Welcome back to the Xander Zone, ladies and gentlemen. After over a decade away from his role as extreme athlete turned super spy xXx, Vin Diesel will once again attempt to save the world as Xander Cage. We’ve known for some time that Samuel L. Jackson would be once again entering the fray as NSA handler Augustus Gibbons for xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, which made sense considering he’s been in more xXx films that Xander Cage himself. However, few other details have been released regarding the rest of the film’s cast – until now.
THR reports that in addition to the returning headliners, xXx 3 has enlisted Nina Dobrev, Deepika Padukone, and Ruby Rose to round out the female side of the cast. Each of these women will portray a character placed in a support team for Diesel’s Cage – because clearly the production team has caught on to the idea that the Fast & Furious formula works. This represents something of a shift for the xXx franchise as a whole, as the series has generally never placed too much emphasis on strong female characters outside of Asia Argento's Yelena from the original film. However, it's worth noting that the original THR article does emphasize the fact that these women are in "various stages of negotiation," meaning these roles could ultimately change. Without further ado, let’s get into it and examine these actresses and their roles in a little more detail.
Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev made her first big impressions on audiences with her roles as Mia Jones on Degrassi, as well as Elena Gilbert on The CW’s The Vampire Diaries. In recent years she has begun adding numerous film credits to her name such as The Perks of Being A Wallflower as well as Let’s Be Cops. Her role in the upcoming xXx 3 has been described as that of the team tech genius, which means she will essentially play the same role as Tej (Ludacris) from Diesel’s Fast & Furious movies
Deepika Padukone
Of all the actresses present on this list, chances are you western readers are the least familiar with Padukone. While not exactly a household name in Hollywood, overseas she has become a Bollywood sensation and is seemingly aiming to make the jump to the western box office. She will play a "huntress" who has former romantic connections with Xander Cage, meaning her and Diesel will likely share ample amounts of screen time.
Ruby Rose
A relative newcomer, Ruby Rose is undoubtedly best known for her work on the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black. Aside from that popular series, she is a prominent lesbian and figure for the LGBT community. Her role in xXx 3 will be that of the team’s sniper; considering the fact that she will also be appearing in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, as well as John Wick 2, we think it’s safe to assume that she may be finding a comfort zone in the action genre.
We will bring you any and all details related to the release of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage as they become available to us. The film is expected to blast into theaters sometime in 2017
