Liev Schreiber Is Unsure If He'll Return In Wolverine 2

By Peter ScirettaMarch 9, 2010 1:14 pm EST

Update: This story features a correction — Liev Schreiber has not yet read the screenplay.

Last week it was reported that screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie) has turned in a screenplay for Wolverine 2, and that a January 2011 start date decided for the comic book sequel. io9 reports that during that press conference for Repo Men, actor Liev Schreiber said he had dinner with Hugh Jackman last night, who has read the first draft of the sequel script. Schreiber, who played Sabertooth in the original film, says it is "still not clear whether or not Victor will be present in the Japan storyline." Is Schreiber just playing coy or was he sent the script because Fox is considering adding his character to the next installment?

"In the Japan storyline as I remember it from the Wolverine comics, Victor wasn't there. So I don't know, of course I've got my fingers crossed because I love the character so much, to have the chance to do it again would be a lot of fun, but I'm not sure."

Reading the above quote you would have no idea that Schreiber had talked with Hugh about the screenplay, even though he claims he has. Very strange...

Previously:

McQuarrie's draft is loosely based on the early '80s mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller that helped establish Wolverine as one of Marvel's major characters.

So what's different in McQuarrie's draft? Friedman says he's been told the film features "a love story featuring a Japanese actress." That suggests that the primary female character is switched from being Mariko Yashida, the daughter of Lord Shingen Harada. In the limited series, Mariko was forced into marriage with an abusive man, which Wolverine attempted to help her escape. Shingen drugs Wolverine and challenges him to a duel, who defeats him. Also involved is a female assassin named Yukio, who later became part of the extended X-Men universe. The female lead could still be the daughter of a warlord, or married to an abusive man. Maybe she's married to an abusive warlord! More than anything else, I expect the script to make the female lead a more active presence than we saw in the mini-series.

Fox has not yet settled on a director.