Fast & Furious 11 Ending The Franchise Means It Can't Ignore Brian O'Connor Any Longer

Fast & Furious 11, or Fast X: Part 2, is being described as the franchise’s finale, meaning the series cannot ignore Brian O’Connor any longer. Paul Walker, who played Brian in six Fast and Furious movies, tragically passed away on November 30, 2013, when filming for Furious 7 had yet to be completed. The Fast Saga has referenced Brian and honored Walker’s legacy within the franchise multiple times now, from the emotional ending scene of the seventh installment to Little Brian. Still, Brian’s presence in the story has been very limited, which is something Fast 11 will have to address.

While the Fast and Furious timeline now includes 11 movies in a rather confusing order and even an animated series, it all started as the simple story of an undercover FBI agent becoming best friends with a known local criminal. The friendship between Toretto and O’Connor made The Fast and the Furious more than just another action movie and laid down the path for what would become a massive franchise. Any references to Brian will be bittersweet, but the upcoming Fast & Furious 11 needs to find a way of including the character.

Brian O'Connor Has To Return For Fast & Furious To Have A Proper Ending

Fast X: Part 2 Needs Brian O’Connor

Fast & Furious 11 is expected to be the final Fast and Furious movie, at least from the main series. While Vin Diesel once discussed a potential Fast and Furious 12 that would act as part three of the finale, everything is now suggesting that Fast X: Part 2 will be the final chapter of the Fast Saga, especially after Fast X’s disappointing box office performance. Fast and Furious has wasted a couple of perfect opportunities to have a great finale, including but not limited to Fast Five and Furious 7.

Therefore, now that Fast and Furious is finally concluding, it should not ignore Brian. Naturally, including Paul Walker’s character is extremely tricky and will result in bittersweet scenes. Still, be it through visual effects in the style of what is done in Furious 7 or subtle references and body doubles, Fast X: Part 2 must find a way of having Brian be part of the finale. The Fast Saga correctly avoided recasting or writing off Brian completely, but he must have a bigger presence in the franchise’s finale.

Fast & Furious 11 Ignoring Brian Again Would Undo The Entire Franchise

Fast & Furious Can’t End Without Acknowledging Brian

Fast and Furious has been very careful and respectful when it comes to referencing Paul Walker’s character, which makes sense considering Brian was always one of the hearts of the franchise. After Furious 7’s ending delivered an emotional tribute to Walker, it remained to be seen how the Fast Saga was going to handle Brian’s character going forward. Fast and Furious seems to have never considered killing off Brian offscreen, which was the right decision. However, Fast and Furious can only ignore Brian for so long before his absence from the story becomes too unrealistic.

For example, even though Dante Reyes was targeting everyone close to Dominic Toretto, Brian has barely any presence in Fast X apart from the Fast Five flashbacks at the beginning. The Fate of the Furious, F9, and Fast X have all established that Brian stayed at home taking care of his family, an explanation that might not work for Fast & Furious 11. Fast and Furious’ finale must acknowledge Brian more directly, as the entire saga started as the story of Toretto and O’Conner’s friendship, and how it became the foundation of a family.

How Fast & Furious 11 Can Bring Brian Back & Honor Paul Walker Once More

Fast 11 Must Be Respectful To The Late Actor

There are a few different ways Fast & Furious 11 can bring Brian O’Conner back to honor Paul Walker once more before the saga ends. One would be to apply visual effects and body doubles to recreate Walker’s likeness and have Brian appear on screen. This would be similar to how Furious 7 completed Paul Walker’s role in the movie following the actor’s passing. With the help of Walker’s brothers, Caleb and Cody, director James Wan and the team at Weta VFX were able to recreate Walker’s face digitally for many of the shows Brian had to be in.

Furious 7 also repurposed footage from Paul Walker’s scenes from previous Fast and Furious movies, all of which had to be relit. The techniques available to pull off what Furious 7 did are now far more advanced than they were in 2015, meaning it would be relatively easy for Fast & Furious 11 to do so. Another way to have Brian in the film would be to subtly acknowledge his presence without ever showing his face, such as having a double filmed from behind or one of Brian’s signature cars appearing. This is the approach F9’s final scene went for.

Brian's Absence Is Already Awkward For Fast & The Furious

Keeping Brian Off-Screen No Longer Makes Sense For The Character Or The Story

While Fast & Furious 11 gives the franchise one last opportunity to bring Brian back into the fold, his absence is already a big distraction going into the final movie. The movies have always been about family, and while the movies continuously reference the fact that Brian is choosing to stay out of the fight to take care of his kids, the excuse no longer works. Every other hero character in the franchise is now being targeted, with Brian’s wife, Mia, being put in danger and Brian’s nephew and namesake, Little Brian, being kidnapped.

To have Brian not getting involved is simply out of character for the hero who was always willing to put his life on the line to help his loved ones. It becomes especially noticeable with Fast X focusing on Dante attacking everyone responsible for his father’s death. With Brian being included in the flashback to Fast Five, it is hard to ignore the fact that he would be on Dante’s list.

While it is explained that Brian went into hiding with the kids, that explanation actually damages the threat of Dante as a villain. If that is all it takes to avoid his wrath, then it should be no problem for Dom and the others to save themselves as well. While it is clearly not easy to know how to handle Brian’s involvement going forward, it has gotten to a point where avoiding it is detrimental to the Fast & Furious franchise as a whole.

Brian's Absence Is One Of The Franchise's Biggest Plot Holes

Brian Feels Gone Without The Movies Acknowledging It

Leading up to Fast & Furious 11, Brian's absence in the franchise is not simply noticeable anymore, it has grown to the point of not making sense. While the Fast & Furious movies have never been known for their dedication to logic, they have managed to get away with the over-the-top action sequences because the relationships between the characters keep things grounded. Losing Brian as part of those relationships was a devastating blow that has now become an actual plot hole.

Fans have constantly been given one reason why Brian no longer takes part in these adventures; he is dedicated to taking care of his children. However, there are now too many reasons why he would need to be brought back into the fold that it begins to strain credulity. While it is wise and understandable that the filmmakers did not want to kill off Brian following Paul Walker's death, the plot holes have now made it seem like the character is actually gone and no one is admitting it.

The way the character has seemingly abandoned his other friends and family while also being apparently off-limits to the villains seeking revenge makes no sense. This is highlighted more by the way Brian is talked about by the other characters, he is spoken about with such reverence and sorrow, yet this is a character that the others apparently see regularly off-screen. Whatever initial intention was behind this plan for Brian has rendered the character a strange distraction in the franchise which needs to be remedied in Fast & Furious 11.