Eric Dane to play villain in Bad Boys 4

Eric Dane has joined the cast of 'Bad Boys 4'.

The 'Euphoria' actor is set to play a villain in the latest installment of the buddy cop franchise.

Dane plays the role of Cal Jacobs in the teen drama series and also had a part in the TV show 'Grey's Anatomy'.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are reprising their roles as detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey respectively while Vanessa Hudgens, Paola Nunez and Alexander Ludwig are all returning after featuring in the 2020 film 'Bad Boys for Life'.

The plot is being kept under wraps but Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah will be behind the camera again and are directing from a script by Chris Bremner.

Martin revealed last year that he was confident that another movie would materialise after the success of 'Bad Boys for Life' – which became the franchise's highest-grossing film when it was released.

He said: "We got one more at least."

The original 'Bad Boys' film was released way back in 1995 and Lawrence felt that the project had a transformative impact on his career.

The 57-year-old star told Ebony magazine: "It was big.

"For us to come together and prove that we can deliver, and we can pull people into the box office – that two black stars, two sitcom stars, could make the money at the box office (was huge).

"I didn't go to college, so I felt TV was my college years. I felt with movies, I had graduated; it was just different."