Update: It looks like sources spoke to soon, as Collider said she’s dropped out of the film and producers are currently looking for a replacement.
It wouldn’t be a summer blockbuster without a female lead. Although The Wolverine sees Hugh Jackman head to Japan to battle a bunch of native samurai, there’s still room for a pretty white female and Twitch is now reporting that woman may be Jessica Biel and Deadline lets us know she’s been officially cast in the part.
She’s been offered the part of Viper, who has been on both sides of Logan in previous comics, at one point even blackmailing the lead character to marry her. If she accepts, she’d join the recently added Will Yun Lee as Kenuichio Harada (or Silver Samurai), an oft-rumored antagonist who wields a katana that can cut anything except Wolverine’s trusted adamantium. Then there’s Hiroyuki Sanada, who will play Yakuza boss Shingen, who’s also the father of Silver Samurai; Hal Yamanouchi is appearing as a possible mobster, Yashida; Tao Okamoto has been cast as Shingen’s daughter, Mariko, a romantic interest to Wolverine; and Rila Fukushima has been signed to play an assassin, Yukio.
So with a possible romantic interest already in play, could Biel’s potential character be only on the antagonist side? Biel has been comfortable in blockbuster roles as of late, in both The A-Team and the upcoming Total Recall remake, but I can’t quite picture her playing opposite Jackman in a feudal Japan setting. We’ll have to wait and see if she nabs the part, but it shouldn’t be long as James Mangold’s film is set to go into production soon.
The Wolverine will open on July 26th, 2013.