In James Mangold's (3:10 To Yuman, Walk the Line) The Wolverine, we'll be following the journey of Hugh Jackman's Logan as he journeys through Japan following the tragic events of X-Men: The Last Stand. He's definitely in a fragile state as described by director James Mangold to Total Film Magazine, "In terms of Japanese lore, the idea of the ronin - the samurai without purpose, without a master - seemed to me to be the perfect metaphor for who exactly Wolverine is when you come upon him in this movie. Kind of a hero without a reason for being a hero, who's lost his desire to protect, or even know what he's supposed to be protecting."
For those that have read the original comic book story from Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, there are a number of love interests present including Viper portrayed by Svetlana Khodchenkova (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), Rila F.ukushima's Yukio and Mariko Yashida portrayed by newcomer Tao Okamoto. Of her role as Viper, Kdochenkova stated that, "Viper doesn't really have many people that she cares about, most of them she just uses for her own purpose." Will Logan be one of the few people that Viper does actually care about? They do have a romantic relationship in the comic books. Yukio, a ninja assassin starts out as an adversary but ends up an ally. "My character's very physical. Yukio and Wolverine have a lot in common. She really takes care of him and he also cares about her," stated Rila. However, the person who has the strongest romantic relationship with Wolverine is Mariko but don't expect her to be a damsel in distress. "She's no pushover, either. She does some karate and knife throwing...," assures Okamoto. Standing in the way of Logan and Mariko is her father, Shingen Yashida played by Hiroyuki Sanada (The Last Samurai, Speed Racer). "There's a big fight scene between them. It's the famous claws versus samurai swords," exclaimed Sanada.
There's more on The Wolverine in the latest issue of Total Film which is out now on newsstands. With everyone seemingly a badass, who do you think will be a scene-stealer?
Running Time: In post-production
Release Date: July 26, 2013
MPAA Rating: R (rumored)
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Brian Tee, Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto
Directed by: James Mangold
Written by: Mark Bomback (screenplay) Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay) Frank Miller (comic book) Chris Claremont (comic book)
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