WOLVERINE SCREENWRITER KEEPS IT REAL

[MattBrady]

Newsarama’s friends at Comics Buyer’s Guide scores an exclusive interview with Wolverine screenwriter David Benioff in their latest issue (#1605, June 2005). The Troy scribe cops to a life-long obsession with the character, citing 1982’s Chris Claremont/Frank Miller limited series as his favorite Wolverine storyline and the moment Logan’s adamantium skeleton gets sheared of all flesh by a Sentinel blast in “Days of Future Past (Uncanny X-Men #141-142) as a traumatic moment for his as a kid.

While understandably tight-lipped on details regarding this screenplay (an assignment he calls “living a childhood dream” and aggressively pursued going back as far as 3 years ago), Benioff did tell CBG he’s writing Wolverine with Hugh Jackman very much in mind.

“Other than the height, I think Jackman was inspired casting,” he tells CBG. “Though, when he was first picked for the role, I thought, “Huh?’ at the time, probably along with most Wolverine fans. Now I can’t really imagine Wolverine being played by anyone else: Jackman’s performance obviates consideration of anyone else for the part.”

That said, Benioff did say he wants to “rough” Wolverine/Jackman up a bit, giving him an opportunity to show sides the first two movies didn’t afford the character aside from the Mansion invasion scene in X2. Promising his story will be a “bit darker and a bit more brutal”, Benioff says he’s writing an ‘R’ script and that Marvel Studios and director will have to decide where to go from there.

Finally, Benioff tells CBG that his script and vision stays away from the more “fantastical” elements associated with the X-Men franchise.

“I’m going to stay away from the ‘Four Riders’ kind of stories and the science fiction stories where he was battling aliens or demons”, says the writer. “I’m sticking with something more realistic. Of course it is kind of hard to talk realism when you’re speaking about a guy who has adamantium claws popping out of this hands. But my concept of him for this movie is the one I grew up with: He’s a gritty character, a tough, working-class Canadian guy who was born with certain special powers and granted more through a series of brutal experiments – for more that’s my Wolverine reality. I’m not going too far from that.”

The full 3-page interview which details Benioff’s thoughts on the character in much greater detail can be read in its entirety in the new issue of CBG, on sale now at comic book shops and newsstands and arriving in subscriber’s mailboxes right now.

[Kolimar]

Originally posted by MattBrady
That said, Benioff did say he wants to “rough” Wolverine/Jackman up a bit, giving him an opportunity to show sides the first two movies didn’t afford the character aside from the Mansion invasion scene in X2. Promising his story will be a “bit darker and a bit more brutal”,

Excellent.

[Lee Grice]

Hang on a mo... is Matthew Vaughn directing the Wolverine movie as well as X-Men 3 or is that a cock-up?

-----

Some time later: Well, I guess naming Vaughn as director was a cock-up cos that bit's gone...

Oh well, we all make mistakes (as the Dalek said, climbing off the dustbin)

Peace!

[algertman]

It better be 'R' rated

i hated the fact that he would stab people in the movie and they wouldn't bleed

[jmarshall]

“Other than the height, I think Jackman was inspired casting,” he tells .”[/quote]

I can't picture anyone else playing the movie Wolverine either, but I still don't think of the movie Wolvie as being the "real" Wolvie either. He's supposed to be short, dammit, that's been one of his defining physical characteristics for 30 years!!

[majorjoe23]

There is no way Marvel or the studio will let this be anything but PG-13.

[fistofkhonshu]

From what I've read it was supposed to be the idiot who "took the supernatural elements out of the vampire and werewolves". The same moron who thought the way vampires and werewolves could best be depicted onscreen was to have them shooting at each other. The same guy who thought that they should make the "werewolves for this film more feline in appearance" Yes the director of the biggest disappointment in my life since Schumacher did Batman, The director of Underworld.

I just hope he has a better understanding of superheroes than he does of the supernatural. Otherwise we may see Wolverine keep his claws sheathed in order to "show the fans something different, something they haven't seen before."

He's one of those idiots and I sincerely hope the rumor is just a rumor.

[fistofkhonshu]

There aren't even big budget rated R horror films much anymore

[jmarshall]

God I hope that rumor's wrong. Just what we need, Wolverine wearing a trenchcoat and running around shooting at people.

[Robert_Coyner]

yeah, the film will in the end be PG-13, but basically, I think what Benioff was saying is he plans to write the film he wants to write and let Marvel and Vaughan change it to their specs... which, in Hollywood, when working on a big project like this, you have to expect will be the case. at least he's not saying - well, this is what THEY want, so I'm tailoring it to that, which as far as writing goes really tends to ruin it imho...

what's more, I'm excited that they guy who wrote the crime drama of 25th Hour is doing this. I really liked that book and film. and, for all of the geeks out there, this is also the guy adapting and co-producing Ender's Game. so I mean, they really found a (young) writer's writer... the only way they could have gone more geek is if Chuck Palahniuk or Andrew Kevin Walker...

[thefrogman]

I hope it is violent. Is Tyler Mane coming back? I know nothing official has been annouced, but has anyone heard anything? I wanna see Wolverine and Sabertooth go at it, make it a bloodbath

[gredenko]

A Wolverine movie doesn't need to be excessively violent, although that would probably please a lot of fans. Figuring that there's no way in hell that Marvel is going to take their number 2 solo character and put him in an R rated film, the movie just needs to get to the real pathos of the character. Whedon may think it's funny to characterize Wolverine as thinking about "beer" during a fight, but that's a charicature. The guy is tortured, and he needs to be that tainted anti-hero that Elektra was supposed to be but fell short of.

[AlexLothos]

Originally posted by Robert_Coyner
yeah, the film will in the end be PG-13, but basically, I think what Benioff was saying is he plans to write the film he wants to write and let Marvel and Vaughan change it to their specs... which, in Hollywood, when working on a big project like this, you have to expect will be the case. at least he's not saying - well, this is what THEY want, so I'm tailoring it to that, which as far as writing goes really tends to ruin it imho...

what's more, I'm excited that they guy who wrote the crime drama of 25th Hour is doing this. I really liked that book and film. and, for all of the geeks out there, this is also the guy adapting and co-producing Ender's Game. so I mean, they really found a (young) writer's writer... the only way they could have gone more geek is if Chuck Palahniuk or Andrew Kevin Walker...

*nods in agreement*

He's going in with the right attitude and I hope studio has a bit more insight into telling a good story and making money over time than making flashy garbage for a quick buck and a Razzie award or two.

[cncoyle]

Any solo Wolverine film had better have double the limb-chopping than Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Braveheart combined.

*SNIKT*

[Montag]

I want this to be a true and faithful rendering of Wolverine as well, but here's the corker:

Wolverine IS a PG-13 character. Hell, he's a PG character. When he became popular, when his essence-character-whatever was forged, it was within the limitations of the Comics Code.

An R-rated Wolverine is fanfic as far as I'm concerned.

[NeroMan]

I'm just saying if he spends 80% of the movie just non-fatally punching people, and doesn't whip out the claws until the last 20%, it'd be a nice effect.

[Kody]

Originally posted by fistofkhonshu
From what I've read it was supposed to be the idiot who "took the supernatural elements out of the vampire and werewolves". The same moron who thought the way vampires and werewolves could best be depicted onscreen was to have them shooting at each other. The same guy who thought that they should make the "werewolves for this film more feline in appearance" Yes the director of the biggest disappointment in my life since Schumacher did Batman, The director of Underworld.

I just hope he has a better understanding of superheroes than he does of the supernatural. Otherwise we may see Wolverine keep his claws sheathed in order to "show the fans something different, something they haven't seen before."

He's one of those idiots and I sincerely hope the rumor is just a rumor.

I didn't have any problems with the directing in Underworld, I actually thought it was visually stunning. The script for Underworld was the problem. And some of the acting.

[samnoir]

I think the movie will do just fine as a PG-13 film if they handle it in the same way they do in the PG comic books... it's all suggestion and handled off screen. Which is much more effective given the audience's ability to imagine what happened to Wolverine's victims, rather than just show it in an R-rated splatter-fest.

Remember during the Pheonix Saga when Wolverine was down in the sewers taking down the Hellfire Club footsoldiers? I'm sure many of us remember it as being pretty violent, but it all happened offscreen.

I'm hoping the film follows the Frank Miller/Chris Claremont mini that brought Wolverine to Japan.

What supporting characters to you want to see in the Wolverine film? I think Rogue has been established as being pretty close to Wolverine in the two X-Men films and would be a good supporting character (in the same way Kitty Pryde and Jubilee seem to work when paired with Logan in the comics).

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[tridon]

If they go PG-13, I hope they at least film the entire script and release an R-rated version on DVD. Either way though, with a true Wolvie fan on writing chores, I have a lot of faith in this film.

[Uchiha_Prodigy]

They let Punisher be R, why not Wolverine?

[TheScantronman]

Originally posted by Uchiha_Prodigy
They let Punisher be R, why not Wolverine?

Because Wolverine has become so mainstream and accessible to children. They even have a Playskool Spider Man and Friends Wolverine figure.

I can deal with a PG-13 Wolverine theatrical verison and an R-rated Director's Cut DVD.

[Hokeyboy]

SEE DC HAVE WON MARVEL SHOULD STOP PUBLISHING BECUASE HOUSE OF M IS SHIT AND DC WON!!

[Montag]

Punisher has always pretty much been an "R" character. From what I remember, Wolverine has always been PG or PG-13. Look at it this way: Castle gets a MAX series, right? R material. The DAY Wolverine shows up even as a cameo in a MAX book will probably never come.

[Justice41]

I hope the Wolvy movie has nothing to do with the X-men at all. It should be about his time as Weapon X working for the Canadian Government, side by side with Sabretooth as wetworks special ops. This flick should be a cross between That old movie Navy Seals and The Borne Supremacy but jacked up a bit.

[lorbaat2]

Originally posted by Montag
Look at it this way: Castle gets a MAX series, right? R material. The DAY Wolverine shows up even as a cameo in a MAX book will probably never come.

Uh, Wolverine had a cameo in The Punisher...