Jet Li Out Of xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage

Vin Diesel took to Facebook to confirm that Ip Man star Donnie Yen has been brought in to replace Jet Li in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. It’s a change of pace for Diesel’s PR parade, who has been releasing a steady stream of set photos since production kicked off. At the time of writing, no reason was given for the departure of the Chinese action expert.

Much like Li’s exit there has been no official announcement detailing Yen’s role in the film but a brief summary of the film gives us an indication of what to expect in Caruso’s actioner. Donning the fur coat and cocksure attitude as Xander Cage, Diesel’s sports extremist will be seen “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.”

Rounding out the ensemble for xXx 3 are Deepika Padukone, Toni Collette, Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Jaa and  Conor McGregor, along with Nina Dobrev, Ruby Rose and Andrey Ivchenko as mysterious villain Raif.