The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Homeland star Morena Baccarin has bagged the female lead in Fox’s Deadpool spinoff. The Firefly actress appeared last week on an early shortlist, and in the last seven days, she beat out fellow hopefuls Taylor Schilling, Crystal Reed, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Sarah Greene and Jessica De Gouw.
THR had no clarification on exactly who Baccarin will portray, but simply described her as a love interest for Ryan Reynolds’ scarred assassin. The Merc with a Mouth – as he’s affectionately referred to – will be joined on his first standalone flick by a strong, supporting cast. Alongside Baccarin, we’ll see Silicon Valley’s T.J. Miller in the comedy sidekick role, Game Of Thrones‘ Ed Skrein as the film’s villain, and Haywire‘s Gina Carano as a member of the Morlocks, Angel Dust.
Penned by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Deadpool is the first movie to feature Wade Wilson outside of the mediocre X-Men Origins: Wolverine. As mentioned above, Ryan Reynolds will reprise the role of the smart-mouthed assassin for hire. While the pic will attempt to reboot the character, early word suggested that it will still exist within Fox’s Cinematic Universe. How the screenwriters intend to navigate around the minor detail of his death will be most interesting.
Currently in pre-production, Deadpool will arrive in theaters on February 12, 2016.