Four Comic Book Storylines "The Wolverine" Sequel Should Use If It Wants to Be Awesome

Yesterday, the news hit that 20th Century Fox is in negotiations with Hugh Jackman and director James Mangold to return for a sequel to this summer’s The Wolverine. This will mark the third solo Wolverine movie and the seventh time that Jackman has donned the claws on the big screen. In a year dominated by high-profile superhero flicks like Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel, The Wolverine flew comfortably under the radar, garnering praise from both critics and longtime fans, many of whom claimed it was the best comic movie of the year.

With many of Wolverine’s most famous stories already told on the big screen, it will be up to Mangold, Jackman, and the folks at Fox to dig deep into comic book history to find a direction that works. If they don't want the sequel to suck, might we suggest these four possible comic book storylines?

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Appears in: Wolverine #62-65 (2008)
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Ron Garney

20th Century Fox bought low and sold high when it cast Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique in X-Men: First Class, just before she won an Oscar and became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Taking advantage of Lawrence’s sustained success, Fox could bring her back for the next movie in an adaptation of “Get Mystique,” one of the most successful Wolverine stories of the past decade. The story in the comics follows Logan as he hunts down Mystique after her betrayal of the X-Men during Messiah Complex.

As he searches for her across the Middle East, the story also intercuts flashbacks of the two from the 1920s, as it is revealed that this ageless duo were lovers on the wrong side of the law earlier in their lives, a la Bonnie and Clyde. Would this shatter the established continuity of the X-Men movies? Yes. But would it let Lawrence dress as a badass flapper and commit crimes? Yes, one thousand times yes. And isn't that what we all want?

Appears in: Wolverine #1-5 (2003) and Wolverine #7-11 (2004)
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artists: Darick Robertson, Leonardo Fernandez

In many ways, James Mangold was the director that The Wolverine needed. He stripped away a lot of the garish special effects and overblown fight scenes from previous movies and replaced them with a back-to-basics approach that emphasized character and mood over money shots. That approach is almost exactly what writer Greg Rucka brought to the Wolverine comic book series in 2003. Instead of placing the comic in the modern Marvel continuity, Rucka mostly ignored Logan’s traditional villains and X-Men affiliations, and reinvented him as a haunted loner who traveled the country righting the wrongs he came across.

In Rucka’s debut arc, titled "The Brotherhood," Logan seeks revenge for his young neighbor, who was murdered by a violent gang in her apartment. While pursuing the killers, Logan also finds himself being hunted down by a DEA agent named Cassandra Lathrop, who becomes obsessed with finding out who or what the mysterious Wolverine is. In the second arc, "Coyote Crossing," Rucka deals with the fallout of "The Brotherhood" as Wolverine tracks down the leader of a gang involved in a human trafficking ring across the Mexican border.

By combining both arcs, Mangold could continue to bring a version of Wolverine to the screen that ignores the glossy look of most superhero films. Rucka’s source material lends itself naturally to Mangold’s sensibilities, and with Wolverine taking his fight to drug cartels and sex slavery rings, this could finally be the Wolverine movie where we get to see him unleash that fury he’s been holding back since Bryan Singer’s X-Men hit in 2000.

Appears in: Wolverine #20-31 (2004-2005)
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: John Romita Jr.

In “Enemy of the State,” the deadly ninja cult known as The Hand devises a plan to kill superheroes and resurrect them under their control. Obviously the perfect target for this is Wolverine, who is killed early on in the arc, only to turn into an unstoppable weapon of destruction while under The Hand’s influence. The whole story is a non-stop Hollywood action scene.

A few tweaks would have to be made to the source material, however. S.H.I.E.L.D. plays a big part in the comic, but the organization would have to be left out completely here because of the contract issues between Marvel and 20th Century Fox. The same would go for many of the side characters in the story, but the main plot of The Hand controlling Wolverine’s mind is perfect for the movie. And with the comic’s writer, Mark Millar, serving as a creative consultant at Fox, the spirit of the story can be kept intact.

Appears in: Wolverine #66-72, Wolverine Giant-Size Old Man Logan (2008-2009)
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Steve McNiven

After the success of “Enemy of the State,” Mark Millar stayed on Wolverine and brought us the most deliriously twisted story the character has ever been a part of: “Old Man Logan.” This story revolves around a retired Logan being recruited by a grizzled Hawkeye to complete one final mission in a dystopian world run by super villains. The plot is wafer-thin, but it involves a T. rex infected with the Venom symbiote, a incestuous gang of Hulks living in the mountains, and President Red Skull murdering any superheroes left on Earth. It’s ultra-violent and completely perverse, which is to say it's awesome.

The movie version would have to be significantly different from the comics, again, due to contractual issues with some of the characters. However, Fox has the rights to all of the X-Men characters, as well as the Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom, so there's more than enough Marvel blood that can be shed here. The idea of this balls-to-the-wall story hitting the big screen, even with a few changes, is just too much fun to pass up. Of course once the credits roll, people may be too traumatized to ever want to watch another superhero movie again. But, hey, this gravy train had to end at some point.