Comic-Con 2012: Jessica Biel Joins & Talks ‘Wolverine 2’ [Updated]

[Update: Jessica Biel will not be in The Wolverine.]

With the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine entering production next month, casting reports have been rolling in all week. Four days ago we found out that The Wolverine had cast its main villain, the Silver Samurai, along with several other Japanese actors, and yesterday we found out Jessica Biel was in line to nab a lead role opposite Hugh Jackman.

After playing coy about the reports in interviews here at Comic-Con (bad timing for her) the news was since made official and Jessica Biel will be playing Viper in The Wolverine.

After the news broke from Twitch that Biel was offered the part, Deadline confirmed that she’s taken the role and that she will indeed be playing the first-reported Viper character, who also goes by the name of “Victoria.” By the name, we can safely say the character will be a variation of the Viper/Madame Hydra from the comics.

Madame Hydra from Marvel Comics is more of a Captain America character than a Wolverine one, although they do cross paths for a key Wolverine story – that being the Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s 1982 arc for which this film is based on. For licensing reasons, Twentieth Century Fox cannot use the Hydra organization since it belongs to Marvel Studios, hence the name change from Ophelia Sarkissian to Victoria.

Biel has a starring role in the upcoming Total Recall which made a splash at Comic-Con during Sony’s panel where new footage was shown. She’s no stranger to the genre or action, having an extremely physical role opposite Ryan Reynolds and Wesley Snipes in Blade: Trinity and other action roles since.

In chatting with HitFix during press interviews at Comic-Con yesterday, Biel was asked about The Wolverine news where she responded reluctantly

“People keep talking about this. I don’t know anything about it. It’s a little bit too soon for that kind of an announcement. I’m excited about this series…”

“I love wolverine, Hugh Jackman is so cool… people are surprising me about it all the time. When you see that people actually really think that could be an amazing character… when other people are excited about things.”

That was hours before her camp reportedly took the offer. Will she rock the green outfit? Is Biel the right fit for this comic book character? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments and keep an eye on the Screen Rant Comic-Con page for all the convention news.

The Wolverine hits theaters July 26, 2013.

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Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.

Sources: Deadline, HitFix