Nope — Cody Walker isn’t playing Brian O’Conner again in Fast Forever

If you thought Fast & Furious was running on fumes after ten films, think again—the eleventh (and apparently last), Fast Forever, is gearing up for another lap. Fans have been wondering whether the late Paul Walker's character, Brian O'Conner, might pop up one more time. Last time, the franchise pulled out a bag of tricks including CGI, old footage, and Paul's real-life brothers to fill in the gaps. This time? The situation's a bit different.

After Walker’s death during Fast 7 production, his brothers, Cody and Caleb, stepped in for performance capture, allowing the team to finish Paul’s scenes with a blend of digital effects and old material.

Cody Walker Takes a Step Back

With Fast Forever moving ahead (after about twelve speedbumps and more delays than your local tube line), Cody Walker has gone on record to say, politely but firmly, that he won't be reprising the stand-in role for his brother. The main decision maker now? Paul's daughter, Meadow. Cody made it clear to Entertainment Weekly that whatever happens with Brian O'Conner, he's stepping aside—his part of that legacy is done. Here's what he told EW:

My stance is, it’s what Meadow wants to see done; it’s her father. I would not be interested in doing that again. I love the way his character exited the franchise. They didn’t kill him off, they didn’t do something cheesy like that. It’s beautiful, [Brian] is off raising his kids. But if they want to do that, if Meadow would like to see that, they don’t need me or Caleb. AI was not a thing back in 2014, so they could do that. There’s years of footage that was never used from these other Fast films. They’re the best in the business, they can figure that out.

So, don't expect either of the Walkers plugging back in for last-minute face swaps or behind-the-wheel cameos. Cody actually sounds quite happy with how Brian was written out—retired, not melodramatically bumped off, which is a rare restraint for a series built on exploding submarines and airborne muscle cars.

Who's in the Director's Chair?

If you've been following Fast Forever's backend drama, you'll know it's seen more director changes than the Top Gear line-up. It looked straightforward: Louis Leterrier (who took over to land Fast X after Justin Lin noped out) was set to direct the final film. But, in proper cryptic fashion, Vin Diesel popped up on Instagram with a rather vague 'Director...Hmmm...' post, blowing the doors open on more speculation.

Diesel, for all his talk of family, does actually take this producer business personally. The man listens to his fans, at least as much as you can when you're steering a billion-dollar juggernaut. He's credited social media buzz for helping bring back the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster when they'd all but parked their cars and left. At last year's Fuel Fest, Diesel told the crowd that fans want a return to basics: LA, the street-racing scene, and, yes, getting Brian and Dom on screen together (however that ends up looking now that Paul is no longer around).

• Paul Walker's brothers filled in for him using performance capture after his death during Fast 7's production.
• Cody Walker says he won't be standing in for Fast Forever, and the decision about Brian O'Conner rests with Meadow Walker.
• Vin Diesel is stirring up more speculation about the film's director, after previously confirming Louis Leterrier.
• Fans apparently want the last film to get back to its street racing, LA-based roots—and to find a way to reunite Brian and Dom, one last time.