Fate of Brian O'Conner

So with the sudden death of actor Paul Walker, one of the biggest questions asked are what will happen to the F&F franchsie and what will they do with Paul Walker's character Brian O'Conner. So far the film FF7 has been haulted for rewrites in the script, and most likely those rewrites concern Paul Walker's character Brian O'Connor. Now many believe there are three ways for Paul's character to go.

1. Give Brian a happy ending (Off-screen): Many think he should be given a happy off-scren ending where he retires from the  being a bank robber and stays happy with his family. Others think an on-screen happy ending though this would be the hardest considering they would have to use body doubles and probably a good voice actor who can mimmick Paul's voice, and maybe some CGI like they did for RDJ when he got injured on set.

2. re-cast: This one is hated by the majority of F&F fans, but it's still an option.

3. Kill off the character: I believe this one is the best option, but I would't know how they'd approach it. I can gurantee if they do kill him off, it WON'T be in a car crash, or it maybe won't be an on-screen death. Who knows? If they go with this option they have to be VERY careful to be respectful, not only to fans, but the family and friends of Paul, and Paul himself. This, like the first option, would require body doubles, and some cgi.

So what do you guys think will be the way they deal with the Brian O'Connor character?

Depending on what they filmed, they're going to have to kill him off. But they must do it in a respectable way. Like no killing him off by getting into a car crash. That would be so tasteless.

I want the character to have a happy ending, but it just wouldn't work. These characters stick together like a family, so having him disappear like that wouldn't make sense. You're going to have to make a big goodbye scene in order for Brian to have a proper closure. Problem is, that was never the planned since Brian was set to appear in Fast 8. Using CGI and another voice actor isn't going to do it justice.

As for recasting Paul, HELL NO!

@Mecha Killing him off, but how? I don't think anyone would want to be reminded during the movie that Paul actually died.

The suits at Universal are in a VERY difficult position.

It's not like I want him killed off, but there is no other way. This is such a huge mess. Universal can't even start from scratch, because they already filmed at least half or most of the movie. Plus it would be disrespectful to Paul Walker. Universal is pretty much stuck. No matter what they decide to do, it will always be controversial.

Killing him off in any way would be tasteless. I say they should do some rewrites and reshoots and ultimately give him a happy offscreen retirement. Just seems like the right thing to do to honor his memory.

Yeah, just give him a off-screen retirement and that's it for the character forever. Wow! What a great way to end Brian's journey. If you really want to honor his memory, you have to at LEAST give him a proper farewell. But no, the best you can come up with is happy off-screen retirement.
Never mind that fact that these characters are a family and risk their lives to help each other. So Brian retiring off-screen out of nowhere would make no sense what's so ever.

There's not much you can do ON-SCREEN when the actor is DEAD. Or did you want them to play it like Weekend at Bernie's?

Why not kill him off-screen and have a funeral scene at the end of the movie as a big farewell to the character? Wouldn't that make much more sense? Having a off-screen retirement would be out of character and wouldn't be a proper farewell.

A proper farewell isn't something they can really do. Paul Walker didn't get a proper farewell. Nobody expected this to happen so right now it's about salvaging the situation which is far from ideal.

So killing him off-screen and having a funeral scene with the characters saying their goodbyes isn't a proper farewell to you? We're talking about a movie here, not real life.

I know this sounds crazy, not even I know why I'm crazy to say this, but what if they recast him and reshoot the scenes they've done. Reshooting is much easier because you already have most of it done.

yonny616 wrote:

I know this sounds crazy, not even I know why I'm crazy to say this, but what if they recast him and reshoot the scenes they've done. Reshooting is much easier because you already have most of it done.

Well, that won't work on a financial status, and it will anger a lot of people. Which are two things I doubt they want.

yonny616 wrote:

I know this sounds crazy, not even I know why I'm crazy to say this, but what if they recast him and reshoot the scenes they've done. Reshooting is much easier because you already have most of it done.

You're okay recasting Paul and reshoot his scenes, yet you think it's disrespectful to scrap the film and start all over? -__-

@Rambo There will be an outcry initially, but the same happened with Harry Potter's Dumbledore where they recasted the role.

@Mecha It's MUCH easier than scrapping what they have and writing off a character in which the film franchise that revolves around, even more so than Vin's character. Also I believe Paul Walker would think that's the best decision. When Andy Whitfield (original spartacus) was diagnosed with cancer and wasn't able to come back to the show, he said the best way is to recast him with Liam McIntyre because he wanted the story told how it's suppose to be told. If they recast Brian sure they'll be a huge rage outcry that could rival "Batfleck", but if the actor does the character justice fans will love him. not to mention this series is about Brian and/or Brian and Dom. Going on without Brian is wierd.

RamboOnRedBull wrote:

yonny616 wrote:

I know this sounds crazy, not even I know why I'm crazy to say this, but what if they recast him and reshoot the scenes they've done. Reshooting is much easier because you already have most of it done.

Well, that won't work on a financial status, and it will anger a lot of people. Which are two things I doubt they want.

They're insured for losses like these, reshooting would be covered.

That being said, I don't think there's much of a choice. The character died with the actor.

Mecha wrote:

So killing him off-screen and having a funeral scene with the characters saying their goodbyes isn't a proper farewell to you? We're talking about a movie here, not real life.

Because killing him off would be tasteless and manipulative.

@Yonny

You're STILL scrapping for everything they had by replacing Paul with another actor. At least they have access to footage of Paul that they may want to use, even if they were to scrap it. Also you don't know what Paul would have wanted. It's not fair to remove him from his FINAL film and get replaced. That's FAR more disrespectful than scrapping the entire production and starting all over. Besides, the Fast & Furious movies aren't exactly known for having best story-telling. They can come up with a another story. Hell, maybe even a better one.

@Jack

Not unless they do it off-screen.

I think it would be tasteless even if they did it off-screen.

Jack the Spectre wrote:

I think it would be tasteless even if they did it off-screen.

Well, he has to disappear forever somehow.

I heard that Universal is letting Paul's family decide what they want to do with the character, but I'm not sure if it's true or not?

I understand that killing Brian off isn't the best option, but how else can you explain Toretto never seeing his family again for the rest of the franchise? These movies are about family for Christ sake.

Mecha wrote:

I heard that Universal is letting Paul's family decide what they want to do with the character, but I'm not sure if it's true or not?

I understand that killing Brian off isn't the best option, but how else can you explain Toretto never seeing his family again for the rest of the franchise? These movies are about family for Christ sake.

Dom knows Brian needs to be there for his kid and doesn't involve him in any more of their silly harebrained schemes.

So just because Brian has a kid with Dom's sister, they can never see each other again for the rest of their lives? Makes sense.

@Mecha I agree with Jack sort of. I doubt Universal wants ANYONE to be sucked out of the movie becuase they have to see Brian die on-screen or hear, and imagine, the way he died off-screen.

He'll more likely be written off (WHich I hate because it is disrespect towards all his love and work for this franchise) or they'll finish everything with a body double and CGI. They're going to give him a happy ending. In later movies Jordana Brewster can make a few cameos, with some mentions of Brian maybe. I doubt they'll find a suitable way to kill him off.

It's not that I don't agree with Jack. It's just that it wouldn't make sense that this franchise continues and they never see Brian or his family ever again for the rest of the series. Unless they start to introduce new characters, because I don't see a reason for Tyrese and Ludacris' characters to even continue without Brian.

Ultimately though, we're talking about Fast & Furious 7. These movies aren't exactly known for their employment of logic. They could still keep in contact with Brian, but wouldn't want to involve him in their activities since he's a father now. It makes some sense and even though it may be out of character for Brian to let them do that, again, Fast & Furious 7. Not a story about the human condition or anything like that. Shit blows up. That's it.