WOLVERINE Director James Mangold Open To Making A Sequel, Could We See Omega Red?

James Mangold's Wolverine is easily the best take we've seen on Logan and it's not surprising he's interested in making another one. He tells Yahoo! about what would be needed to be put into place for that to happen. A new colorful location similar to Japan might be reason for James to return. Here's hoping Fox does the right thing, putting this sequel together before both Mangold and Jackman walk from the franchise.

"If it presented me with the opportunity as this one did then yes. What I mean is the location and the world in Japan really presented me with a unique set of freedoms. Certainly any project with Hugh is enticing, but if someone came to me, or I came up with a strategy that stays as inventive and as exciting, I wouldn’t hesitate to do another one. " 

I have to imagine a location not really explored in depth within the X-Men universe is a modern Russia. Yes, we saw a Cold War era Russia in First Class and even some mutants. Mangold took a lot of influence from Japanese cinema and even previous films set there. There are plenty of Russian influence cinema that could help move the film forward such as Eastern Promises, Enemy At The Gates and Doctor Zhivago to name a few. Maybe not just Russia, having Wolverine travel throughout Europe and Eastern Europe could be visually different than previous X-Men films as well.

One of Logan's biggest and well known villains is also Russian. Arkady Rossovich better known as Omega Red has yet to grace the X-Men Cinematic Universe. The serial killer was chosen as a human test subject for the KGB's own failed super soldier program. He eventually becomes a cyborg vampire and a massive problem that needs to be dealt with. He has ties to both Hydra and the Russian mob so it wouldn't be hard to adapt him for the film or even change his origin.

Viper (a Hungarian member of Hydra with the name of Ophelia Sarkissian) could easily have connections to Rossovich. A few hints were given in The Wolverine. Mainly, being a blond rather than having her iconic dark hair. I assume this change was to connect her to the blond villain (her brother or father?). The robotics used in the film and Viper's genetics background could also be a precursor to Arkady becoming Omega Red. It's possible Viper was trying to get a hold of Logan's healing factor for Arkady too, who possesses a similar power. Fox could have also made the drastic changes due to the rights issues surrounding Madame Hydra/Ophelia Sarkissian (best known as a Captain America villain). They might have only had use to the costume and the codename Viper.

Omega Red has actually been hinted to previously in X2 when a file with the same name was shown on one of computers at Stryker's compound.

An actor who I'd love to see take the role is Daniel Craig. We really haven't seen him within the superhero genre, not counting his role as the iconic James Bond. Daniel is actually quite the solid villain and proved this in The Road To Perdition. He has also played a Russian before in the WWII action drama Defiance alongside Liev Schreiber who played Sabertooth (the best aspect of Origins) previously. Daniel even has a few lines in Russian which were convincing enough and could make him a huge draw for audiences. Craig also has connections to First Class director Matthew Vaughn (currently producing Fantastic Four for Fox), who gave Craig his big shot in Layer Cake (where he even pretended to be Bond in a funny scene). That role led to Daniel landing the Bond gig and a majority of his success. Not to mention that Hugh Jackman and Daniel are friends also working together on the play A Steady Rain.

Vine Footage For THE WOLVERINE Trailer Teases Silver Samurai And Jean Grey

Director James Mangold has just posted teaser footage for the trailer of The Wolverine on Vine. The brief snapshots of footage give hints to Silver Samurai and a cameo from Jean Grey.

EW Reveals New THE WOLVERINE Images, First Official Looks At Viper, Yukio And Mariko

Set Images From THE WOLVERINE Reveal Ninjas, Viper And Silver Samurai

Some new set images reveal ninjas will be involved in the film thanks to TheDailyTelegraph (via CBM). It's possible they are The Hand or hired assassins for The Yashida Clan. Either way, it's promising to what we can expect action-wise from the film. Included, are some older ones that give us our first look at Viper, Silver Samurai, Mariko and Yukio. My impression is that this seems very faithful to the original Japanese-saga comics from the Frank Miller and Chris Claremont run. I'll wait for a trailer to give an ultimate opinion but things are looking good at this point.

Logan Heading Back To WWII In 'THE WOLVERINE'

An image from the Australian set found by SuperHeroHype (via SlashFilm) has confirmed that The Wolverine will feature WWII scenes involving a Japanese prisoner camp, planes and the atomic bombs used during the war. The image below has a board littered with concept art for the film. It has real war/fallout photos mixed with the film's artwork. It will be interesting to see if Logan (now plagued amnesia) made powerful enemies during that time. Not to mention that sequence with Wolverine holding the sword against the planes looks pretty impressive. How much of the film will be set in this period is unknown considering Origins ended sometime in the late 70's/early 80's. Some other set images also confirm this with the practical pieces begin put together.

'THE WOLVERINE' Gets A Solid Supporting Cast

SuperHeroHype reports that Fox has cast Japanese actors in supporting roles in The Wolverine. They include Hiroyuki Sanada (Sunshine, The Last Samurai, Twilight Samurai) set to play villain Shingen, Hal Yamanouchi (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) plays Yashida, newcomers Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukishima will play Mariko and Yuiko.

HeatVision reports that newcomer Will Yung Lee (Red Dawn, Total Recall) will play the Silver Samurai another villain of the picture.

TwitchFilm has word that actress Svetlana Khodchenkova (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) is in the mix for the role of villainess Viper. Fox has also put out offer to Jessica Biel (Total Recall) according to Deadline. Biel seems like more of draw considering her recent action packed part in Total Recall.

'THE WOLVERINE' Will Shoot On Location In Japan With Japanese Cast

Recently it was announced that production on The Wolverine will be heading to Sydney, Australia. It seemed like the Australia would be doubling the land of the rising run. The new film is based on the famous Japanese-saga where Logan discovers the samurai warrior code along with his signature fighting skills. Fox's Tom Rothman confirms to MTV that's not the case. As the expensive stage work will be done in Australia while location scenes will be filmed in Japan. Not to mention confirming the cast will include many Japanese actors. Not much is known about the character lineup but it's been confirmed that Silver Samurai and Viper will appear.

"It’s set in Japan. A great number of Japanese actors will be in it and it’s based on the very famous run of the comics… I can just tell you on behalf of [Jackman], his goal is to make the ultimate, bad ass, berserker rage Wolverine."

This makes sense considering how close the two countries are and seemly makes more sense than have stages in Canada or the states. Japan is a notoriously expensive country to shoot a movie so to have the entire production done there I'm sure isn't in the budget. Australia offers tax breaks and incentives to productions filmed in the country while Japan doesn't offer the same incentives to foreign projects.

Rundown Of Possible Villains And Allies For Captain America 2

Marvel Studios is currently on a search to find a director to helm Captain America 2. As ten names are in the running but only four of those have been revealed. Kevin Feige, Chris Evans and the writers have stated that the sequel could be set in the present and may also include WWII flashbacks. There have been hints to what villains we can expect for the second installment but it's sort up in the air when it comes supporting heroes. Director Joe Johnston mentioned that Marvel could be saving Winter Soldier for his own spin-off, so he could be excluded until that happens. I've come up with some ideas of what the new additions should be along with previous hints to who the villains could be. I'm hoping that Marvel is smart enough to hold off bringing back Red Skull and Zola until later on in the franchise.


CAP'S NEW TEAM MEMBERS

SHARON CARTER: The niece (grand niece more likely) of Peggy Carter, Sharon was inspired by the WWII adventures of her Aunt Peggy alongside Captain America. This lead her decide to follow a similar path into the military eventually becoming an elite SHIELD Agent. While nothing has been confirmed there is speculation that Amanda Righetti was playing this character at the end of The First Avenger. I'm sure this will be cleared up in Avengers if not there is still hope that Sharon Carter will indeed end up Cap's new love interest. Perhaps also helping fill in the blanks of what happened to Peggy.

FALCON: Sam Wilson better known as The Falcon was a protege of sorts of Cap and the two had series of team-up comics. If Cap assembles a present time team I would expect Marvel to include one of Steve's best friends. I'm not sure if his costume from the comics would translate well but it could be interesting to see him re-imagined as a fighter pilot/SHIElD Agent. I could see the sequel becoming a buddy superhero film if Falcon does show up.

CONTESSA: The SHIELD agent was one of the few actual female characters without powers in the Marvel universe that's been able to stick around for decades. Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine would eventually exit SHIELD to become the new Madame Hydra replacing Viper. It would be interesting to see one of these agents turn out to be a sleeper for HYDRA or to for her to just switch sides over jealously or money. One of my biggest problems with the Marvel films is that they rarely have more than one female heroine in their films. Avengers is going to up that with Maria Hill and Black Widow in the same movie but it's unknown how much "action" Hill will actually see. This is another character that Amanda Righetti could have playing at the end of First Avenger.

UNION JACK: Joey Chapman is the current iteration of the British legacy hero Union Jack. Joey got his own Easter Egg in Iron Man 2 as one of the drivers listed in the race, so Marvel has established he exists in the film universe. The masked hero wears a bulletproof costume, is a knife/sword expert along with exceptional training in martial arts and other weapons (guns ect). James Montgomery Falsworth of the Howling Commandos played by JJ Field was also a shout-out to Union Jack in the First Avenger. Falsworth and his family took up the Union Jack persona before passing it down to Chapman. Union Jack is also a member of The Invaders and if we don't see the return of Howling Commandos in present time (ala Infinity Formula) the Invaders could be a great replacement team name.


VILLAINS

BARON ZEMO: Zemo had been rumored since the casting of First Avenger and it was revealed by the screenwriters that he indeed was in early drafts of the script. Zemo is easily Cap's second most popular villain and needs to be front and center if he is used. If he ends up in the sequel he's costume will need some remodeling and I doubt an actor will be hidden by a mask for the whole film.

BARON STRUCKER: Strucker has a rather large presence as the contemporary head of HYDRA being it's leader continuing the villainous terrorist group started by the Red Skull. We could see HYDRA becoming a world threat again with the classic green uniforms finally being used. I have to believe that both Strucker and Madame Hydra are strong candidates because they've been used in the Super Soldier video game and the current Avengers cartoon from Disney. Baron Strucker was also in the early drafts of the First Avenger script but was ultimately removed.

MADAME HYDRA: Madame Hydra is Strucker's second in command and the leader of the HYDRA sub-group The Serpent Seven. The role has been filled by many different women including Viper and former SHIELD agent Contessa Valentina Allegro De Fontaine. It could be an interesting to see SHIELD infiltrated by HYDRA having them trying to take the group down by covert methods.

A.I.M.: Writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have mentioned their affection for Modok who is the leader of the arms dealing terrorist group A.I.M. They even stated they wanted to include Modok in a sequel having Peter Dinklage (Games of Thrones) in the role. A.I.M. could just as easily fit in Iron Man 3 depending on the direction Marvel is going for with that. If Modok does end up in the film they'd have to make him a lot more realistic to be taken seriously as a villan.

Possible Teaser Poster For The Wolverine

The Wolverine Gets Rewrites & Viper Gets Bigger Role

The production for The Wolverine has seen some bumps in the road. First, director Darren Aronofsky who was originally going to helm the film jumped ship. Not too far after the terrible tragedy that effected most of Japan where most of the shooting was expected to take place. James Mangold (Knight & Day, Walk The Line) took the directing gig and there has been some progress even with the fall shoot being bumped until the spring.

Variety reports that Christopher McQuarrie's script is going see rewrites from Mark Bomback (Total Recall, Live Free & Die Hard). Bomback also did rewrites for Bryan Singer's Jack The Giant Killer another script that McQuarrie worked on. They also say that the role of Viper has been expanded which is likely to be another of the film's villains as she was an ally of Silver Samurai in the comics. Viper is also known as the Captain America villain Madame Hydra so it will be interesting to see Fox's take on the character.

Marvel Studios Moving Forward With Captain America 2?

We recently heard news on movement on Iron Man 3 with Shane Black meeting with Marvel Studios. Now there is word from LatinoReview that Marvel is already working on Captain America 2. They've hired screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus who worked on First Avenger. It's expected that the sequel would be set during present time and after the events of Avengers.

There are plenty of characters and villains to be explored in future films now that HYDRA will be established in First Avenger. This could be an excellent film to introduce Cap stables like Winter Soldier (Bucky), Union Jack (modern), Baron Zemo, Crossbones, Viper/Madame Hydra and Baron von Strucker. It would also be a great opportunity to bring in Sharon Carter and Falcon into the mix.

I wouldn't be shocked to see the SHIELD/Nicky Fury film end up being combined into the Captain America sequel and to be honest I think it would end up a stronger movie.