Reuters — Vin Diesel marked his return to the “xXx” franchise at the European premiere of “xXx: Return of Xander Cage” in London on Tuesday night (January 10).
Diesel, also known for the “Fast & Furious” series, first appeared as crime fighting government agent Xander Cage in 2002’s “xXx”. He skipped the sequel “xXx2: The Next Level”, which was led by Ice Cube and Willem Dafoe, but has now made a comeback in the third instalment.
According to studio Paramount Pictures, this chapter of the blockbuster franchise sees Cage end his self-imposed exile in order to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon called Pandora’s Box. Cage recruits an all-new group of fellow adrenaline junkies and together they try to battle the mysterious enemy forces.
Besides the addition of actresses Ruby Rose, Nina Dobrev and Deepika Padukone, the revamped cast of “Return of Xander Cage” also includes established martial arts stars Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa and Michael Bisping.
When asked whether having former athletes on set put pressure on his fitness regime, Diesel told Reuters: “It wasn’t the cast…it was the character, it was playing a character that is an individual in the way that Xander is, a thrill seeker in the way that Xander is. He enjoys life in a way that other characters I play might not. And so it was kind of getting in that thrill seeking physique that motivated me.”
Meanwhile Yen said acting alongside Diesel actually made him more conscious of his physique.
“Going up against Vin, as you know he’s got this massive, macho physique, so I’m a smaller guy, you know, but at least I wanted to show fans that my physique can match him.”
This “xXx” movie doesn’t limit the action scenes to its male stars – the female leads are just as involved in the fights and shoot outs.
“Why would there be a damsel in distress, come on, women are way too strong, women give birth for goodness sake. I mean we are just built strong. And this film really celebrates that and really shows everyone’s individual character strengths and skillsets,” said Rose.
“xXx: Return of Xander Cage” begins it global theatrical rollout from January 18.
