Fast & Furious franchise lead Vin Diesel offers heartwarming words to his fallen co-star, Paul Walker, to mark what would have been his 51st birthday. Among those words were potentially ominous ones about his character’s fate in Fast X: Part 2 as he seemingly teases what could happen to Dominic Toretto in the film series finale.
On his Instagram page, Diesel wrote an extensive birthday tribute to Walker, who portrayed former cop and Dom’s long-time partner-in-crime Brian O’Conner in six of the first seven Fast & Furious installments. Diesel marked his dedication to Walker with a photo from their promotion of 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, saying, “We knew that our brotherhood was going to change Hollywood, that you and I meant something to the world…” After expressing how much Walker meant to him, he referenced new concept art he saw for Part 2, potentially teasing what happens to Dom, saying, “Brian… yeah, I will have to brace myself for this next film…“
Paul Walker Will Be Honored in Next Fast & Furious Movie
As for Dom, Fast X saw the main character pushed to his limit like never before as he and his family faced a bloodthirsty siege from Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), out for revenge after Dom and Brian killed his drug lord father, Hernan Reyes, in Fast Five. The movie saw Jakob sacrifice himself, so Dom could save his son, while some of his other cohorts face dire fates. With Dante still vowing to eliminate Dom and his family and threatening lawman Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in the post-credits scene, Dom faces another almighty battle in Part 2.
Letty, Han, Roman, and Tej are all members of Dominic Toretto’s crew, and he frequently refers to them as his family in the Fast & Furious franchise.
Part 2 is still in development as Diesel’s co-star, Tyrese Gibson, recently revealed the script is in the works, though he hasn’t seen it yet. Diesel has been overseeing preparations for Part 2, teasing interesting settings in behind-the-scenes footage and other concept art for the closing sequel. Along with Part 2, there is supposed to be a Hobbs spinoff film to bridge both Fast X movies, with Johnson reprising his role. However, no new updates have emerged since Johnson announced the spinoff in June of last year.
Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner is with Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto in Fast & Furious
Fans can expect Fast & Furious to come full circle in Part 2, which goes back to basics with more street racing elements and a smaller budget. Though Fast X made $714.6 million at the global box office, the sequel was made on a $340 million budget, received mixed critical reviews and attracted one of the lowest domestic grosses in franchise history.
Part 2 is expected to premiere in theaters in 2026.