What You’ve Been Waiting For: Diesel Returns to XXX

Vin Diesel will be a new breed of secret agent again.  

Are you  one of those people who’ve been sitting around since 2002, wondering when, if ever, Vin Diesel would return to his seminal role as Xander Cage in XXX? It’s never crossed my mind for one second, but for the rest of you, good news–Variety reports that Diesel and director Rob Cohen, just off Mummy duty, are likely to return for a third go-round with the vowel-challenged franchise.

The 2002 film was about Cage, “an extreme sports enthusiast who gets drafted by the government for a dangerous mission.” The idea was to create a sort of new, cool James Bond for the 21st c., action-demanding, extreme sport lovin’, snowboarding set. Then Casino Royale came out and it was proven that James Bond is still cool, at least for everyone over age eleven.

Of course, it’s not as if the XXX franchise has been completely dormant–there was a sequel in 2005, XXX: State of the Union, starring Ice Cube. I’m sure you remember it.

But no worries, Diesel will be back now. He’s also returning to another franchise that gave him his start–The Fast and the Furious. Diesel did a cameo for the sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, but skipped The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. He’ll be back next summer in Fast and Furious, one of the most fascinating movie titles I’ve seen in a while–it’s the same title, but it has no articles.

The XXX movie will supposedly be called XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, but there’s no script yet. Supposedly there will be eventually.