Paul W.S. Anderson - love him or loathe him - has been true to his word, as far as taking fan input to heart while crafting Resident Evil: Retribution. The writer/director aims to not only up the zombie-slaying action ante, he's also incorporating fan-favorite characters like Leon Kennedy (Johann Urb) and yet-to-be-cast weapons guru Barry Burton into the plot.

New additions to the Resident Evil live-action film universe also include the lovely Ada Wong - and now, an actress has been officially brought on to play that part.

Milla Jovovich is once again the source for this casting tidbit. The RE franchise leading lady Tweeted this morning that Miss Wong will be portrayed by Chinese actress Li Bingbing, whose resume includes a supporting role in The Forbidden Kingdom - as well as important parts in historical dramas like Snow White and the Secret Fan and (most recently) Jackie Chan's 1911.

For those not familiar with the character: Ada Wong is a Chinese secret agent who was hired on by "The 3rd Organization" to reveal the treachery of the Umbrella Corporation. A heroine with a mysterious past - and who often dresses in red outfits - Wong joined forces with Kennedy in the Resident Evil 2 video game and (in the Resident Evil 4 game) worked to steal a sample of the Las Plagas virus for Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts in the RE live-action movie continuity).

You can probably already venture a guess as to how Ada and Alice (Jovovich) might cross paths in Retribution, based on previously-released information about the film's central storyline.

Resident Evil Afterlife movie Resident Evil 4 clips
Alice (Milla Jovovich) in 'Resident Evil: Afterlife'

While the previous entry in the series, Resident Evil: Afterlife, attracted its fair share of criticisms (ex. gimmicky 3D visuals, uninteresting storyline, etc.) it still went over well enough with fans to manage a worldwide gross of around $296 million- a new franchise high. More than that - as was discussed in Screen Rant's Afterlife review - the second half of the film arguably laid the narrative foundation for Retribution to feature some of the more intriguing plot developments since the first RE movie.

Combine that with Anderson's willingness to listen to fans and address certain criticisms concerning Afterlife - like how the film featured an excess of downtime and too little in the way of truly great or innovative action set pieces - and Retribution does look to mark another step up for the series. Assuming you're still a die-hard fan of this franchise, it appears as though your continued loyalty will not have been in vain.

To learn more about Anderson's plans for Retribution - which is slated to begin principal photography on location in Toronto this week - read this interview with the filmmaker.

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Resident Evil: Retribution will star Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Johann Urb, Li Bingbing, Kevin Durand, Shawn Roberts, Boris Kodjoe, Oded Fehr, and Colin Salmon. It hits 2D and 3D theaters around the U.S. on September 14th, 2012.

Source: Milla Jovovich