Hugh Jackman brandishes his claws once more in this spin-off from Marvel‘s hugely successful X-Men series. Due to hit cinemas in May 2009 "There‘s only so much I can say about Wolverine," laughs the ever-affable Hugh Jackman. "Since the rumour mill first started rumbling, I‘ve had people wanting to know whether we were really going to make a movie. And now the film‘s going ahead, people‘s curiosity has just got greater and greater. But it wouldn‘t be fair to say too much. And, of course, it‘d spoil the surprise."

Not that it was too much of a shock when Marvel Enterprises and their studio partners 20th Century Fox formally announced that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a ‘go‘ project. As long ago as 2006‘s X-Men: The Last Stand, Jackman - now attached as both leading man and producer - was chatting about a spin-off with something more than casual enthusiasm. "It‘s certainly something that‘s being talked about," he explained at the London X3 press conference. "At the moment, I can only really say that there is a script and that there is some interest."

While his caginess hasn‘t abated, Jackman‘s happy to explain his reasons for revisiting his most celebrated creation. "When we finished shooting The Last Stand, I felt that there was still so much to be said about Logan. Whether that meant finding out what Wolverine does next or exploring his colourful past, I wasn‘t sure. For a time it looked like that could be addressed in another X-Men movie. But now it‘s going to be explored in our movie." "Our movie" is, superficially at least, a rather strange affair, the most peculiar aspect being the involvement of Gavin Hood, the South African director who won an Academy Award for his powerful social drama Tsotsi.

"I understand why some might consider this a rather unusual choice," says the former lawyer whose first American movie was the worthy terrorist drama Rendition. "When I was approached to make the movie, my first thought was, ‘What? Me? Do this? What is that? I don‘t know enough about comic book characters‘. And then I did my research. What appeals to me about Wolverine is that he suffers from existential angst. As an emotional guy myself, that really appealed to me. And then you have this whole mythic element to the character. Once I got stuck into that it became less a case of ‘why make this movie?‘ as ‘how can I turn this opportunity down?‘"

Like his leading man, Hood will say little about the Wolverine storyline - a fact that has led the internet fanboys to embark on the sort of speculation usually associated with the Kennedy assassination. The upshot of this is that Hood‘s film would appear to concentrate on Logan‘s past in general and his involvement in the mysterious Weapon X programme in particular. However, fans of the comic-books are furious that Wolverine looks set to share screen time with Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit, a Cajun mutant who doesn‘t become part of the X-Men landscape until many years later.

As if to appease unhappy parties, Jackman has gone to great lengths to laud screenwriter David Benioff (25th Hour, Troy). As he told ‘Wizard‘ magazine, "David‘s the most passionate Wolverine fan. He‘s the hottest writer in LA at the moment and he was beating down our door to write this movie - that‘s how big a fan he is. David‘s followed all of the books since he was nine-years-old. So you have a writer who has all these Oscar-winning directors wanting to work with him and he‘s like, ‘I want to do Wolverine!‘" In addition to the storyline, the rumour mill has been kept busy by potential Wolverine casting coups. When news emerged that Sabretooth would be a part of the action, many a fanboy hoped that wrestler Tyler Mane - who played the role in the first Bryan Singer‘s film - would return to the fold. Now that the part has fallen to the rather more cerebral Liev Schreiber, you can only imagine Logan‘s nemesis will be something more than a growling, smackdown-laying Sasquatch. While he won‘t be drawn on Schreiber‘s casting, Jackman happy to discuss potential interest in a Wolverine-Sabretooth pre-match. "When we made the first X-Men movie, it was clear there was plenty of meat on the bone as far as Wolverine and Sabretooth were concerned. To explore that further would seem a bit of a no-brainer."

The recruiting of Schreiber might mark a change in direction but it also represents a colossal improvement in quality. If only we could be as enthusiastic about the casting of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool (a charismatic figure seemingly beyond the star of Definitely, Maybe) and newcomer Taylor Kitsch as the aforementioned Gambit.

All of which said, if the rumours are true that Michael C Hall (‘Dexter‘) will play the young William Stryker - the government spook essayed by Brian Cox in X2 - someone deserves a big bump in pay. But alas, it looks like we‘re going to have to make do with Danny Huston. Oh well, it was a nice idea when it lasted.

Such casting debates are interesting given that Jackman only inherited the Wolverine after Dougray Scott dropped out of the first X-Men when the Mission: Impossible II shoot over-ran. "It‘s funny how life works," laughs the leading man. "I can even remember a time when Russell Crowe seemed in the running to play Logan. But, yes, there I was, gearing up for one thing and then, all of a sudden, I was getting in shape to play an invulnerable mutant. In another universe things might have been quite different. I certainly can‘t complain about how they‘ve come together in this one!"