Why Jillian Salvius From Warrior Nun On Netflix Looks So Familiar
Warrior Nun is a Netflix series debuting on July 2, 2020 about a group of spiritual sisters who all belong to a specific part of the Catholic Church known as the Order of the Cruciform Sword. That's basically a snazzy way of saying these are nuns with superpowers who rise up against the forces of evil, kick demonic butt, and keep hell from rising on Earth.
The Netflix series is based on Ben Dunn's Antarctic Press comic series, Warrior Nun Areala, and is produced for the streaming service by Continuum creator, Simon Barry. Dunn's creation was inspired by a Harlem chapter of the real life Fraternite Notre-Dame. One of the nuns from that order, Sister Marie Chantel, learned Taekwondo from a martial arts master in Hells Kitchen. Her fellow sisters caught the bug and trained as well, becoming legit guardians of Harlem in the process (via USA Today).
But Warrior Nun isn't just about the sisterhood — it's about the people who might challenge those divine powers for their own gain. One such character, Jillian Salvius (Thekla Reuten) seems to want exactly that. Salvius is a CEO of a tech startup looking to challenge the Vatican head-on.
If you've seen the promos, you might be thinking that Salvius looks pretty darn familiar. So where might you know her from?
Thekla Reuten died by Red Sparrow
While viewers were waiting for Marvel's Black Widow, 20th Century Fox stepped into the void with their own compelling female-led spy thriller — 2018's Red Sparrow. Red Sparrow was adapted from the Justin Haythe novel of the same name, and hews pretty close to the plot of its source material. Jennifer Lawrence stars as Dominika Egorova in a tale of an injured ballerina turned Russian spy. You might fairly describe Egorova's job as "sexpionage."
On a mission in Budapest, Egorova lives with another sparrow named Marta (Reuten). Each woman is on their own mission, however. When Egorova stumbles in her work, she claims to be helping Marta. The lie ultimately gets Marta killed.
It's very likely that, given the popularity of Red Sparrow (it made over $151 million at the box office), Reuten might be stuck in your mind because — well — you saw her get brutally murdered.
Thekla Reuten was one of the many mysterious deaths on Lost
ABC's Lost is easily one of the most influential television shows of the last two decades. Not only did it make producer J.J. Abrams a household name, but it also popularized the use of the narrative mystery box — a situation where investigating one mystery opens up another mystery, and then another mystery after that, and so on, and so forth.
One big way Lost created a sense of mystery was through the manipulation of time. On the third episode of Lost's fourth season, entitled "The Economist," viewers are treated to a series of flash-forward sequences involving Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) set in Berlin.
Part of Sayid's story on season 4 involves his transition to assassin work after his wife, Nadia (Andrea Gabriel), is murdered as part of a larger plot. While in Berlin on assignment, Sayid meets, and quickly bonds with, a woman, Elsa, played by Reuten. When Elsa discovers that Sayid is planning to assassinate someone she works for, however, the two break out into a fight. By the end of the fight, Sayid shoots Elsa to death. All of which is to say that, thus far, if you know Thekla Reuten, it is because you've seen her get murdered a bunch. Let's see if we can turn that around a little, shall we?
Highlander: The Source
There can be only one reason you really recognize Thekla Reuten, and that reason is Highlander.
Despite the cheeky intro here, there can actually be five different live-action Highlander movies. The most recent film, Highlander: The Source, finally seeks to answer the age-old immortality question. The story focuses on Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) and his search for the source of his own immortality. MacLeod has a mortal wife, Anna Teshemka, played by Reuten. If you're thinking, "uh oh, mortal," spoilers, it's chill.
Anna gets visions of the Source because she's a reincarnation of an immortal who sought the Source previously. MacLeod ultimately has to fight the Guardian (Cristian Solimeno) of the Source and save Anna. He succeeds and we discover that Anna is pregnant with Duncan's child, who is destined to be "the one."
Thekla Reuten certainly has some solid sci-fi credentials under her belt. It's no wonder she was tapped to join a super-powered Catholic Church on Warrior Nun. Maybe she'll even live this time!