More Marvel superheroes will be back on screen this month. Only this time, Walt Disney (DIS 0.18%) won't be responsible for the show.
Who is? 21st Century Fox (FOX), which owns the film rights to Marvel superheroes known as the X-Men. Count Wolverine among its list of properties. He'll be back on the big screen July 26 when Hugh Jackman returns as the clawed Canadian mutant in The Wolverine, wherein the title character travels to Japan on a journey of self-discovery.
In 2009, Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine left Jackman in the position of trying to redeem a bad script. Only 38% of critics at the movie site Rotten Tomatoes liked the film. Audiences rated it higher (72% said they liked it), but they also didn't show up to the theater. The film earned just $179.9 million at the U.S. box office on a $150 million production budget, Box Office Mojo reports.
Early previews of the new film had offered little hope for the sequel, says Fool contributor and longtime comic book fan Tim Beyers. A new featurette changes that by revealing depth and storytelling lacking in Origins, Tim says.
This time, Fox is borrowing directly from the comics and a storyline composed by writer Chris Claremont and artist Frank Miller some 30 years ago. The result should be a better film for fans and general audiences, and a win for Fox investors hoping to see the studio make more of its film rights to Marvel superheroes.
Now it's your turn to weigh in. Do you like the direction Fox is taking, or would you rather see the X-Men back in Disney's hands? Leave a comment to let us know what you expect from The Wolverine, and whether you'd invest in 21st Century Fox at current prices.
