"I'm thrilled the studio called it The Wolverine instead of Wolverine 2, because we're trying to set it up as a standalone picture," Hugh Jackman reveals in the latest issue of Total Film Magazine. "Tonally, it's different from the other X-Men movies. It's got massive action sequences, as people would expect, and it'll be great fun. But it is a character-driven movie. It's about a guy completely out of his element, in this world that's foreign to him, and how he copes with that. I feel like we have the opportunity to deliver that badass, kick-ass Wolverine I know everybody wants to see."
When it comes to action, another actor who should know plenty about how much of a role that plays in The Wolverine is Will Yun Lee. He's rumoured to be playing the Silver Samurai in the movie, although refused to confirm or deny those reports. He did however say this about seeing Jackman in action as the iconic mutant. "I've seen playbacks of Hugh fighting different characters in the movie he's no joke! He's probably in the best shape I've ever seen him in all the X-Mens." As for his own fight work, he added: "The fighting style in the this movie is very Japanese-specific. The movie's stunt team 8711 is probably one of the best in the business. In training they beat me up all day and I could barely even walk home! Because we're dealing with weapons like swordsand Wolverine's claws, even though they're fake, you're still just a fraction away from getting hurt or getting hit in the eye...I was like, 'Oh my god, I better not miss my timing.'"
"I don't tend to think of that per se," added director James Mangold when asked whether the brutal action will cause problems with the censors. "But I do want the movie to have an intensity. I don't want it to feel just like a CG fest. I think so much of what's badass about Wolverine is his physicality: the sweat, blood, passion and anger. What we trying to do in terms of the action is restore, or even for the first time kind of explore his physicality on a more visceral level." Be sure to check out the latest issue of the magazine for much more!
Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine, the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.
STARRING:
Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
Hiroyuki Sanada as Shingen Yashida
Hal Yamanouchi as Yashida
Tao Okamoto as Mariko Yashida
Rila Fukushima as Yukio
Will Yun Lee as Kenuichio Harada
Brian Tee as Noburo Mori
Svetlana Khodchenkova as Viper
RELEASE DATE: July 26th, 2013.