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Hugh Jackman's Comments on the Latest 'Wolverine' Script Updates

by Alex Billington
October 2, 2011
Source: Collider

We haven't been covering too much of the recent news regarding The Wolverine, mostly that it's trying to get back in development to shoot either the end of this year or, likely, early next, with James Mangold at the helm. With all this project has dealt with after Darren Aronofsky was set to direct—with a McQuarrie script—then dropped off last minute, its certainly gone through updates, and who better than to confirm the latest than Wolverine himself, actor Hugh Jackman. Collider posted a new quote straight from Jackman regarding where the script is now and, without sharing any details, how he's still confident in this version.

The original screenplay for The Wolverine, written by Christopher McQuarrie (Usual Suspects, Valkyrie), was the one that got Aronofsky on-board. Whenever he would talk about it, he would call it a solo Wolverine movie, hence the title, that was set in Japan but entirely its own story not even connected to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Without Aronofsky, Fox attached James Mangold (Kate & Leopold, Identity, Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Knight & Day) to direct, and Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard, Race to Witch Mountain, Unstoppable) to work on the script. Jackman seems confident that these two are working with as strong of a story as when Aronofsky was on-board. Here's what he says when asked about the latest on The Wolverine:

"We had a script that was under Darren Aronofsky's directorial—it's 85% the same. Darren took it in a Darren Aronofsky way and it's a version I know fans would have liked to have seen – I would have loved to have seen it. James Mangold's version of the script brought Mark Bomback on. We always had a strong base there. This is the best script we have had, which is precisely why Darren signed on. I tried to get Darren to do X3 and Wolverine and he was always like, 'It's not really for me.' I knew he was looking for a comic book movie and he read this one and he goes, 'Hey, this is the best one I've ever read.' So there is a lot of meat on the bone there. Now, Mark and Jim have taken it and I think that it as strong, if not stronger, than what we would have had with Darren."

Awesome to hear, if that's all true, but I think we can trust Wolverine. Of course, I would've loved to see that Aronofsky version, too, but I can still hold out hope that one day Jackman (or someone) will convince him to do another superhero movie. It sounds like Mangold and Bomback will be keeping the same Japan-set storyline from Frank Miller/Chris Claremont's comic and enhancing it, or making it more of their own, even though I'm pretty sure it was damn good the way Aronofsky and McQuarrie had it. Especially knowing Aronofsky's sensibilities, if he says "this is the best one I've ever read" then they should stick with that. We can only hope Mangold and Bomback don't water it down and only are strengthening it like Jackman says.

With Jackman's other movie Real Steel about to hit theaters, he's been doing interviews all over, giving a lot of updates on The Wolverine for anyone curious. The Playlist has some other great quotes from Jackman, like these: "It's a little darker and, I think, a little more true to the character... Jim [Mangold] saw things that weren't working for him that were working for Darren." Jackman isn't sure how soon they will be shooting either, but it sounds like everything is in active development and it won't take long before things are underway, as long as nothing falls apart last minute like last time. We'll continue to keep you updated on The Wolverine and any other big changes that Mangold and Bomback make to this. Sound good so far?

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