**Update: **Or... not. Collider is now reporting that talks between Biel and 20th Century Fox have broken down and she won't be taking the role. At least for now. There's a chance she could head back to the negotiating table, but we'll likely have to get used to someone else in Viper's costume.
Though she was at Comic-Con today participating on the panel for the new Total Recall, Jessica Biel didn’t even hint at her likely return to the Marvel movie world, which is odd given the location. Instead, following up on the first word from Twitch, Deadline now brings the word that Jessica Biel has been cast as Viper in The Wolverine.
Biel will be a woman who, by day, works for the corrupt minister of justice. By night, she’s Viper, the Silver Samurai’s lover and part of a plan to take over the ninja society known as The Hand. It’s a wrinkle in the concept for The Wolverine, especially since it appeared as though director James Mangold was intent on an almost totally Japanese cast to surround Hugh Jackman.
She joins a cast that already includes Will Yun Lee, Brian Tee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Rila Fukushima and Tao Okamoto. The film marks Biel’s second Marvel movie, though considering the first was Blade Trinity, she could be ready to forget it…
Mangold is gearing up to start shooting in Australia and Japan shortly and The Wolverine will be out on July 26 next year.