Hugh Jackman’s The Wolverine may not be the biggest summer superhero flick, what with the likes of Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel to contend with, but with more of the film’s finer details coming to light, The Wolverine might be worth a closer look. Indie Wire uncovered an interview with director James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) in Entertainment Weekly where he teases the role of Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey in the film.
The Wolverine is the sixth installment in the X-Men franchise and takes place after X-Men: The Last Stand. Despite Jean Grey’s death in the previous film, Janssen plays a role Mangold described as “a shadow presence” who “pops up to mock, comfort, and advise Logan much as Number Six tortured and Gaius Baltar on Battlestar Galactica.”
It will be intriguing to see if Janssen and Jackman can nail the same dynamic between James Callis and Tricia Helfer, but it’ll nonetheless be a refreshing take on the Wolverine-Jean Grey relationship. Now, will Logan be subjected to the same pseudo-sexual mind games that Dr. Baltar was put through? With Jean’s telepathic powers — with which she can apparently transcend death? — we can only hope.
Mangold also hinted at a post-credits scene in The Wolverine with Patrick Stewart that will link The Wolverine with the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past, which will be a sequel to both X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: First Class. How could this be, you might ask? Well, we won’t know until Bryan Singer okays the release of more details. Regardless, the X-Men franchise won’t run out of momentum — not for a while, at least, so X-Men fans, breathe easy.
And if none of this nerd-speculation is of any interest to you, rest assured that The Wolverine will feature lots of Hugh Jackman with sharp, metal claws coming out of his knuckles duking it out with ninjas, if the photos from ComingSoon are any indication. Empire also has a nifty cover to show off the film’s Japanese setting. Check out the photos below.
