By: Eric Eisenberg

One of the biggest problems with Brett Ratner‘s X-Men: The Last Stand was that it tried to do too much with too many mutants. Somehow the filmmakers got it into their heads that the only thing people want out of an X-Men movie are cool mutant abilities, and the rest of the movie suffered as a result. So it’s strange to think that The Wolverine was almost the complete opposite of that.

Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote the first draft of the new superhero movie before it was rewritten by Mark Bomback, has told ScreenRant that in his version of the movie Wolverine was the only mutant in the entire script. “The truth of the matter is that Wolverine I consider to be one of my favorite scripts that I’ve ever written,” the filmmaker said. “I really held it near and dear to my heart, and I was sorry that circumstances worked out that I couldn’t be there and be involved in that movie. I’m almost afraid to see what it’s evolved into, because that’s the nature of the process.”

While it’s unclear just how much the project changed after McQuarrie was replaced, apparently his script was real-world based but also had a touch of his personal flavor, saying that it was recognizable as being from the writer of The Usual Suspects and The Way of the Gun – and apparently there was even a Sergio Leone aspect to it. Said the writer, “There was a real romance to it, there was real humor to it, and a very straightforward sort of plain-faced brutality to it. I’m hoping they preserve that.”

Obviously things have changed since McQuarrie left, as The Wolverine will feature the mutant known as the Silver Samurai (played by Will Yun Lee), but it will be interesting to see how much the project has changed. McQuarrie was working on the film back when Darren Aronofsky was set to direct, so with James Mangold at the helm it could be a different movie entirely. We’ll just have to wait until July 26, 2013 to find out.

Source: Cinema Blend