After a decade of nothing but blowing hot air, Vin Diesel finally gets the sequel of his dreams

Despite headlining one of the most popular and successful franchises in the history of cinema, there’s always been a sneaking suspicion that Vin Diesel has always favored Riddick over Fast & Furious.

Whereas Dominic Toretto has yielded billions upon billions of box office dollars, the struggle to expand the universe that originally began back in 2000 with Pitch Black has proven a tougher nut to crack, but Diesel has always stuck with the intergalactic convict through thick and thin.

Even though the series has spanned three movies, two video games, an animated spinoff, and countless other multimedia tie-ins, it was beginning to grow a little tiresome hearing the gravel-throated action hero repeatedly tout that a fourth feature-length installment was on the way without actually having anything to show for it.

That’s finally changed, though, with the actor and producer officially re-teaming with writer and director David Twohy for Riddick: Furya, which sees the title hero return to his homeworld at long last. Having purchased the rights to the character a while back, Diesel was never going to give up the ghost, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some people shocked that it’s actually happening for real this time.

Then again, with The Fast Saga drawing to a close when the 11th chapter eventually releases – as well as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 potentially marking the end of his association with the Marvel Cinematic Universe – the noted tank top enthusiast needs another established property to fall back on, and The Last Witch Hunter certainly wouldn’t cut it.