The Wolverine Preview

Will this ambitious superhero drama rid fans of the memory of Origins, or will it be just another failure in the X-Men franchise?
For 20th Century Fox, the stakes are undoubtedly high with their latest superhero film, The Wolverine. Not only must the studio allow their fans to forget the tragic mishaps of 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, they'll equally be eager to make a strong profit on the motion picture, since that would be a rather positive omen regarding X-Men: Days of Future Past's release next Summer.

James Mangold's latest blockbuster adventure has a lot of expectations resting on it, then. Can it possibly deliver? There's quite a strong chance, as you'll see in this preview. Here, we've rounded up five key elements of The Wolverine which make it a prime movie contender to watch in the Summer of Film. Sheathe those adamantium claws for a moment, reader, and take a leap of faith into a world like no other...

• THE END IS JUST THE BEGINNING- In terms of continuity placement, Mangold and his team have confirmed that this entry in the X-Men franchise takes place after the climactic events of 2007's X-Men: The Last Stand. This means that Wolverine himself is one of the few remaining X-Men alive after the Battle of New York, with Cyclops, Professor X and of course Jean Grey killed in the cataclysm. Logan's memories of Jean have left him reeling and hallucinating in his dreams, so seeing the effects that moving from a team player in The Last Stand back to the lone, isolated warrior we glimpsed in Origins will be of great interest to fans.
• I'M AN AUSTRALIAMAN IN JAPAN- Another element of intrigue is the vastly different setting. Wolverine is called by an old friend to Japan, a society like no other and indeed one which lies in great contrast to any locale we saw in X-Men, X-Men: United, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine or X-Men: First Class, posing a sense of rare mystery for the immortal X-Man. Of course, immortality is just as much of a curse as it is a blessing, so when Logan is offered the chance to pass his immortality to another, he grabs it with both claws. What should be interesting, then, is to see how he deals with his inability to heal once proceedings get underway in Japan...
• HERE I GO AGAIN- However, what could an X-Men film be without some brilliant action setpieces within it? Naturally, The Wolverine will feature its fair share of gunfire, explosions, hand-to-hand combat and villainous mutants, although not to the extent of its franchise predecessors. Though we can hardly class this as a superhero-free drama, there's a strong sense that much of the enjoyment of watching the film will derive from its deviations from the status quo, as Logan discovers the truth surrounding loss and immortality, two intertwined elements of his life that perhaps define the hero that he once was and that he may have to become once again!
• ORIGINS- It's important not to forget that The Wolverine is a comic-book adaptation, bringing the classic 1980s Wolverine arc of love and uplifting redemption to the big screen. In that acclaimed storyline, Logan eventually met a woman who would become his wife, and they fought together in a grand battle filled with sacrifice and bravery from both parties. Quite whether Wolverine will meet his eternal match here remains to be seen, but the use of this classic narrative could well prove one of the movie's greatest assets.
• X-MEN, ASSEMBLE!- Make no mistake, on the whole this will be an entry of the X-Men franchise that stands alone from its predecessors. However, with Famke Jannsen making appearances (at least in flashback form) as Jean Grey throughout the flick, don't be outrageously surprised if there are a few more unannounced X-cameos to come. Rumour has it that in a post-credits sequence, Wolverine may be visited by a revived Xavier in order to initiate the storyline of Days of Future Past, though we'll have to wait until closer to the film's release to know the truth of the matter!

The Wolverine claws into cinemas worldwide on July 25th.