Last week it was reported that Jessica Biel (‘Total Recall,’ ‘Hitchcock’) was in talks to play the villainous vixen Viper in the upcoming film ‘The Wolverine’ starring Hugh Jackman. It looks like the talks didn’t go as well as planned and Biel declined the part prompting Marvel and 20th Century Fox to look for another actress to take her place. Apparently the search didn’t take that long as it’s now being reported that Svetlana Khodchenkova is now up for the role.
Russian actress Khodchenkova is not as well known in America as most of her work has been in Russia, but she did have a pretty juicy role in ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ as the mysterious and enigmatic Irina. She even got to smack lips with Tom Hardy in the film! Since the character of Viper is supposed to come from Eastern Europe, Khodchenkova seems to be a better fit than Biel.
For the uninitiated, Viper is a professional terrorist best known for her athletic ability, swordsmanship, marksmanship and the use of poisoned weapons. As ‘The Wolverine’ will be based on the classic Chris Claremont and Frank Miller 1982 story arc in the Wolverine comics, no doubt this will be an important role for Khodchenkova as Viper comes into Wolverine’s path while trying to poison the Japanese woman he loves.
Hopefully talks with Khodchenkova will end much better than the ones with Biel. Considering production is set to begin in August, news of the outcome should be coming out soon.
Source: Twitch
