Fate Of The Furious: Paul Walker tribute in Fast 8 explained by screenwriter

The latest film in Fast And The Furious franchise is currently smashing box-office records by becoming the biggest opening weekend of all time, but it did not forget to pay tribute to late actor Paul Walker, who passed away in an accident in 2013.

In Fate Of The Furious, Dominic Toretto goes rogue under the control of the villain Cipher to save his son. By the end of the movie, Toretto finally announces the name of his son, Brian, paying a subtle tribute to Walker's character, Brian O'Conner.

The film had to acknowledge why Brian was not there during Dominic Toretto's darkest period. Screenwriter Chris Morgan told Collider, "In terms of this movie, with that ending we really just wanted to touch, for the audience as well as for the characters, the issue of Brian and the issue of Paul and specifically—spoilers, so you're gonna have to figure out how you say this or don't say this, but what the characters go through in this movie is super dramatic, basically their entire world gets shattered."

He continued, "The guy who is their father figure, their brother, their husband, who's taught them their moral code, suddenly betrays it all, goes rogue, goes against them, and it becomes a real question of faith."

Revealing more about Walker's references in the movie, Morgan told the outlet, "It's so dramatic for the characters that at some point they would definitely turn to each other and say, 'Oh my God, we gotta tell Brian, we gotta tell Mia. Something is going on with Dom, we don't know what it is'."

"So I think from a practical point of view for the characters you needed to address it. For the audience, and just as a fan as the writer on it, I also wanted to have one moment where we were able to – specifically at the beat at the end of the film – say to the audience, 'We're thinking of him too' in a respectful sort of way," he added.