The Wolverine (2013)
- The incredible score for The Wolverine was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
- Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a hidden easter egg referencing James Mangold's previous film in the background of the opening scene.
- James Mangold originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
The Wolverine is a 2013 American superhero film directed by James Mangold, the second standalone Wolverine film set after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. Hugh Jackman returns as Logan, who is living as a recluse in the Yukon, haunted by visions of Jean Grey whom he was forced to kill. He is summoned to Tokyo by Yashida, a Japanese soldier whose life Logan saved during the Nagasaki atomic bombing in 1945, now a dying tech billionaire who offers Logan a chance to transfer his immortality.
When Logan's healing factor is mysteriously suppressed, he must protect Yashida's granddaughter Mariko from the yakuza and ninja assassins while confronting his own mortality for the first time. James Mangold brought a more intimate, character-driven approach that distinguished The Wolverine from the bombastic excess of X-Men Origins, drawing inspiration from Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's iconic 1982 Wolverine limited series set in Japan. The bullet train fight sequence was one of the franchise's most inventive action scenes.
The film earned $414 million worldwide on a $120 million budget and set the stage for Mangold and Jackman's collaboration on Logan, the critically acclaimed conclusion to Wolverine's story.
