James Mangold talks about how THE WOLVERINE isn't a prequel

Wolverine has always been a great character.  Hugh Jackman has owned the role in the years since he donned the claws and funny hair of the berserk Canadian.

The first solo film starring him however? That was kind of overwhelming underwhelming. Plus Gambit messed up everything. Totally. Still, there’s a new film starring the crazy Canuck, as he heads to the land of the rising sun, ready to slice and dice like a mean machine.

So when exactly does The Wolverine take place, in the context of all the other X-Men films then? According to director James Mangold, who spoke to Empire about it, this ain’t no prequel yo.

“Where this film sits in the universe of the films is after them all,” Mangold said. “Jean Grey is gone, most of the X-Men are disbanded or gone, so there’s a tremendous sense of isolation for him.”

Still, that doesn’t mean that the entire film is set forwards into the future, as some elements and secrets from Logans past will crop up, as well as a cameo from the Phoenix herself, Famke Janssen, who he was forced to mercy-kill at the end of X-Men: The Last Stand.

As for the rest of the film, expect a Japanese flair, as Logan gets caught up in a vicious gang war in the heart of Japan, while meeting the future love of his life, Mariko, played by Tao Okamoto.

“That’s something that for me was very important, that I land in a very specific place in his timeline,” Mangold said.

I wanted to be able to tell the story without the burden of handing it off to a film that already exists and having to conform to it. The ideas of immortality reign very heavily in this story and the burden of immortality weighs heavily on Logan.

For me that’s such an interesting part of Logan’s character that is nearly impossible to explore if you have a kind of league or team movie.

I’m getting pretty pumped for The Wolverine. James Mangold has all the right ingredients for what he calls a “Japanese noir picture with tentpole action in it”, and mixed properly and left to simmer for a few months, could result in one tasty adamantium-filled treat next year.

Last Updated: October 25, 2012