Jason Statham Returning for 'Fast and Furious 8'

Not much is known at this point about Fast and Furious 8 — we do know that Vin Diesel will return, and it’s assumed that much of the main cast will return to reprise their roles from the franchise as well. Diesel also teased a location change to New York City, but that’s about it. But now we have another piece of information about the eighth installment in the franchise: Jason Statham will also return.

In an interview with Access Hollywood, the action star confirmed that his villainous character Deckard Shaw will be returning for the sequel:

We’re already talking about doing another one, Part 8. I’m a newcomer, I just got invited to the party in this last one, so it’s nice to know I’m going to be doing another.

Short and to the point. Shaw first appeared in the end credits tag in Fast and Furious 6 before appearing in Furious 7 as the main antagonist. Shaw is the short-tempered and incredibly formidable brother of Luke Evans’ antagonist in Fast and Furious 6, going on to seek revenge for his brother’s death in Furious 7.

If you haven’t seen Furious 7 yet for whatever reason, consider this a spoiler:

At the end of Furious 7, Shaw was apprehended and placed in an extremely high security federal facility, and although we saw him eyeing his new residence for potential weaknesses in the structure, it did not look like there was any way he’d be breaking out — unless maybe he bribed a guard or something.

The original ending for Furious 7 was supposed to set up a return for Kurt Russell’s character, but that ending was changed to pay tribute to Paul Walker instead. It’s still very likely that Russell will return given Universal’s original intentions for the character.

Fast and Furious 8 hits theaters on April 14, 2017.

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