"Fast and Furious 8" is still in its development stage albeit with New York City already set as one of its primary locations, and according to Variety, there is interest to film in Cuba. Another aspect that has been confirmed is that the late Paul Walker will be appearing in the film in some shape or form.
Speaking to MSN, NBC Universal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer stated that despite the fact Walker passed away during the production of the previous entry in the franchise and that his brother Cody would not be stepping in to replace him in "Fast 8," Paul will still have some presence in the film and this may even affect the story moving forward.
According to a report from Yibada, this may indicate that flashback sequences from previous films will be used. It is possible "Fast 8" will use some of the unused footage from older films or may simply rely on the best scenes Walker's Brian O'Connor is remembered for.
Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) is also said to be in the film and the report points out that her storyline will focus specifically on the scenes utilizing Brian's flashbacks. There are speculations that the connection between the story and the movie's new villain could be hidden within these flashbacks.
However, it is also entirely possible that flashbacks won't be utilized to represent Brian O'Connor and that the movie will simply resort to old photos and some of the character's possessions such as an old FBI piece of evidence that the villain may want to retrieve.
In the timeline of the films, Brian O'Connor is still alive, therefore it is likely Mia will be making investigations on her own without her husband's knowledge, allowing the story to move forward without having to insert footage of Brian.
"Fast 8" opens in theaters on April 17, 2017.
