As much as we as fans sitting in the theater disliked ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’, even it’s star didn’t want to put that story in front of a movie going audience. Originally, Hugh Jackman wanted to present to X-Fans the classic tale from Chris Claremont and Frank Miller about Logan’s time in Japan. Well, now Jackman’s getting his chance to tell that story as James Mangold’s ‘The Wolverine’ is set to depict this memorable time in Wolverine’s life. However, this film has been revealed as a sequel to ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ rather than another prequel to Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies. So that leaves the question: How does Wolverine end up in Japan anyway?

Thanks to Empire Magazine’s latest issue (via Comic Book Movie), producer Hutch Parker has revealed exactly how the man once known as James Howlett ends up in the Land of the Rising Sun. Here’s what he had to say in his interview for the 2013 Superhero Preview issue:

“We pick up Logan in a very isolated state, full of self-loathing. He is sought out by a young Asian woman for reasons he doesn’t fully understand, who is asking him to follow her to Japan where he is meant to reconnect with someone he spent prison-time with in Nagasaki. And the legacy of that experience – effectively Logan saved him – is that this man is on his deathbed, and is looking to give him a gift, to thank him for the life he’s had. But this gift draws Logan into a very complex and very unexpected world within both contemporary Japan, and to some degree the feudal history of Japan. The quality of this story is that it takes Logan on such a challenging personal journey. He’s so in isolation, so out of his element. It’s a much more powerful distillation of his character than you’ve seen before. It’s why people have always love this particular story.”

As shown in his previous movie, Wolverine suffers from memory loss, so this explanation would probably explain the photos we’ve seen with the bone claws or in the POW camps. They’re probably flashbacks from when he made his way to Japan the first time and he’s recollecting these memories with the man on his deathbed.

Now another question remains: Who is the young Asian woman? Could it be Mariko Yoshida, the love interest played by Tao Okamoto? Or maybe it’s Yukio, the dangerous assassin played by Rila Fukushima? The producer has to leave some secrets for the big screen after all!

Now that we know how ‘The Wolverine’ connects to the rest of the X-Men movies, how do you think the rest of the film will turn out? Do you think it’ll be as classic as the Claremont/Miller story or will it live in infamy like it’s predecessor, ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’? And finally, how do you see this film connecting with Bryan Singer’s upcoming ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’, which Hugh Jackman is also attached to star in? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

‘The Wolverine’ starring Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, and Brian Tee will be in theaters on July 26, 2013.