Hugh Jackman confirms The Wolverine start date and the film's villain

It's been no secret that the plot of The Wolverine is going to be based on Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's classic 1982 series which took the Canadian superhero to Japan, so really this barely qualifies as a news story to me. It's only interesting because it happened at San Diego Comic-Con when the Aussie actor showed up at the Real Steel panel.

Jackman appeared to answer a few questions, which naturally veered away from his upcoming robot brawler film and onto the subject of The Wolverine. After Darren Aronofsky had to drop out due to personal reasons, James Mangold(3:10 to Yuma) came aboard to direct, based on a reportedly fantastic script by Christopher McQuarrie(The Usual Suspects). Jackman revealed two details about The Wolverine, one of which I guess could be considered a spoiler, so use this as spoiler space....

That hilarious image courtesy of Retrojunk...

Ok, so Jackman reiterated something he said just last month, that The Wolverine will begin shooting in Japan in October. Didn't we believe him the first time?

Jackman: “I’m filming Les Miserables in February, but before that I will be filming Wolverine 2 in October. Chris McQuarrie has written a fantastic script and it should turn out really good. I’ll fight the Silver Samurai in it so that should be exciting. Most of the filming will take place in Japan.”

The Les Miserables he's referring to comes from Tom Hooper(The King's Speech), and Jackman has been attached to it pretty much from the beginning. As for the Samurai, he's one of Wolverine's most storied rivals and an occasional ally. At this point in their acquaintance, he's more the former. Real name Kenuichio Harada, he is the mutant half-brother of Wolverine's lover, Mariko Yashida. He helps train the clawed hero in the ways of being a samurai, but doesn't take too kindly to the gaijin(non-Japanese) getting it on with his sister.

I'm getting visions of epic sword vs. adamantium claw battles. Here's hoping Mangold has the vision to give those clashes the look they deserve. [Screenrant]