As per usual in the world of The Fast and Furious, the marketing has been perfectly paced and has been letting out just the right bits of information over the last few months. The last few dispatches have focused on the eighth sequel shooting in Cuba, which Vin Diesel and director F. Gary Gray have called a historical moment in popular international filmmaking. Beyond that there's been quite a lot of talk about the new cast members of the latest sequel of this insanely overextended franchise. Last time around, Kurt Russell joined the team as the secretive government agent, known simply as Mr. Nobody, and Jason Statham played the role of the nearly invincible villain. Mind you, I said nearly.

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Image via Universal Pictures

This time around, Mr. Nobody has a protege who will be played by Scott Eastwood, son of Clint, who is also set to appear in a supporting role in David Ayer's anticipated Suicide Squad. And then, more importantly, there's Charlize Theron, who will be playing the big villain of Diesel's team in the eighth film in the series, who now has the name of Cipher. ( By the way, can I get a memo on what to call this movie? There have been promo materials that have called it Fast 8 and Furious 8, and the press release refers to it as the "eighth chapter of the Fast and Furious saga." C'mon, everybody!)


Regardless of not knowing what to call this movie, we now have our first image of Theron in her role, sporting a pretty dope Metallica tank-top and a bunch of big guns that I imagine she'll be getting around to using. Furious 7 was my favorite installment in the series so the...eighth chapter in the Fast and Furious saga has something to live up to here, and with Eastwood and Theron on board, the odds are looking good.

Here's the image of Theron as Cipher:

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Image via Universal

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