When it comes to the X-Men franchise, much of the talk lately has revolved around next year’s mutant epic X-Men: Days of Future Past, which will see Bryan Singer (Jack the Giant Slayer) bringing together the casts of X-Men: First Class and the original X-Men trilogy, but before we get to that, Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables) is set to don the adamantium claws again this year for the solo sequel The Wolverine.
We’re still waiting to see the first trailer from the film (which is expected to arrive alongside G.I. Joe: Retaliation this month), but in the meantime, director James Mangold (Knight and Day) has taken to Twitter to reveal what films have influenced his adaptation of the classic 1982 comic book series…
Chunking Express (1994, dir. Kar Wai Wong)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976, dir. Clint Eastwood)
The Samurai Trilogy (1954-56, dir. Hiroshi Inagaki)
Floating Weeds (1959, dir. Yasujirô Ozu)
Black Narcissus (1947, dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger)
Happy Together (1997, dir. Kar Wai Wong)
13 Assassins (2010, dir. Takeshi Miike)
The French Connection (1971, dir. William Friedkin)
“Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine, the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern-day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.“
The Wolverine is set for release on July 26th, with a cast that includes Will Yun Lee (Total Recall), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Last Samurai), Brian Tee (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift), Hal Yamanouchi (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), Svetlana Khodchenkova (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and newcomers Rila Fukushima and Tao Okamoto.
Originally published March 4, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
