The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Christopher MacQuarrie has signed up to write the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Hugh Jackman has already confirmed that he’s returning for the follow-up and that it will revolve around the popular early 1980s Chris Claremont/Frank Miller Wolverine comic mini-series that sees the character travel to Japan and get caught up dealing with ninjas.
While MacQuarrie is best known for writing Bryan Singer’s The Ususal Suspects (as well as Valkyrie and The Way Of The Gun), it’s not his first dip into the world of the X-Men. He worked on the screenplay for the first X-Men movie, but voluntarily removed his name from the credits when the final version was more in line with David Hayter’s vision.
Recently Slumdog Millionaire writer Simon Beaufoy said he’d been approached about the sequel, although it looks like no deal was ever made for that. Although MacQuarrie’s involvement has led some to speculate that Fox may be trying to woo Bryan Singer back into the X-Men fold to helm the sequel, it’s difficult to imagine he’ll step behind the camera for this one.