Will Brian O'Conner Be In Fast & Furious 9?

 With Mia Toretto reuniting with Dom and his crew in the upcoming Fast & Furious 9, what are the chances that her husband, Brian O'Conner also appears?

With Fast & Furious 9 bringing some notable characters from past films back, what are the chances that Brian O'Conner will also return? The long-running Universal Pictures franchise is gearing up for its ninth installment from the primary saga and given the confirmed appearance of Han, the question of whether or not Brian could also somehow be involved must also be raised.

After Paul Walker's tragic demise in 2013, James Wan's Furious 7 was retooled to write off his character. Instead of sending him off permanently, however, the Fast & Furious franchise opted for a less sad farewell, with Brian deciding to retire from Dom and the team's operations to live a quiet family life with Mia and their son. Inevitably, of course, doing this kept the door open for a potential return for the character, with Furious 7 establishing the possibility that Brian can be brought back without Walker.

With a formidable foe in Dom's secret brother, Jakob (John Cena), who's backed up by Fate of the Furious criminal mastermind/cyberterrorist, Cipher, conversations about whether or not Brian can come out of retirement are somewhat inevitable. Naturally, the return of Han in Fast & Furious 9, and of both Sean Boswell and Earl for Fast & Furious 9 all bolster the idea that the film can also feature familiar faces from previous films, and considering how big of a role Brian has had in the film series, he might follow suit. Finally, and most importantly, the primary conflict of the forthcoming blockbuster involves Mia, as well, which brings Brian back into the equation one way or the other. While Jakob seems to only have a personal grudge against Dom, Mia's long-association with Dom could also make her a target for their brother as well. Brian's wife is confirmed to appear in Fast & Furious 9 after skipping Fate of the Furious to maintain continuity from Furious 7 and based on her prominence in its marketing, it's safe to assume that she'll play a pivotal part in the narrative.

All that being said, Universal Pictures would probably be, justifiably, careful about bringing back Brian, because of the sad circumstances of his departure. Just because they have the means to do it, doesn't mean that they should, otherwise, they risk it being disrespectful to the actor's memory. Even if Walker's family is on board with the idea, which is possible given that the franchise previous tapped the help of his brothers to finish off his scenes for Furious 7, there's really no real urgency to go through such length for the new film. If they do bring him back, they're arguably better off saving his return for the final movie to suit the billing of the endgame, ensuring that it has more impact. On top of that, waiting to bring him back to the finale would ensure that Brian is a part of the Fast Saga-capper, which he deserves considering that he was a pioneer character.

While there's even a small chance that Brian will appear in Fast & Furious 9, the film will have no choice but to provide an update about his character. It would be strange not to address his absence if both Mia and their son (who was spotted on the set of the project at the start of principal photography in 2019) appear in the film. For now, that should be enough content for now until he hopefully re-emerges in Fast 11.