As stated in a report from Deadline, Universal Studios have officially approached actress Charlize Theron to be the villain in "Fast and Furious 8." According to Screen Rant, this may indicate she is somewhat connected to Deckard Shaw, the villain in the previous films played by Jason Statham.

Statham's character first made an impact when he killed Han (Sung Kang). Han died in the third film but Shaw's involvement in the murder was only revealed by the end of "Fast and Furious 6." It was explained by the seventh film that Deckard was in fact the brother of Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), the villain of the sixth film. 

With Owen likely dead and Deckard now in prison, fans speculate that Theron's character may either be their sister or wife to either of the brothers. This would coincide with the fact that Statham is reprising his role in "Fast and Furious 8," hinting that Theron's character will either break Shaw out of prison or at least approach him for assistance.

As pointed out in the report from Screen Rant, one of the primary themes of the franchise is the focus on family, and while this primarily applies to the protagonists, there is no reason why this could not also be applied to the villains. This means "Fast and Furious 8" could focus on the entire Shaw family fighting back against Dominic Toretto's (Vin Diesel) crew.

However, Deadline also points out that Theron has not officially signed on just yet. But many speculate that she will, given that she has already worked with directo F. Gary Gray before, on the film "The Italian Job," and because she has already gained experience filming action-heavy roles after doing "Mad Max: Fury Road."

Theron's character has the possibility of being completely unrelated to the past villains but fans point out that this is not the way the films have been structured lately, with connections being tied since the fifth film. 

"Fast and Furious 8" will release in theaters on April 14, 2017.