Hugh Jackman and James Mangold are all geared up to start work on The Wolverine 2.
After a $132 million domestic intake and a $280 million gross overseas, it is no surprise that Twentieth Century Fox would negotiate a follow-up to this Summer’s The Wolverine.
The studio is negotiating with Mangold to write a treatment for and eventually direct The Wolverine 2, with Jackman to return as the star.
The story would presumably pick up after the forthcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past, which finds Logan/Wolverine moving through time to save the world.
The Wolverine resonated with fans despite some initial confusion over its place in the X-Men timeline, as it was not meant to be a follow-up to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Mangold confirmed that the story took place after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand.
As a director Mangold proved a fresh take on a familiar character played by a familiar actor was something audiences responded to. By lifting Wolverine out of the his usual cinematic circumstances and dropping him into the Samurai-slashing world of Japan, Mangold was able to make The Wolverine the second highest-grossing X-Men film of all time.
It will be interesting to see where Mangold takes our hero in the follow-up and to watch Jackman prove once again why he’s the only person allowed to play Wolverine.
Jackman has played Wolverine a whopping seven times (including Days of Future Past) and The Wolverine 2 would mark number eight, solidifying his record for the most times a comic book character has been portrayed by the same actor.
Fans can catch appearance number seven when X-Men: Days of Future Past hits theaters on May 23, 2014.