We've seen a lot of news involving the rapidly growing cast of Wolverine 3 over the past week or so, and just when you thought it was over, another new name has been added to the roster. Comic fans, please welcome Elise Neal to the Wolverine fold.
Variety has the scoop, and just as you'd expect, there are no concrete details given as to whole Neal will be playing, or as to what the main story-line will cover. Elise Neal joins the Wolverine 3 cast that has seen Richard E. Grant, Stephen Merchant, and – most recently – Eriq La Salle, join its ranks. Yet with the increasingly diverse cast growing by the day, our certainty as to who's playing what role starts to dwindle.
Elise Neal's role in Wolverine 3 wouldn't be her first trip into the world of superheroes, as she was a guest star on NBC's short-lived hero drama The Cape. However, her most prolific film experiences would include roles in Scream 2 & Hustle and Flow, so it's not like Neal hasn't been exposed to the lights and action of a major film set. In fact, it's her diverse resume that makes it hard to pinpoint exactly who Elise Neal could play in the Wolverine 3 cast, particularly when the plot to the film is still an unknown.
Which means it's once again time to revisit the Old Man Logan theory of Wolverine 3, as repeated word has indicated that this Wolverine adventure will be taking place in the future, and the legendary storyline has been the go to piece of speculation. Though it's not as easy to speculate just who Neal would be playing, considering the lack of prolific female roles in the Mark Millar co-written book. Which makes us wonder if Elise Neal is going to play either an established character in the Old Man Logan story, or a brand new character in the possible film adaptation of one of the most beloved books in the modern X-Men canon.
Playing into our speculative casting of Eriq La Salle as Doctor Doom, as well as the fact that we'll probably never see January Jones playing the role of Emma Frost again, there's a chance that Frost's role could be rebooted with Elise Neal in the role. While there would be a jump in continuity between the actors in the role, it would fit in the context of the comic, as Old Man Logan sees Doctor Doom and Emma Frost married and running their own, "mutant friendly" piece of the villain ruled United States. Then again, continuity may make a little bit of difference in this case of casting, and Neal could play a new role that we don't know about yet.
It's really anyone's guess who Elise Neal is playing in Wolverine 3, but the announcement of her casting could be a signal that we'll be hearing more concrete details about the film's cast and plot in the coming weeks. For now though, production is about to gear up for a start date at some point this month, with a March 3, 2017 release date in mind. As soon as we've heard any more details about Wolverine 3, we'll report back with an update.
