James Mangold talks The Wolverines comic-book origins

In Total Film magazine issue 205, we head to the Sydney set of comic-book sequel The Wolverine , to get the lowdown on the toughest X-Man’s latest solo outing.

The standalone sequel adapts the much-loved Japanese arc of Wolverine’s comic-book history, and promises to give fans the movie that the grizzled antihero deserves.

You can read the full on-set report inside issue 205 of Total Film magazine ( available for just £1.99 on your iPad ), but here’s a snippet of what director James Mangold had to say about the film’s comic-book source:

“The graphic novel [ Chris Claremont’s fan-favourite comic arc ] is so adventurous. It plunges into these ideas of destiny, honour and revenge - as opposed to your standard superhero sagas, which are generally about some gigantic villain out to destroy the Earth, a city or a football stadium.

“Japan’s such an exotic location, in the sense that language and culture play such a huge role in the movie. Usually you don’t find that at all in these kinds of films. To be staking out our own ground and be saying something unique was really liberating for me.”

For much more on The Wolverine , pick up the brand-new issue 205 of Total Film magazine, which is on sale now.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.