Here’s something you don’t see everyday. A motion poster for a motion picture. It bears no title or release date or any words or numbers for that matter. It’s simply a muscular mutant wielding a samurai sword with retractable bone claws. Hugh Jackman reprises his role as The Wolverine in yet another upcoming X-Men film (X-Men: Days of Future Past is on the way, too). The Wolverine, directed by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma), is in fact not serving as a sequel to the 2009 spinoff X-Men Origins: Wolverine. “We’ve deliberately not called it Wolverine 2 because we want it to be placed and feel like a standalone picture,” Jackman told reporters. “With an all new cast and setting it in Japan, it’s going to give us a whole new visual aesthetic.” Yes, that is the Land of the Rising Sun all lit up in the poster’s background. Why the sudden contemplation, Logan? “The approach to character means [the movie] won’t be overloaded with mutants and teams and the like, so it’ll be more character-based,” adds Jackson. “I think in many ways it will feel like a completely different X-Men film.”
The official synopsis reads like this: “Based on the celebrated comic book arc, ‘The Wolverine’ finds Logan, the eternal warrior and outsider, in Japan. There, samurai steel will clash with adamantium claw as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will leave him forever changed.”
The Wolverine releases July 26, 2013. Look in the gallery below to see a more traditional poster and a first look at Hugh Jackman jacked up for the role.