A photo has finally surfaced of Charlize Theron's Fast 8 character, Cipher

Charlize Theron as Cipher for Fast 8. Photo / Twitter

Fans have been given their first glimpse of Charlize Theron as the new villain of the Fast and Furious franchise.

Theron is set to star in the franchise's next installment, Fast 8, in which she'll fill the shoes of UK actor Jason Statham as the resident baddie.

Our crew has faced former military, mercenaries & more. Now they meet Cipher (@CharlizeAfrica). #F8 #FastFridays pic.twitter.com/3zEK35gPZD

— #F9 (@TheFastSaga) May 20, 2016

Not much is known about Theron's character Cipher, but she's finally been pictured in a room full of guns, with a ponytail, a leather jacket and a Metallica shirt - the latter of which has been currying favour with fans.

She likes Metallica. I like her already. :)

— Cajun (@Cajuntagious) May 20, 2016

Other fans say the look makes Theron look "badass" and they've praised the difference between the strong female characters she's played in this film as well as Huntsman: Winter War and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Theron will star in the film with franchise regulars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson and Michelle Rodriguez, who are all still feeling the loss of their late co-star Paul Walker.

Vin Diesel took to Instagram this weekend to talk about how the film they're making would make Walker proud.

View this post on Instagram

Many of the crew members who have worked on several of the past Fast films are here again to help us make something special. One of them at the end of the week came up to me and said wow what we are capturing on film is excellent... And then looked at me and said Paul would be proud. #wemakethemwithourhearts

A post shared by Vin Diesel (@vindiesel) on May 21, 2016 at 1:05pm PDT

Fast 8 is set for release in April, 2017.