Actor Hugh Jackman spoke with MTV News and shed some light on how he plans to adapt Wolverine's Japan storyline from the comics.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects") will script the follow-up to this year's solo debut for the Marvel mutant.
No stranger to the X-Men universe, McQuarrie was one of several uncredited screenwriters on the 2000 "X-Men" film, which he worked on alongside his frequent collaborator, director Bryan Singer. While McQuarrie's attachment is certainly interesting on its own, what it could mean about a potential return to the franchise for Singer is also worth contemplating. Due to a court decision, WB has to have a new Superman film in production by 2011. Singer might be too busy for a follow-up to "Superman Returns" as the filmmaker was just announced as the director of a "Battlestar Galatica" movie. With the "Galactica" project being fast-tracked by Universal, there's likely to be little room left in Singer's schedule for a major project like a "Superman" sequel.
What would be a good fit on Singer's calendar is a film scheduled to hit theaters sometime during 2012—something like, for example, the sequel to "Wolverine." Hugh Jackman told MTV News that Fox is looking to follow the every-three-years plan for releasing installments of their "X-Men" films, and Singer previously expressed some regrets about leaving the popular franchise, so the situation certainly seems right for the director to return.
As for villains, we know "Wolverine 2" is going to follow the story of his experiences in Japan from the popular Frank Miller and Chris Claremont comic book.
With that being the basis for the story of the sequel, it’s an obvious choice to have the Silver Samurai (real name: Ken Harada) be a villain or at least a key character in the movie.
He’d make for a great character on screen with his power to channel energy into any object, notably his katana sword, to the point where it can cut through the strongest of materials (except Wolvy’s Adamantium of course). Giving meaning to their encounters would be the hardships evolving from Wolverine falling in love with the Silver Samurai’s half-sister, Mariko Yashida, a key plot thread in Wolverine’s journey to Japan.
Moving on to another popular X-character who’s been talked about online for years, and whom many fans would love to see featured on screen: Omega Red (real name: Arkady Rossovich), the mutant-healing-serial-killer-turned-failed-super-soldier-experiment of the Soviet government.
Similar to Wolverine’s Weapon X history, Omega Red was augmented with a metal alloy called Carbonadium (It’s basically the Soviets’ artificial version of Adamantium) in the form of tentacles which give him his trademark appearance.Eventually, the Soviet government froze him in suspended animation where he stayed until being re-awakened after the Soviet government had fallen.
In the comics Wolverine was sent on a mission to steal the Carbonadium Synthesizer from Omega Red. It was the last mission where they worked together as part of Team X.
Team X is the team of mutants we saw Wolverine and Sabretooth working for in the early parts of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." In the comics, its roster is very similar to the film adaptation, including Maverick (who is Agent Zero in the movie), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson in the movie), Silver Fox (Wolvy’s girlfriend in the movie post-Team X), and John Wraith (Will.I.Am’s teleporting mutant).
They’ve introduced all of those characters already, so they could do something with Omega Red. All they’d need to do is show flashbacks in the sequel and bring back all the actors for a few scenes. In the Marvel continuity, that mission against Omega Red was their last as Team X, which could be simply altered in the movie. In the comics, Sabretooth and Wolverine steal the Carbonadium Synthesizer from Omega Red, causing the big Russian to continually hunt them down over the years, leading to multiple violent encounters.
But wait, what does any of that have to do with the Japanese storyline? Well, guess who revived Omega Red from his long cryogenic sleep? That would be Matsu’o Tsurayaba, a member of the ninja group, The Hand, based out of Japan - The same criminal underworld group who sought after the Silver Samurai in the comics to lead and unite them.
Is all of this coming together for you?
How faithful should "Wolverine 2" be to the comics? Should Bryan Singer return to the "X-Men" franchise? What mutants would you like to see in this sequel?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: MTV News(1,2,3), Screen Rant, THR
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