Logan Is A Lost Ronin In THE WOLVERINE, No Longer An X-Men And Is Set After X3

Director James Mangold has gone into more detail about The Wolverine. While speaking with EW he reaffirms the film takes place after the events of X3 and Logan is no longer an X-Men member. Basically, attributing him to a lost ronin which is a masterless samurai. A fitting theme considering Mangold has stated the film is a Japanese-noir which has it's origins in the samurai genre. Giving the impression there was a bit of freedom to the fact this wasn't a prequel or apart of the other X-Men films. Adhering to previous talk the film is a stand-alone adventure for Logan. Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie had mentioned recently his draft had only one mutant which was Wolverine, it will be interesting to see if that stayed the same.

"It’s set after X-Men 3, but I wouldn’t call it a sequel to X-Men 3. You have a choice the second you enter a world like this with a huge amount of comic books, backstories, three movies, a Wolverine origins movie … You have decide where you’re going to exist in relation to all these other things, particularly if you’re working with an actor who actually played the character in other films. I felt it was really important to find Logan at a moment where he was stripped clean of his duties to the X-Men, his other allegiances, and even stripped clean of his own sense of purpose. I was fascinated with the idea of portraying Logan as a ronin – the definition of which is a samurai without a master, without a purpose. Kind of a soldier who is cut loose. War is over. What does he do? What does he face? What does he believe anymore? Who are his friends? What is his reason for being here anymore? I think those questions are especially interesting when you’re dealing with a character who is essentially immortal. "

"It was only to my advantage to set it after the X-Men films because the X-Men had effectively ended at that point. A lot of the key characters had died. There was a sense if I’m locating this film not five minutes after the other movie, but a period of time after that last X-Men movie, I can find a Logan who is living separate from the world. He is no longer a member of some superhero team."