There’s already talk of a sequel to the newest X-Men movie which is centered around the mutant of mutants: Wolverine. Undoubtedly this was thought about even before this one was made, but the man himself, Hugh Jackman, is the one to now publicly state where he would like a possible sequel to go.
So in what direction would Jackman like to see the sequel go? Well none other than Japan, a place that most avid comic book fans out there will know is actually a setting for some of the original Wolverine stories.
Here’s what Jackman had to say in an interview with MTV recently:
“I won’t lie to you, I have been talking to writers… I’m a big fan of the Japanese saga in the comic book.”
“However, it was also another one of my goals that you could see the end of this movie parlaying straight into [‘X-Men’], finding that guy in the bar, fighting, drinking, with not much recollection of what’s going on, I thought that was important. However, we’ll find out beginning of May if there’s still an audience for it, if people still like the character. There’s no point in telling the story if no one wants to hear it.”
It seems Jackman wants to both keep in mind the other X-Men movies as well as tread into this Japanese territory. These aren’t the words of just some random actor who’s never heard of the character, who’s just playing the part for a paycheck (although I’m sure he gets a significant chunk of change for playing it nonetheless) – Jackman appears to really know his stuff when it comes to the Wolverine character:
“There are so many areas of that Japanese story, I love the idea of this kind of anarchic character, the outsider, being in this world – I can see it aesthetically, too – full of honor and tradition and customs and someone who’s really anti-all of that, and trying to negotiate his way. The idea of the samurai, too – and the tradition there. It’s really great. In the comic book he gets his ass kicked by a couple of samurai – not even mutants. He’s shocked by that at first.”
“There’s also a great, very intricate story there with Mariko,” hinted Jackman in reference to one of Wolverine’s lost loves. “And so many cool ways we could go.”
The multiple (secret) endings to Wolverine could be a clue to the direction of a sequel (which of the multiple endings they use as a jumping off point, I’m not sure…). Although it will depend on box-office numbers if they’re going to go ahead with one, as well as the originally planned Magneto movie, I think it’s pretty safe to say there will be a sequel. Reports have shown that pre-ticket sales for the movie have surpassed Iron Man, as just one example of how well it’s doing already. And with the combined worldwide box-office results of the first three X-Men movies coming to over a whopping $1.6 billion, I seriously doubt Wolverine won’t make a fair amount of money, too.
As for the direction a sequel should go, since I’m not all that familiar with the Japanese stories involving Wolverine, I can’t say if it would be a good fit for the big screen. However, with the type of character that Wolverine is (the way he has been portrayed in the movies), it would certainly be interesting to introduce this Japanese side of things that Jackman seems so passionate about.
I mean, we’ve had all the futuristic stuff with the X-Men movies so far, why not change it up a bit…?
So what do you make of the Japanese direction Jackman would like to see for a sequel?
X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens tomorrow, May 1st.
