xXx 2: According to Variety, Willem Dafoe has joined the cast of Revolution Studios' sequel XXX: State of the Union which Lee Tamahori begins lensing this summer.

Dafoe will play George Deckert, a five-star general and secretary of defense.

In the sequel, Ice Cube stars as Darius Stone, a new XXX agent embroiled in thwarting a political power struggle in the nation's capital.

Samuel L. Jackson returns as National Security Agency agent Augustus Gibbons.

Tamahori ("Die Another Day") begins production on the film in July, around Los Angeles, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., directing from a script by Simon Kinberg.

The film is expected to bow May 13, 2005.

XXX: State of the Union was released April 29th, 2005 and stars Ice Cube, Samuel L. Jackson, Willem Dafoe, Scott Speedman, Peter Strauss, Xzibit, Michael Roof, Sunny Mabrey. The film is directed by Lee Tamahori.