'Fast and Furious' Fans Duped by Fake Movie Poster Promising Return of Paul Walker's Character

Fans of the Fast and Furious franchise recently found themselves being duped by a fake movie poster that promises the return of Paul Walker's character.

The faux poster turned up on a Facebook paged named The Best Movies Fans and is designed to be for Fast 9, which is still more than a year away from being released, although the poster includes an "April 19th, 2019" premiere date.

The poster boasts the "Return of Brian O'Conner," which is the character that Walker originated in the film series, and features an old photo of the late actor.

The poster comes across as a bit of a cruel joke, considering that Walker passed away in a car accident in 2013, but many fans seem to believe that it is real.

"Might be different without Paul being in it but his brother that is a spitting image of him will be taking his place," one fan commented.

"No no and hell fukn no. About time we got back to basics and got some naughty street racing in with a car society plot again. Bring back the essence of car culture. Fast, fun, driving, laughter, love and passion," another person stated.

"Noooooo its not the same guy just similar to him we can tell," someone else said.

Many fans seem to think that perhaps Walker's brother — Cody Walker — will be taking on his role, which likely comes from the fact that Cody filmed stand-in scenes as Brian O'Conner for Furious 7 after Walker's death.

"It will never be the same if they use his brother they need to change character so he has his own role as he will be similar anyway but it will never be Paul walker again," one fan suggested, to which another fan replied, "ye I know it was alright to finish [Fast 7] but to make a completely new film for Paul would suck."

The poster is clearly fan-made, as there has been no indication that Fast 9 is anywhere near ready to be released in just a few months. Another pretty telling sign it's fake is that it lists X-Men/Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman as being in the film, and there has been no official confirmation that he's joining the Fast and Furious franchise.

It's not impossible that Brian O'Conner could return, however, as Furious 7 featured him driving off into the sunset as Dom (Vin Diesel) looked on. However, it is highly unlikely the filmmakers would choose to recast the role.

Fast 9 is officially (tentatively) scheduled to open in theaters on April 10, 2020.