Routh, who hasn't done much since Superman Returns, (and before that hadn't really done anything) is quoted as saying "I expect that we'll be working early next year. I know that Bryan [Singer] has pretty much finished out Valkyrie and is back in the states and is zeroing in on the story that he wants to tell. Once that arrives it's going to move pretty quickly." Which I'm sure is a HUGE relief to those of us who haven't gotten to see a superhero movie since... tomorrow.

For his part, Jackman, whose movie is currently in production, is playing the My Hero Is Darker Than Your Hero card, saying "We are dealing with a character who is probably one of the darker comic book characters ever created. The movie has a lot of fun elements, but there are layers of pain and darkness to this character." Most of the male 18-25 target demographic are probably willing to overlook the more nuanced and mamby-pamby tortured soul crap as long as Wolverine whips out the knuckle sabers and shit gets blown up, so assuming the "fun elements" outweigh the "layers of pain and darkness," Fox should make its money back. Wolverine seems to be on the fast track compared to that other X-Men sequel, X-Men Origins: Magneto, which is still in the pre-production stage and not yet cast (though still purported to have a 2009 release date). Otherwise, I'd expect Actor Portraying Young Eric Lensherr to be out there shilling his own superhero movie until there's nothing left of the entertainment news cycle but Paula Abdul's latest cock-up and the vestiges of my sanity.