Charlize Theron will play the villain in Fast and Furious 8

It's sometimes said that heroes are only as good as their villains, and Luke Evans and Jason Statham have proven worthy adversaries for Vin Diesel & co in the last two entries of the Fast and Furious franchise. If the latest cast addition for the next instalment is anything to go by, the Shaw brothers could be one-upped.

Deadline is reporting that Charlize Theron has officially signed on to play the villain in Fast and Furious 8. This reunites the Mad Max: Fury Road heroine with director F. Gary Gray, whom she worked with on the 2003 remake of The Italian Job. Check out the tweet below...

Our crew will face its greatest adversary in our next film. Welcome Charlize Theron to the Fast family. 4.14.17. #F8 pic.twitter.com/6QIQz6UcWRApril 7, 2016

Simply put, this is PERFECT casting; Theron is one of the best actors working today and is a great addition to an already impressive ensemble. Whether she's playing the third Shaw sibling or not, I'm looking forward to witnessing her face off against Dom Toretto and co next year.

Directed by F. Gary Gray and starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, and Jason Statham, Fast and Furious 8 is due to open in the US and UK on April 14, 2017.

Images: Warner Bros.

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.