said, ‘Under three conditions.’ First, bring the franchise back to L.A.! Second, return to car culture—to the street racing! Third, reunite Dom and Brian O’Conner.”

The film will have a budget of less than $200 million. Universal Pictures aims for simplicity by reducing global locations and focusing on a single heist or race in the plot.

Walker appeared in five Fast and Furious films — co-starring in the 2001 original — before his tragic death in 2013 at the age of 40. Despite his passing, his character, Brian O’Conner, was respectfully retired in Furious 7 (2015) using a combination of CGI and stand-ins by his brothers, Cody and Caleb Walker. Although the character was never killed off in the story, he has been kept alive off-screen — allowing room for respectful future appearances.

Fast X was the latest film in the franchise, released in May 2023. The movie grossed over $700 million worldwide by the end of its theatrical run, with a production budget of $340 million. The film starred Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz, Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce, Ludacris as Tej Parker, Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto, Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey, Sung Kang as Han Seoul-Oh, Charlize Theron as Cipher, Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw, Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs (cameo), Jason Momoa as Dante Reyes, Brie Larson as Tess, Daniela Melchior as Isabel Neves, and Gal Gadot as Gisele Yashar (cameo).