Jessica Chastain is the New PAINKILLER JANE
Jessica Chastain’s star continues to burn bright. As her current political thriller, Miss Sloane, hits theaters, Deadline reports that the actress will take the lead role in Painkiller Jane, based on the comic book by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada.
Chastain will star as Jane Vasko, a New York cop turned vigilante. Bent on revenge after a near-death experience leaves her virtually indestructible, she leaves a path of death and destruction in her wake.
Originally published in Event Comics in 1995, Painkiller Jane follows Jane, a New York police officer who goes undercover to infiltrate the mob. When she gets caught in an explosion, she wakes up to find she now has superhuman regenerative powers. Armed with this new ability, she becomes a vigilante. First appearing in the 22 Brides series, Jane got her own title (and a slightly altered origin story) and made appearances in cross-over titles with Vampirella, Hellboy, and The Punisher. The series was relaunched in 2006 by Dynamite Comics, with the first issue selling out.
The project was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2014, with Solipsist Films taking on the production. Lotus Entertainment is also on board, along with Chastain’s Freckle Films. Besides starring in the picture, Chastain will also produce beside Lenny Beckerman for Lotus and Stephen L’Heureux for Solipsist.
The material has been adapted twice before, in a 2005 television movie starring Emmanuelle Vaugier as Jane, and then in a short-lived 2007 TV series starring Kristanna Loken. Both projects aired on what was then the Sci Fi Channel.
