Gina Carano first made a big name for herself last year in Steven Soderbergh’s acclaimed Haywire, in which she took the lead as the explosive female action star.

She’s following it up by joining the cast of Fast & Furious 6 for next year, and now she’s set to join the cast of the all-female version of The Expendables that was announced last month, Variety report.

Adi Shankar, executive producer on The Grey, Killing Them Softly, and Dredd 3D, is producing through his banner, 1984 Private Defense Contractors, who said of the casting,

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to make a movie that is supposed to be the female version of ‘The Expendables’ without Gina Carano in it. It would be like making Twix without caramel or Jamba Juice without jamba.”

Shankar’s banner is said to be in talks with several other prominent actresses in the action genre, and Carano’s casting has certainly given the film some credibility with the first to join the cast.

Dutch Southern, who penned the 2010 Black List script, Hoof Harrington’s Greatest Hits, has been set to write the script, and there’s still no word yet of who’ll go behind the cameras.

The Expendables 2 turned its $100m. budget into almost $270m. at the box office over the past month and a half, and naturally an all-female version of that could be expected to follow suit if handled right. With Carano on board, it looks like this should be heading in the right direction, and here’s to hoping we’ll have more casting news to bring you soon.