Earlier this month, a report surfaced that Sony's upcoming action sequel XXX: The Return of Xander Cage has landed international action stars Tony Jaa and Jet Li. That report was never confirmed by the studio, and it was never revealed what characters the action icons would be playing. Today, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Jet Li has finalized his deal, and that he may be playing one of the main villains.

The story centers on Vin Diesel's Xander Cage, who forms a new team filled with ""sexy badasses and comic relief players." This franchise will follow the same path as Vin Diesel's Fast & Furious franchise, which has risen to new box office heights since being reconfigured as an action franchise. This new report reveals that Jet Li's character will be leading a separate team who will square off with Xander, but it wasn't confirmed if the martial arts star is playing the primary villain. Here's what Revolution Studios CEO Vince Totino had to say in a statement about the casting.

"XXX: The Return of Xander Cage is one of the jewels in Revolution Studio's library, and we're giving the devoted fans more of what they want by expanding the franchise and introducing new and extreme action characters like Jet Li's."

We have also recently reported that Samuel L. Jackson will be reprising his role from the original xXx as Special Agent Augustus Gibbons. Other new cast members include Deepika Padukone, Nina Dobrev, Ruby Rose and Conor McGregor. The site reports that, while word of Jet Li's involvement surfaced weeks ago, his deal only recently closed due to complex negotiations. The site also adds that Jennifer Lopez was also rumored for a role, but a deal could not be made.

D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye) is directing from a script by F. Scott Frazier (The Numbers Station). Vin Diesel producing alongside his sister Samantha Vincent, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Joe Roth. Production is scheduled to take place in Toronto and the Philippines. The sequel doesn't have a distributor yet, but several sources claim that Paramount Pictures will be the franchise's new home. What do you think about Jet Li joining this action franchise?