"We've deliberately not called it Wolverine 2 because we want it to be placed and feel like a standalone picture," Hugh Jackman told
Total Film in a recent interview (via
The Geek Files).
"With an all-new cast and setting it in Japan, it's going to give us a whole new visual aesthetic." This will come as good news to fans who are STILL seething over the portrayal of characters like Deadpool and Emma Frost in 2009's
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Jackman went on to also assure fans that the same problem won't plague
The Wolverine.
"The approach to character means we won't be overloaded with mutants and teams and the like, so it'll be more character-based. I think in many ways it will feel like a completely different X-Men film."
As for how the idea for the Japan set storyline came about, Jackman says,
"[We] went to Christopher McQuarrie, who was involved in X-Men and The Usual Suspects. He's a brilliant writer and he came up with a concept that was just phenomenal. I rang Jeffrey [Katzenberg (Dreamworks Animation CEO)] and he went 'Great, now you have a good idea, just go for it.' I'm just really glad it's happening. For a while it's felt like a rocky ride. I think it's the best idea we've had, the strongest script we've had and that now we really have an opportunity to make something really great." He jokingly added,
"I've been waiting for it so long now. I think half the material in my one-man show is about the wait for The Wolverine!"