You know what was a surprise? How good The Wolverine was. Naturally, I’m thrilled to bits (and altogether less surprised) that a sequel is coming, and even though the first film is still fresh in our minds having only recently released on home media, it’s never too early to start speculating about where things might go next.
Obviously, we have the minor hurdle of X-Men: Days Of Future Past to get by before we see another solo outing, but that’s shaping up to be a possible return to form in the hands of cinema’s X-guru Bryan Singer. Still, what can we expect from Wolvie’s next big-screen outing on his own? Well, true to form for Hollywood, nothing we haven’t seen before.
In a recent interview, returning director James Mangold replied in the affirmative that it would be based on an existing comic-book arc.
“Absolutely. I can tell you that in determining where we are going I’m not solely relying on my own imagination but also the imaginations that have spun great stories about Wolverine in the comics.”
While this only narrows things down to just under 40 years’ worth of possibilities, it at least gives fans something to discuss, ponder and threaten each other over. With Wolverine’s origin dealt with and arguably his best story covered expertly by Mangold in this summer’s outing, it’s hard to say where he’ll end up.
My favourite period in his storied history (geddit?!) was his time spent in the fictional Madripoor using the alias Patch. Having convinced the world that the X-Men had died, these early solo adventures were fairly low-key affairs and didn’t boast many big-name villains or costume sightings. However, Hollywood and low-key don’t really gel, so I can’t see my own fanboy whims being catered to.
Still, this bodes well. Filmmakers heading off in directions that don’t suit the characters can lead to some pretty glaring mistakes (like The Joker killing Batman’s folks or Batman killing The Joker…sorry, Tim), so the respect for the material has to be commended.
Tell me, comics pals…what do you want to see from The Wolverine 2?
