Paul Walker’s character in the Fast & Furious movie franchise reportedly will retire in the upcoming installment, but the character will be written out in a way that allows the series to continue with appropriate continuity.

Paul Walker portrayed FBI agent Brian O’Conner in the series of hit films.

The Fast & Furious actor and his friend Roger Rodas, who was driving, tragically died on November 30 in a car crash in Santa Clarita, Calif., about 30 miles north of Hollywood, when their red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT burst in flames after hitting a light pole. Both died at the scene. The initial corner’s findings indicated that Walker passed away form a “combination of traumatic and thermal injuries,” which was confirmed in the final report. The coroner added that there were no drugs or alcohol found in either man’s system. Shooting on the new movie was about half way finished at the time of Walker’s death.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Studios will do some reshoots and edits on Fast & Furious 7 as well as make use of existing footage so that Paul Walker character can retire respectfully rather than simply be killed off on screen.

“In the weeks after the tragedy, director James Wan, writer Chris Morgan and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, Universal’s lead executive on the Fast films, pored over the footage Wan had shot. The trio then devised a plan to tweak the existing script so that Walker would remain a part of the story but could be written out, allowing the franchise to continue without him. The changes will require some additional scenes to be written and shot, but the eight-month delay of release provides plenty of time.”

Fast & Furious 7 is scheduled for a April 2015 release.

Yahoo! Movies opines that “While it would have been wildly inappropriate to have Walker’s character dying in a flaming car wreck, killing off Brian would still pack a far bigger punch for fans than retiring the character. Though Brian is settled down with Mia and a child in the sixth film, he was still an integral part of the action and retirement in Fast and Furious 7 may not satisfy all the fans of the franchise.”

Do you think the retirement of Paul Walker’s Fast & Furious character gives Brian O’Conner the proper send-off?