Charlize Theron being touted for Fast and Furious 8 villain role

It could be a case of 'Fast and Furiosa' for the South African actress

Road warrior: Theron as Furiosa in 'Mad Max: Fury Road' (Getty)

Charlize Theron is reportedly in talks to join Fast and Furious 8 in what has been described as a villainous role.

Deadline reports that director F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) is inserting a female antagonist into the franchise and has targeted the South African actress.

Gray has previous working with Theron; she starred in his remake of The Italian Job alongside Mark Wahlberg back in 2004.

The actress is no stranger to high-octane action either - last year she starred as Imperator Furiosa in George Miller's critically-acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road.

Fast 8 will be the first of a final trilogy of films with Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez all returning; the tenth and final outing will be released in 2021.

Hitherto, it was believed that Jason Statham's bad guy Deckard Shaw would be the main villain in the upcoming film - he is, however, still set to appear.

Quite honestly, we'd have preferred a Mad Max spin-off (titled Fast and Furiosa, of course) but getting Theron to appear in a Fast and Furious film would be a massive coup for the franchise.