Vin Diesel says Paul Walker's character will be in the last "The Fast & The Furious" movie

Before we get to Vin's proclamations, a quick reset. The "Fast" franchise was cruising along in all its insanity, bringing people back from the dead, adding a dozen new characters every movie, you name it. Even with all that, the films were proving to be financial successes and generated a big fan base, even if a good portion of those people enjoyed the "Fast" films for being dumb and mindless fun. Vin takes the "Fast" franchise very seriously, but that doesn't mean the moviegoers do.

Then, "Fast X" arrived in 2023. "F9" had already made less money than the eighth film (and also "Hobbs & Shaw"), but "Fast X" made slightly less money than "F9" even. On top of that, reviews were harsh, even from fans. 

So now, Universal is hoping that asserting the 11th film is the end of the franchise will get people back in theaters, and also help the story avoid being too bloated and convoluted. If this film isn't a massive hit, Universal might decide for Vin and company that it is the final one.

Diesel has been pushing Universal to give the 11th movie a release date. It had been set for an April 2025 release, and then a "general 2026" release. Well, according to Diesel, the movie is on the schedule now. He says the film is going to be released in April 2027.

Diesel also noted a couple of other things. One, he says that the movie is going to be set in Los Angeles, like the original. That's interesting, if true, because that first film was a low-budget attempt to cash in on a trend of street racing. The franchise has become a globe-trotting, bloated action series. They literally went into space. We aren't sure Los Angeles can contain what this franchise has become.

Additionally, Diesel asserted that the character of Brian O'Connor will be returning to be reunited with Dom. Dom is Diesel's character, but Brian is the character that was played by Paul Walker. Walker was Diesel's co-star in the first film, and was then part of the franchise for several movies, but he died in 2013 in an automobile accident. Since then, Brian has remained alive in the franchise, but fully offscreen.

So...what does this mean? The fear would be A.I. or some other eerie trick of the trade. You know, the stuff that "Star Wars" has used to bring back a Peter Cushing or de-age a Carrie Fisher. Are we going to see a grim spectre of the late Paul Walker ambling about? We certainly hope not, because there is a zero percent chance of this franchise handling that well. The more hopeful possibility is that it will be more existential and philosophical in the reuniting. 

We'll have nearly a couple more years to hear about the build-up to the (supposed) conclusion of the franchise. 

(h/t Deadline)