Vin Diesel tends to simply say issues, particularly relating to the “Quick and Livid” franchise. As /Movie’s Ben Pearson as soon as put it, Diesel is “a man who appears to imagine within the energy of talking concepts out loud to ensure that them to finally turn into a actuality.” There was the time he hinted there could be an all-female “Quick & Livid” film, or that point he claimed “Quick X” was the beginning of a model new trilogy, which appears painfully optimistic on condition that the film was a monetary disappointment.
Now, Diesel is again to saying issues about this franchise once more. The actor made an look throughout Gas Fest, a automotive fanatic occasion in California (per Selection), and seemingly promised the discharge of the subsequent movie (which the actor known as “the finale of ‘Quick and Livid'”) will occur in April 2027. What’s extra, Diesel advised the enthusiastic crowd concerning the three “circumstances” he had for Common to ensure that him to fulfill that launch date. “The primary is to convey the franchise again to L.A.! The second factor was to return to the automotive tradition, to the road racing!” he shouted to the enthusiastic crowd.
As for the third factor, Diesel teased an sudden look. “The third factor was reuniting Dom and Brian O’Conner.”
Brian O’Conner, after all, was the character first launched within the very first movie, “The Quick and the Livid,” again in 2001. Performed by Paul Walker, Brian was the unique primary character of the franchise for the primary two chapters of the saga earlier than shifting focus to Diesel’s Dominic Toretto from the fourth movie onward. The character was retired in 2015’s “Livid 7” after Paul Walker’s tragic demise with a fairly stunning send-off that is still the emotional excessive level of the whole franchise.
“Quick X” already had large points, and one of many largest was the problematic means the film tried to pay tribute to Walker’s character, maintaining him alive and as a part of the dialog however by no means truly exhibiting him. The in-world implication is that Brian is abruptly actively ignoring all of the hazard his household is in, and given how large the theme of household is on this franchise, Brian’s position is actively inflicting issues.
However Diesel’s different is even worse.
There are extra essential issues to think about earlier than ruining Brian O’Conner
Let’s begin with logistics. “Quick X” launched too many new plotlines and characters that must repay within the subsequent movie earlier than it will possibly even start to convey again new characters like Walker. There’s the matter of Dom being caught on the backside of a burning dam, but in addition Jason Momoa’s Dante and Alan Ritchson’s Aimes being on the market as a menace, plus the shock resurrection of Gal Gadot’s Gisele, the demise of Dom’s brother Jakob, and oh sure, the return of Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs. How might “Quick and Livid 11” even try and cram Brian’s return in there?
I’ve written earlier than about how the franchise has backed itself right into a nook relating to Brian, as a result of if you happen to kill the character now, it will likely be a disservice to Walker, however maintaining him alive and off-screen retroactively ruins the character. To totally convey Brian again on display screen would require both a correct recast, like bringing in certainly one of Walker’s brothers, which isn’t anyplace close to an ideal answer, or utilizing a CGI double.
We reside in a time when demise just isn’t ultimate, at the least not in Hollywood. You possibly can see this within the ways in which corporations are utilizing AI to permit a lifeless actor to proceed offering a voice to a personality (like James Earl Jones’ Darth Vader in Fortnite) or how Disney resurrected the long-dead Peter Cushing in “Rogue One,” sparking a lawsuit years later.
Sadly, it appears possible Brian will return through CGI. In any case, “Quick X” director Louis Leterrier already talked about how they might convey the character again if the second is correct, and if Walker’s household is okay with it. The issue is {that a} CGI Brian wouldn’t simply be disrespectful to Paul Walker (and by no means look 100% good), however it might injury the proper send-off to the character and actor in “Livid 7.” There is no such thing as a must additional homage the actor or character, and completely no means to enhance on that ending with out diminishing returns.
