Fast And Furious 7's Original Ending Could Have Changed The Franchise's Narrative Fate

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The "Fast and Furious" crew was dealt an impossible hand when Paul Walker died in a tragic car accident in 2013, essentially leaving them without one of the series' foundational players. The stunning loss, which took place while "Furious 7" was still in production, essentially led to everyone taking a step back and figuring out how they were going to salvage the film. In addition to Walker's brothers and the folks at Wētā FX working together to finish his scenes, the third act was pretty much restructured to make up for his unfortunate absence. The ending of "Furious 7" was ultimately a touching and sentimental ode to Walker that made just about everyone cry, with Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian traveling down diverging pathways. It's been a point of curiosity as to what the film's original ending would have looked like. Thanks to Barry Hertz's "Welcome to the Family: The Explosive Story Behind Fast & Furious, the Blockbusters that Supercharged the World," we know it would have brought Dom and Brian back to their roots.

According to Hertz, the initial ending to "Furious 7" would have seen the "Fast" team taking a well-deserved victory lap at Neptune's Net, otherwise known as the Malibu seafood place featured in the first movie (via ComicBookMovie). Kurt Russell's Mr. Nobody would have given everyone a congressional commendation for their work in taking down Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and retrieving the God's Eye technology. Instead of handing it back to the Agency, Dom would have stomped on it with his boot, citing its immense technological power as way too big for any one person to wield. What makes this ending so interesting is that the destruction of the God's Eye would have forged a much different path for future "Fast and Furious" sequels.

The God's Eye was first introduced in "Furious 7" as a Macguffin for the "Fast" crew to track down before it ended up in the wrong hands. Created by computer hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), God's Eye was essentially an evolutionary step in mass surveillance tech. It possesses the capability to find just about anyone in the world within minutes, so long as they're first captured by a camera. The tech was initially dependent on it being a physical device, yet it could ultimately be broken into should a skilled enough hacker be in close proximity to its presence. This series always plays fast and loose regarding physics, so it makes sense that it would do so with literal plot devices, too.

After defeating Mose Jakande (Djimon Hounsou) in the climax of "Furious 7," God's Eye inevitably ends up back in the hands of Mr. Nobody. The Agency continues to use it going into "The Fate of the Furious" in order to track down a rogue Dom, that is, before Cipher (Charlize Theron) steals it for herself. Her defeat, however, once again brings the God's Eye back under the Agency's control. "Fast X" sees the device stolen by the villainous Dante (Jason Momoa) from Tess (Brie Larson), Mr. Nobody's daughter, after she uses it to find Dom — even if he doesn't take full advantage of its power. It's basically one big game of hot potato with surveillance tech.

As we can see, God's Eye went from a side mission in "Furious 7" to a key player in the "Fast" sequels that followed. Going with the meta farewell for Walker was definitely the right move for that movie at that point in time, but it does make me wonder if there would have been any other place to retain some of the original ending's intent. It showed that Dom only had so much patience for a device that nearly led to the death of him and his friends, even if it's in the hands of the "right" people. From "The Fate of the Furious" onwards, God's Eye keeps coming back to bite everyone in the butt. Dom is shocked when Tess tells him about it in "Fast X," as he believed it was locked away in a vault somewhere. It's ridiculous considering Dom, of all people, knows that a vault can easily be broken into.

Part of what I find fascinating about the original ending to "Furious 7" is that it offers a sense of finality. Dom removes a dangerous player from the board, in addition to rejecting the governmental vindication by tossing it out of his car window. His actions are in line with the DVD player-hijacking street racer we came to know and love. Even Brian's farewell would have made a perfect ending. Over a decade later, the "Fast" franchise is in limbo following the commercial disappointment of "Fast X." To make matters worse, Diesel wants to reunite Dom and Brian, presumably with a CGI Walker, should "Fast 11" ever happen, and that's pretty concerning.

"Furious 7" is currently streaming on Peacock.