These days, retiring sports professionals have more post-career options, besides the usual car dealerships, chain restaurants, or commentator jobs. We are, of course, talking about the ever increasing option of becoming a star of TV and Film, which is the tactic former Atlanta Falcons player Tony Gonzalez is taking. And what a debut he's going to make for himself, as he's signed on for xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.
Variety dropped the news today that Gonzalez would be joining the second sequel to the xXx franchise, which is the first to see the return of series originator Vin Diesel. Gonzalez's part in xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage is unspecified at the moment, but he rounds out a cast that includes returning cast-members Samuel L. Jackson and Ice Cube, as well as newcomers Toni Collette, Ruby Rose, and Donnie Yen. So with all of these big guns on screen, just who is Gonzalez going to play?
Well, considering xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage sees Xander forming his own team of bad-assesto take down another team of evil bad-asses, all in the name of securing a weapon code-named "Pandora's Box," there's room on either team for Tony Gonzalez to join up. We'd venture a guess that Gonzalez would be aligning himself with the side of the villains, as we've seen plenty of sports stars make their entry into the world of film by playing the heel. After all, it worked for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, whose Scorpion King persona started out as a villain in The Mummy Returns, only to become the good guy in The Scorpion King. So Tony Gonzalez could gear up for a role as a baddie, go out with a memorable fight / death scene, and turn around to be the hero in his next film.
xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage is a film that's had fans waiting for quite some time, With the cast and story the film has assembled, it looks like the wait will have been worth it. Vin Diesel's action franchise has dusted off the cobwebs of time, and if Diesel's powers of resurrection are still up to snuff, he might have a third series of films to keep him busy. So if Tony Gonzalez is lucky, he might not have his ass kicked so hard that it'll prevent any sort of sequel potential for his character. Of course, should he be sent to a more permanent cinematic demise, there's always a chance that Gonzalez will be the next action franchise upstart himself.
xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage revs into action on January 20, 2017.
