Comic Book Storylines That The Wolverine 2 Should Adapt

In 2017, a special era for superhero movies will end. Hugh Jackman will pop his claws for one last outing as Logan in the sequel to The Wolverine.

A movie that’s going to cap off such a long tenure as such a popular character needs the right story to make it special. Wolverine’s got plenty of tales in his back catalog for director James Mangold and the rest of the team at Fox to draw from. Here are five of the best options.

Original Sin

In a recent interview, Patrick Stewart hinted that his Professor X will actually be teaming up with Logan in the next Wolverine movie. It’s pretty early in the process, so things may change, and even if they don’t, we don’t really know how significant the Prof’s role will be. That said, if it’s a Wolverine/Professor X story you’re after, Mike Carey’s “Original Sin” is probably the story you’re looking to adapt.

The story has Charles and Logan seeking out Wolverine’s son, Daken, who has been tortured and turned into a killing machine. The story would be a great way to set up Daken to take the torch from Logan in the movies.

Kitty Pryde & Wolverine

With James Mangold returning to direct, the next Wolverine movie will likely feel like much more of a direct sequel to it’s predecessor than The Wolverine did towards X-Men Origins: Wolverine. With that in mind, Kitty Pryde & Wolverine provides an appropriate plot to follow The Wolverine, which was heavily inspired by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s original Wolverine miniseries.

Kitty Pryde & Wolverine, from Claremont and artist Al Milgrom, brings Wolverine back to Japan, this time accompanying – as the title suggests – young Kitty Pryde. The plot involves Kitty trying to save her father from the Yakuza, and becoming possessed by a demonic ninja spirit called Ogun in the process. Wolverine, with the help of Yukio (played by Rila Fukushima in The Wolverine), has to help Kitty regain her sense of self. Kitty comes out the other side as a badass mutant ninja.

If nothing else, this story gets us one last does of Ellen Page as Kitty. I’ll take it.

Coyote Crossing

Greg Rucka’s run on the Wolverine comic book series took Logan down to his most human level. “Coyote Crossing,” the second arc of Rucka’s run, sees Logan tracking down the leader of a gang that’s been dealing in human trafficking. The story does a great job of bringing Logan’s core character conflict – his animal side vs. his human side – to the forefront. “Coyote Crossing” offers a great opportunity for Jackman to exit the character with a definitive statement on Logan’s nature.

Death of Wolverine

Would there really be any better way for Hugh Jackman to conclude his 17 years playing Wolverine than by telling the story of the character’s death? The Death of Wolverine was a major event for Marvel Comics in 2014. The series saw Wolverine run a gauntlet of enemies before finally coming face to face with the man responsible for turning him into the Wolverine in the first place. The ending is right there in the title, but man would that be a great final scene to go out on.

Not Dead Yet

While its maybe not as thematically resonant as some of the other stories on this list, Warren Ellis and Leinil Francis Yu’s “Not Dead Yet” is a story tailor made for action movie adaptation. The plot involves an enemy from Wolverine’s past, the White Ghost, returning from presumed death to torment Logan. The story has intrigue, romance, property damage, and lots of action, including an epic showdown between Wolverine and White Ghost in the finale.

What Wolverine story would you like to see Hugh Jackman close his X-Men career with? Let us know in the comments. 

The Wolverine 2 is expected for theatrical release on March 3, 2017.

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