One of Fox’s upcoming standalone properties that’s spawned one terrible prequel (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and one fantastic sequel (The Wolverine) is prepping another outing for the mutton-chopped mutant in The Wolverine 3. At least, that’s what it’s being referred to until an official title is announced.
Wolvie’s next solo encounter is one of the most anticipated sequels in the whole of comic book moviedom. So, it’s with increasing regularity that its director, James Mangold, often fields questions on its status via social media. The most common of which is: when is it going into production? Thanks to the wonder of Twitter, we now have an answer.
@R_0_B_89 early next year.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) March 5, 2015
Last March, Mangold offered a similar – if less specific – response to the same query, when he revealed that Wolverine 3 would begin shooting after X-Men: Apocalypse. Currently, all things mutant are focused on Fox’s lynchpin movie series, with Bryan Singer hard at work on the mega sequel. But, that’s not to say Mangold and co. are hitting the brakes.
Last March, David James Kelly was hired to pen the script, which Jackman said in December the pair were “working on… really hard.” More recently, Patrick Stewart dropped some not-so-subtle hints indicating that Professor X would make a sizeable appearance in the sequel:
“And what I’m very excited about is that we have been talking about a Wolverine movie, which would team Hugh Jackman and myself together. Wolverine and Professor Xavier. That would be a very different sort of “X-Men” from the four movies that I’ve already done.”
With its leading man keen to reprise the role ad infinitum, a script in the works, and an intriguing Prof. X-tinged storyline, the next Wolvie sequel can’t go into production fast enough.
The Wolverine 3 is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on March 3rd, 2017.
