Fox’s upcoming Wolverine film has not had the smoothest production process. Rumors of the studio meddling with Tsotsi director Gavin Hood have been rampant, and the general vibe from the production has been dour. Given that history, reports of extensive reshoots may be the final blow to fans of the franchise still reeling from X3.

I, however, am a bit more hopeful. I think these reshoots may allow Hood to craft the film he wanted originally, as well as to add that extra polish that X3 was sorely lacking. The initial Comic-con footage for the film looked like a cheesy 80s action film, but the full trailer showed a more epic scope and better realized action. (The Wolvie/Sabretooth throwdown already looks better than his duel with Deathstrike in X2.) The new trailer was certainly helped by John Murphy’s excellent Sunshine score, but it also does a good job at selling the film to both fans and general movie-goers alike.

I’m a big Wolverine fan, and I think Gavin Hood has the potential to make the film the character deserves. If you haven’t yet seen his breakout South African film Tsotsi, do so and you’ll learn why. The X-Men films have always revolved around Wolverine (probably due to Cyclops being a general black-hole of entertainment), so devoting an entire film to him seems like a no-brainer as well.

Given their crappy 2008, Fox may be using these reshoots as a learning experience. Since the loss of Brian Singer (and then Matthew Vaughn), I think they’ve forgotten what it’s like to have a genuinely talented person in charge of an X-Men film. Perhaps they’ll finally realize that studio micro-management isn’t very conducive to the creative process.

Discuss: Do you think these reshoots are a good sign? How do you feel about the project thus far?

Source: Collider