Hugh Jackman is speaking regarding his hopes for Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Wolverine’ and how he will bear a stronger physical resemblance to the original comic book character.
It’s no secret that Hugh Jackman is excited to pack on the muscle and bear unbreakable metal shears again as the titular mutant in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wolverine. He’s already praised the talents of those involved behind the camera and promised many times over that Logan’s second standalone venture will have far more depth than that of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Now Jackman has spoken out more about his high hopes for Wolverine 2, which was scripted by Oscar-winner Christopher McQuarrie, and based off Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s acclaimed 1982 story arc (chronicled in “Wolverine” #1-4 and “Uncanny X-Men” #172-173).
Most fans consider Origins to be a sub-par attempt at exploring the mythos of Wolverine – one that failed to shed light on the true essence of his character and instead offered a watered down look at his complex backstory. Jackman told Hero Complex that he’s “really, really pumped” for Aronofsky’s project, indicating that McQuarrie’s screenplay truly captures the survivalist mentality and conflicted morality of Wolverine in a way that the actor himself has wanted since he first played the role in Bryan Singer’s X-Men.Jackman went on to offer the following story, with respect to his quest to see Claremont and Miller’s source material realized on the big screen:
“I remember saying to ['X-Men' producer] Lauren Shuler Donner, ‘Lauren, I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen this Japanese story, and I think it’s so good. It’s just genius, it’s brilliant.’ And we kind of always talked about it from there on. I sort of even wanted to do that in the third X-Men movie at first, but we thought, no, we really need to establish who he is at first, and we did that [with X-Men Origins: Wolverine], and now this is sort of the cherry on top, to finally do it and have Darren Aronofsky direct it.”
Jackman and Aronofsky are re-teaming for 'The Wolverine'.Even since he first graced the screen as the hairy man-beast prone to violent fits of rage back in 2000's X-Men movie, Jackman has played an increasingly ripped and bulky version of Wolverine in each subsequent film thereafter. One unavoidable physical difference between the character in his comic book form and Jackman’s version is due to the Sydney-born star’s size, being around 6' 2” tall, whereas Wolverine himself is traditionally portrayed as a noticeably squat, compact fellow who might barely reach Jackman’s shoulders (if he were real).
Jackman is quite aware of this and dropped the following tidbit about how he’s handling that issue in The Wolverine:
“I don’t know how much I want to give away about it, but Darren said with the last one, ‘Hey you looked great, but you’re so tall that in those long shots you looked kind of like Clint Eastwood, and that’s not Wolverine.’ He said that Wolverine, in the comics, is powerful, stocky, you know, he’s short and thick… I always think of Mike Tyson when he first came on the scene. Sometimes, he was a full foot shorter than his opponents and bent over [with this] massive build. There’s real power… That’s what I’m going for, and if I have a massive heart attack first, well, you tell everyone what I was going for.”
Aronofsky’s Wolverine is certainly posed to give fans the hard-hitting, no-holds-barred action flick with a brain that they were hoping for, but did not get from Origins. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how the Black Swan director’s unique style and visceral and harsh approach to filmmaking works when filtered through the lens of a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster.
The Wolverine attacks theaters around the U.S. in the summer of 2012.
Source: LA Times
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