Vin Diesel and Paul Walker developed a strong friendship during their time together on the Fast & Furious movies, a friendship that was sadly came to an end when the latter died in 2013. However, Diesel has maintained ties with Walker’s family, including his brother, Cody Walker. Case in point, these two recently appeared together in a video at an event where you’d be sure to find plenty of Fast & Furious fans.
Over this past weekend, Vin Diesel traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to visit FuelFest, a festival Cody Walker founded with Chris Lee that spotlights cars from all over the world. With a cheering crowd being them, Diesel and Walker shot a quick video message for Instagram, which you can watch below:
Like he did with Paul Walker, Vin Diesel called Cody Walker his “brother” and expressed how proud he was for him organizing this event for people who enjoy car culture to come together. The video ends with Cody Walker expressing gratitude to everyone who showed up to FuelFest and shared their support, including Diesel, who he also considers to be like “family.” This 34-second chunk of footage is a heartwarming reminder of how Diesel’s bond with the Walker family goes beyond the professional dynamic he and Paul Walker had built together over six Fast & Furious movies, but it’s certainly not the only recent reminder.
The FuelFest-based video follows just days after Vin Diesel posted a sweet tribute to Paul Walker on the anniversary of his death. Winding the clock back a month from there, Diesel gave away Meadow Walker, Paul Walker’s daughter and Diesel’s goddaughter, at her wedding in the Dominican Republic. Diesel and Meadow Walker also honored Paul Walker on social media several weeks before F9 arrived in theaters back in June. So even though it’s been almost a decade since Paul Walker’s tragic death, the man who brought Brian O’Connor to life is never far from Diesel’s mind.
As far as Cody Walker goes, he and his brother Caleb served as stand-ins to complete Paul Walker’s remaining scenes in 2015’s Furious 7. With Brian O’Connor having retired from a life of street racing, heists and saving the world, Cody Walker commended Vin Diesel and those in charge of the Fast & Furious franchise of allowing his late brother’s character to “ride off into the sunset.” We got a quick tease of Brian at the end of F9 when his blue Nissan Skyline pulled up in front of the Toretto household.
In 2018, Cody and Caleb Walker both expressed interest in bringing back Brian O’Connor for one last appearance, and with the main Fast & Furious film series set to conclude after two more movies, there’s certainly time to make that happen. Whether it actually will remains to be seen, as for now, all we know is that Fast & Furious 10 and 11 are set to shoot back-to-back starting next January, with 10 being slated for April 7, 2023.
While we await more news about what the final chapters of the Fast saga hold in store, be sure to look through our 2022 release schedule to learn what movies are slotted to come out next year.
