There were some very prominent tributes to Paul Walker

Not only is The Fate of The Furious the eighth chapter of a well-loved franchise, it is also the first one to go completely without Paul Walker. We all know about Walker’s untimely death in 2013 and we know how Furious 7 was finished with the help of CGI and Walker’s brothers. More importantly, we know about that heartbreaking scene where Walker’s Brian O’Conner drives away from Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto. 

But it wasn’t until Fate of the Furious that we finally understood exactly how the franchise would continue without Walker.

Warning: Spoilers start now.

The quick answer is that the franchise moves on completely without him. There are no special effects to embed him in scenes and there is no cameo from the Walker brothers. But there are touching tributes, one of which might just leave you in tears. 

The Fate trailer made it clear that Dom was going rogue against his family and working for Charlize Theron’s villainous Cipher. The rest of the cast was left to wonder why this was so and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) was particularly unsure of what to do.

During one of the darker moments, Roman (Tyrese Gibson) tells the team that Brian would know what to do. “No,” Letty tells him, reminding him that they agreed not to bring him to into their adventures anymore. 

 In the film, we finally learn that Dom has turned his back on his family because of family. In 2011’s Fast Five, Dom had a relationship with Elsa Pataky’s Elena Neves. And in Fate, we see that they had an unnamed love child, who Elena wanted Dom to name.

At the end of the film, Dom introduces Brian to everyone else, his boy who he named after O’Conner. It was a silent ode to Walker, of whom Diesel named his daughter, Pauline. 

The Fate Of The Furious is showing in theatres now. Make sure not to miss out with GMovies.