While there's plenty of speculation surrounding the story and locales of Fast 8, the next installment in Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious franchise, there's really only one question on the mind of every fan: how will Pual Walker's death affect the series' plot moving forward?
Originally, Furious 7 was supposed to be part of a new trilogy, but things changed suddenly when Walker died in a tragic car accident unrelated to the film. As a result of Walker's passing, the original ending of Furious 7 was changed from "setting up the bigger world of where the Fast & Furious franchise could go into," said director James Wan at the time, to "make a movie that finishes and that just outright is a tribute to Paul Walker."
In the past, Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel, a close friend of Paul Walker, suggested Fast 8 is more of a tribute Walker's memory. “Paul Walker used to say that eight was guaranteed. And in some ways, when your brother guarantees something, you sometimes feel like you have to make sure it comes to pass,” he told MTV back in April of 2015. “So if fate has it, F8…if fate has it, then you’ll get this when you hear about it. Seven was for Paul, eight is from Paul.”
While the text "new roads ahead" on Fast 8's recently revealed poster suggests the series is ready to move on from Walker's character, Brian O'Conner, NBC Universal vice-chairman Ron Meyer recently announced that Walker will, in fact, be "represented" in the upcoming film. What that means, exactly, is a bit unclear at the moment.
“Paul won’t be in it, but he’ll be represented in some form or another, but whether his image is in it, I can’t tell you yet, but he won’t be in the film as a performer, as an actor, the way we did it last time,” explained Meyer (via MSN).
Although Walker died during the filming of Furious 7, the studio was able to rewrite the ending to feature his character Brian O'Conner using CGI with the help of Paul's brother, Cody Walker.
Whether or not the representation will come in the form of flashback sequences or merely referencing the character by name is anybody's guess; but, with Fast 8 slated to release in 2017, I'm sure the speculation will only continue to grow.
