The third film in the xXx franchise is starting to pick up quite a lot of steam heading toward its 2017 release date. This is interesting, considering the fact that the second movie in the franchise, xXx: State of the Union, was both a critical and commercial bomb. The renewed interest almost certainly has to do with Vin Diesel coming back to his role as Xander Cage in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, but that's not exactly the whole story. The third outing, which was directed by D.J. Caruso of Disturbia and The Salton Sea fame, has a much, much bigger and more sturdy cast than either of the previous volumes.

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Image via Paramount

Ruby Rose, Nina Dobrev, Donnie Yen, Samuel L. Jackson, Toni Collette, and Game of Thrones' Rory McCann, amongst several others, are featured heavily in the film and all these performers have a lot more presence than the supporting players in xXx and State of the Union. It's this, more than anything, that gives me slight hope for the new movie and it would seem that Paramount is thinking similarly with the release of a dozen character posters today for the film. That might be a bit of overkill - I honestly don't think even The Force Awakens had a dozen character posters in total and that movie had to set up an entirely invented universe. Regardless, these posters, which you can take a look at below, should keep people interested until the new trailer for xXx: The Return of Xander Cage arrives tomorrow.

Here's the official synopsis for xXx: The Return of Xander Cage:

The third explosive chapter of the blockbuster franchise that redefined the spy thriller finds extreme athlete turned government operative Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) coming out of self-imposed exile and on a collision course with deadly alpha warrior Xiang and his team in a race to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora’s Box. Recruiting an all-new group of thrill-seeking cohorts, Xander finds himself enmeshed in a deadly conspiracy that points to collusion at the highest levels of world governments. Packed with the series’ signature deadpan wit and bad-ass attitude, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage will raise the bar on extreme action with some of the most mind-blowing stunts to ever be caught on film.

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