Vin Diesel confirms Paul Walker’s character will return in Fast & Furious 11

The final installment of the movie series is set to be released in 2027.

The final installment of the movie series is set to be released in April of 2027, and the American actor and producer has confirmed that the character of Brian O'Conner will be returning.

Paul Walker, who played O'Conner, died in 2013 in a car accident prior to the completion of the seventh Fast & Furious film.

Walker's brothers Cody and Caleb served as stand-ins to complete the seventh film, using CGI and VFX. O'Conner drove off into the sunset, and the character exited the franchise with the explanation that he was settling down with his family.

Diesel explained how Walker's character will make a return for the final film.

“Just yesterday I was with Universal Studios… The studio said to me, ‘Vin, can we please have the finale of ‘Fast and Furious’ [in] April 2027?’ I said, ‘Under three conditions because I’ve been listening to my fan base.

“The first is to bring the franchise back to L.A. The second thing was to return to the car culture, to the street racing. The third thing was reuniting Dom and Brian O’Conner. That is what you’re going to get in the finale," he said.

It's not yet clear whether the eleventh film will be a single final installment. In Diesel told Fandango that the tenth film may be a trilogy.

“Without giving away too much, I can say this, going into making this movie, the studio had asked if this could be a two-parter and after the studio saw this Part One, they said, ‘Could you make “Fast X: The Finale” a trilogy?,’” he previously revealed.

The franchise has done several things to keep Walker's memory alive, including featuring his daughter, Meadow, in Fast X.

 “Thanks to my dad, I was born into the ‘Fast’ family,” Walker wrote on Instagram upon the film's release.

"I can’t believe now I get to be up there too with those who have been around to see me grow up… I am so blessed to be able to honour my father’s legacy and share this with him forever.”

Additionally, in 2018, his brother Caleb shared his hope that the character of O'Conner would feature in the film.

“I just hope we get to — I don’t know — have a little cameo and bring Paul back to save the day and I get to help create that again,” Caleb said. 

“That’s my dream and I hope we get to do that in one of the future movies.”

Cody Walker added: “I think there could potentially be a way to do it. But it would take a lot of thought and it’d have to be tasteful.”