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With a brief report by Variety indicating that Die Hard 4 writer Mark Bomback has been brought in to work on the screenplay, there is growing speculation about the nature of James Mangold’s new movie about Hugh Jackman’s X-Men character, The Wolverine.

Originally set to begin shooting in Vancouver in November, it now seems as if production has been pushed back to the start of 2013, partly to allow Jackman to complete work on Les Miserables. However, if Variety’s one-line description of the plot is correct, the delay may be necessary since the whole script may be in the process of being reworked

Christopher McQuarrie’s script was based on Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s 1982 four-issue mini-series, which saw Wolverine in Japan fighting for his girlfriend Mariko’s freedom from an arranged marriage. Variety now suggests that “Story will find Wolverine suffering from amnesia and searching for answers about his past in the Japanese criminal underworld where he finds both love and tragedy.” Since Hugh Jackman described McQuarrie’s script to Entertainment Weekly as “fantastic — the best we’ve ever had”, this may not bode well for the film.