Wolverine's in the Hood

Twentieth Century Fox are hoping the tactic they tried with the X-Men, in grabbing a respected indie director to launch a blockbuster franchise, will work again for X-spin-off Wolverine.

But it’s not Bryan Singer this time – nope, the studio has roped in Tsotsi director Gavin Hood to handle Logan’s first solo adventure. The South African helmer scored a foreign film Oscar for his gritty gangster pic, but it was apparently the political drama Rendition – his next to hit cinemas – that swayed the top brass and Hugh Jackman into choosing him. “I have long been a fan of Gavin's work and know he will make a masterful film with the character intensity and action beats the fans expect," gushed Jackman to Variety.

He’ll be working from a script by David Benioff that explores Logan’s background and how William Stryker’s evil experiments first left him as an indestructible mutant with an Adamantium skeleton and retractable claws. The story’s ripped from original Marvel comics and Frank Miller’s Weapon X series, and with talent at the script and director level, we’ve suddenly got high hopes for this one. It’ll start shooting in November for release next year.