xXx The Return Of Xander Cage first look: Will Deepika Padukone play Vin Diesel's love interest?

The wait is over for diehard Vin Diesel fans as the actor recently released the first look of xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage. In pictures posted on Instagram, Diesel can be seen posing along with Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, the newest cast member of the highly popular action thriller sequel.

The 48-year-old American actor shared some images on his social media accounts, where his arms are wrapped around Padukone, suggesting that she could be his love interest in the upcoming film.

In the Instagram image shared by Diesel, he revealed that Padukone would play the character of Serena. The synopsis of the third film in the franchise reads: "Xander Cage is left for dead after an incident, though he secretly returns to action for a new, tough assignment with his handler Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson)."

Here is another image shared by the movie's director DJ Caruso:

In the second part, xXx: State Of The Union, Xander was presumed dead after attackers tried to destroy NSA and its star members. NSA Agent Gibbons luckily escaped the assassination attempt, but Xander perished as it was told to the audience that he died following the deadly attack.

Taking cue from the second chapter, Return Of Xander Cage will feature another furious mission where Augustus Gibbons will reintroduce his best agent, most likely for an NSA mission. Former Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev will be seen in the film as Rebecca aka Becky. Rumour has it that State Of The Union character Ice Cube may also return to reprise his role as the former US Navy Seal officer Darius Stone. Directed by Caruso, the cast of XXX 3 includes Ruby Rose, Jet Li and Tony Jaa in other important roles.

The Return Of Xander Cage is scheduled to premiere in 2017.