With all the hullabaloo about The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises, a few supposedly major comic book movies had started to slip under the cracks. But we can expect to hear a lot more about film like James Mangold’s The Wolverine in the months ahead starting, perhaps, today. Coming Soon has revealed, through sources close to the actor, that Die Another Day villain Will Yun Lee has been cast opposite Hugh Jackman as Kenuichio Harada, better known to comic book fans as The Silver Samurai.
The inclusion of The Silver Samurai was expected, but now finally seems to be confirmed. The Wolverine will adapt the classic Chris Claremont/Frank Miller storyline that found Logan in Japan and falling in love with Mariko Yashida, The Silver Samurai’s half-sister. The fact that Mariko isn’t around in the contemporary setting of most Wolverine comics should give you some indication of how happily the story turns out.
The only serious question raised by Silver Samurai’s inclusion in The Wolverine is what it means for Disney’s supposedly-upcoming Big Hero 6, an animated film based on a Japanese superhero team of which Silver Samurai is a member. With Silver Samurai owned by Fox (and presumably Sunfire as well, since he’s also a mutant), the cast of Big Hero 6 could be filled with complete unknowns.
Will Yun Lee may also be familiar to audiences from his roles in the television series “Hawaii 5-0,” and will next be seen in Len Wiseman’s upcoming remake of Total Recall.
CraveOnline will be back with more The Wolverine news as soon as Alpha Flight gets involved.
