Is Paul Walker’s Brian in Fast X? The 10th Fast and Furious movie is in cinemas now, but does the late star return as Brian O’Conner in some form?
In our review, we wrote: “Fast X won’t welcome any new apostles to the familia’s way of cinema; this is a hysterical, NOS-fuelled ode to big-screen ridiculousness that’s beyond parody.”
After a string of MacGuffins in the past entries, the 10th movie follows Dom and co. As they’re pursued by Dante, the vengeful, dangerous son of the drug lord they killed during the Fast Five heist in Rio. They stole all of his money, so now, he wants to make them suffer however he can, wherever they are.
The whole crew is back doing what they do best, alongside some new and other returning faces – but does Paul Walker appear as Brian O’Conner in Fast X?
Is Paul Walker in Fast and Furious 10?
Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner appears in Fast X via flashbacks to Fast Five, but there aren’t any new scenes involving the character.
Much like any mentions of Walker’s character in the eighth and ninth entries, Fast X keeps Brian off-screen with the exception of previous scenes from the Rio heist. His car pulled up at the end of F9, but we never see him or someone in his place sitting at the table. Mia shares a scene with Dom’s son “little B”, but she returns to Brian and their kids soon after.
Ahead of the film’s release, director Louis Leterrier spoke about the shared decision with the late star’s family to include his earlier scenes. “Well, Brian is very much alive in the world of Fast and Furious and they’ve teased him a lot in the previous movies,” he told Total Film.
“In 9, we see the car coming. It’s something that is planned. This movie jumps back and forth between the past and the present.”
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“You will see Brian in the past, you won’t see Brian in the present. It’s something that everybody has to be on board with. The Walker family is still very much a part of this franchise, you’ll see how in this movie. It just has to be the right moment, the right tone.”
In an earlier interview with UNILAD, Vin Diesel vowed to “keep Walker’s beautiful spirit alive”, while Michelle Rodriguez discussed the prospect of using AI and CGI to bring him back, an idea she finds rather “dangerous.”
“You don’t know what Paul Walker would have done with that performance. We’re walking into that Ray Kurzweil singularity, put-your-brain-into-a-computer world. It’s like… are we there yet as a society to start talking about this? I might even put it into my will: ‘Please, when I die, leave me dead. Don’t have an algorithm decide that Michelle Rodriguez would have done this in this performance after she died 100 years ago.’
“We’re walking into iffy [ground], you lose your freedom of will in this process of being translated by a computer or other people. I can’t speak for that, you know? His daughter is the only one with the power to speak for that, because she’s the one who holds his legacy in her hands.”
While he may not have any new scenes, Walker’s daughter Meadow makes a short cameo in the movie.
Fast X is in cinemas now, and you can check out the rest of our Fast and Furious 10 coverage below:
Fast X review | Post-credits scenes | Ending explained | Who dies? | Is Fast X streaming? | Will there be a Fast & Furious 11? | Fast X cast and characters | Fast X soundtrack | How long is Fast X runtime? | Fast X budget | Is Paul Walker in Fast X? | Meadow Walker cameo | Does Gad Gadot return? | Who does Pete Davidson play? | Is Mr Nobody in Fast X? | Is Leon in Fast & Furious 10? | Is The Rock in Fast X? | Will there be a Hobbs & Shaw 2? | Who does Alan Ritchson play? | How to watch Fast and Furious movies in order