Hello Marvel movie fans! Today we have new bits to offer about two upcoming superhero films. Fox's newest installment in X-Men movie franchise, The Wolverine, now has an official synopsis - and it (in no uncertain terms) hints a truly epic movie experience.
We also have word on the shortlist of actors that Sony is eyeing to star in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, as Peter Parker's friend (turned enemy) Harry Osborn, a role made famous by James Franco in the original Spider-Man movie trilogy.
Fox has been doing a good deal of PR as of late, trying hard to establish The Wolverine as a standalone film experience. Director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma) and star Hugh Jackman recently did an online Q&A session, where it was firmly established that the film is NOT "Wolverine 2" by any means; it does take place after X-Men 3 and will be a sort of new starting point for the character; and the story will go deeper and the action will be more grounded (but fiercer) than any other depiction of the character, to date.
A few gems in the synopsis would be the reference to Silver Samurai, the film's big mutant antagonist, and clues to the oft-mentioned thematic arc of the film, which finds Wolverine having to deal with his own immortality after having watched so many friends and loved ones (like those in X3) die. The only lingering question I personally have is whether or not that last part, about the "new Wolverine" we'll get by the end of the film, will have any bearing on the events of Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past. With Fox now building their own Marvel Movie Universe, it's certainly possible.