Asian actor Will Yun Lee signed on to the film to play a villain.
The X-Men movie franchise got a shot of mutant vigor last year by the wonderful X-Men First Class, which reset the comic-book fan’s palate after 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But here’s a little known fact: Origins actually made a buttload of money and that’s why Fox greenlit a sequel to the prequel. There’s no word on what the sequel will be called – X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2 is a mouthful and just The Wolverine isn’t very descriptive – but thanks to a hiring announcement in the movie-biz trade paper Variety, we might know a bit about the story. Actor Will Yun Lee will play Keniuchio Harada, a mutant known as the Silver Samurai affiliated with the Hellfire Club.
Harada has the ability to manipulate Tachyon particles, which dovetails nicely with his training in the Japanese sword-fighting of Kenjutsu. When the tachyon particles warp the space-time continuum, his sword can become the sharpest cutting tool known to man, and the Silver Samurai can also wrap himself in a protective tachyon field. Doing so can also give Harada a sense of the near future, such as knowing where an enemy’s blows are going to land.
The Silver Samurai also looks quite dashing in his fancy armor.
Will Yun Lee is a veteran actor who has recently landed some prime action movie roles. He’s the main antagonist in the upcoming Red Dawn remake, as well as the new Total Recall. He’s even done voiceover work for games, appearing in Square’s Sleeping Dogs as an undercover police officer.
Darren Aranofsky of Black Swan fame was supposed to direct this prequel sequel, but after winning the Oscar for Best Director, he begged off to make a movie about Noah’s Ark. That film – titled The Wolverine – was set in Japan, and given Will Yun Lee’s involment, it looks like the screenplay might be intact under the direction of James Mangold.
Source: Variety
