The Wolverine
Movie, 2013, The Wolverine Trilogy, Set in 2013
The Wolverine is #7 of 18 in release order and #9 of 18 in chronological order in the X-Men.
The story
Wolverine faces his ultimate nemesis - and tests of his physical, emotional, and mortal limits - in a life-changing voyage to modern-day Japan.
The Wolverine recap
Haunted by having killed Jean, Logan lives alone in the Yukon. A young woman, Yukio, brings him to Tokyo to say goodbye to Ichiro Yashida, a dying tech billionaire whose life Logan saved during the Nagasaki bombing in 1945. Yashida offers to take away Logan's healing power so he can finally die, and Logan refuses. Yashida dies that night, while his doctor, the mutant Viper, secretly weakens Logan's healing. At the funeral, yakuza try to kidnap Yashida's granddaughter Mariko, and Logan, bleeding and slow to heal, protects her as they flee across Japan. They fall in love. Mariko is captured by her father Shingen's men and by Yashida's old bodyguard Harada. Logan finds and rips out a parasite on his heart that was blocking his healing.
The Wolverine ending explained
Yashida faked his death and wants Logan's healing power for himself, wearing a giant suit of armour, the Silver Samurai. He cuts off Logan's metal claws and starts draining him, but Mariko kills Yashida, and Logan's bone claws grow back. Yukio kills Viper and Shingen is killed. Mariko takes over the company, and Logan leaves Japan with Yukio as his companion.
Post-credits scenes
Yes. In a mid-credits scene two years later, Logan is stopped at an airport by Magneto, whose powers have returned, and a living Charles Xavier, who warn him that a new weapon threatens every mutant, setting up Days of Future Past.
Where to watch The Wolverine
The Wolverine is streaming on Disney+ in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 6.7/10, Rotten Tomatoes 70%
Where it fits
- Release order: after X-Men: First Class, before X-Men: Days of Future Past.
- Chronological order: after X-Men: The Last Stand, before Deadpool.
What to watch before The Wolverine
In release order, the essentials before The Wolverine (2013) are X-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and X-Men: First Class (2011).
Cast
- Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine
- Hiroyuki Sanada as Shingen Harada / Lord Shingen
- Tao Okamoto as Mariko Yashida / Scarlet Samurai
- Rila Fukushima as Yukio
- Famke Janssen as Jean Grey / Phoenix
- Will Yun Lee as Harada
- Svetlana Khodchenkova as Madame Hydra / Viper
- Hal Yamanouchi as Ichiro Yashida / Silver Samurai
- Brian Tee as Noburo Mori
- Ken Yamamura as Young Yashida
- Nobutaka Aoyagi as Security
- Seiji Funamoto as Servant
Directed by James Mangold.