Actor Shawn Fonteno stated in a recent interview that he didn't expect to reprise his role as Franklin from Grand Theft Auto V, but held out hope. Fonteno recently filled the shoes of Franklin for the first time since 2013 as an NPC for GTA Online's latest update, The Contract. The update is a bit of a role-reversal for Franklin, as he's now calling the shots instead of being an errand boy for the powerful people of Los Santos.
The unexpected return of Franklin in GTA Online's new update surprised many fans. The online mode has largely steered clear from the core cast of characters in the campaign. While some familiar faces, like Lester, have popped up, the game has done little to continue the main story in online. This is partially due to the fact that GTA Online was a prequel when it launched, and has slowly caught up to the present day, but now Rockstar is giving players a taste of what at least one of the three protagonists is up to after attaining his wealth.
This came as a surprise to Franklin actor Shawn Fonteno as well, though. When asked if he thought Franklin would ever return during an interview with GTA Online update confirms Michael is still alive, so there's a chance he could pop up in a future update as well. Maybe there's even an opportunity for the trio to reunite for a new job. When asked if he could have predicted Franklin's return, Fonteno explained:
"I didn't, but honestly, I had a feeling. Rockstar moves in a crazy way, you can never count them out, they move in stealth mode. It was just like a sense of a small seed of faith that I knew something was going to happen, but I didn't know it would be like this. And I didn't know when."
The new update has provided a lot of clarity on what happened to Franklin after GTA V, but things are a bit fuzzier about Michael and Trevor. A brief nod confirms Michael is still alive and seemingly still producing films, while Trevor's whereabouts are unknown. It seems like option C - the ending where all three protagonists lived - is the canonical ending, but that doesn't necessarily mean Trevor has survived all these years.
Whether or not the remaster of Grand Theft Auto V will give this trio a new adventure to take on remains to be seen. Franklin can't seem to keep his head out of trouble, so it's not difficult to imagine a scenario where the character gets pulled back into the action himself.
