The Wolverine: The James Mangold RestorationOriginal Title: The Wolverine (2013)Faneditor: Silver Screen Samurai •
WakeupkeoFranchise: X-Men
Fanedit Type: FanFix
Fanedit Release Date: 1st September 2022
Fanedit Runtime: 106
Synopsis: Essentially, this project aims to restore James Mangold's original vision for the film, before the studio enforced changes to the script. Knowledge of the original script, and how it was changed, comes directly from Mangold himself as well as behind the scenes commentary. The "identity reveal" of Silver Samurai being the real villain was definitely not part of that script, and Viper was also added because the studio wanted a villain with superpowers. So in this edit, she's been reduced to almost non-existence in the film as well. Specifically, this edit completely removes the third act and any prior scenes or shots setting it up. The effect of cutting this is that it eliminates a plot-hole fuelled twist that comes totally out of left field, but that it also returns the story to being told almost exclusively from Logan's point-of-view; thus honouring Mangold's original vision, for a small-scale neo-noir grounded in real world stakes -- rather than a VFX heavy tent-pole designed to compete with bigger-scale films from that year. I have helped Silver Screen Samurai come up with the broad strokes of the final act, but they created the first nightmare and the end of the ninja battle until the airport scene all on their own, in order to fulfil their vision completely. CHANGES INTRODUCED IN 2.0: Added back deleted Harada backstory (absent in 1.0) New transition to final battle, created by Silver Screen Samurai.