Wolverine 3 is already filming in New Orleans, much to an intermittently-weary Hugh Jackman’s delight. We mean, there’s no rush, unless you consider the fact that the March 3, 2017 release date is now ten months away. There’s also the matter of sorting out the trilogy-capping film’s “rated R-ness,” which will presumably require Jackman to drop f-bombs and trou, in addition to avoiding shirts.
In the midst of all this preparation—including securing Patrick Stewart’s participation—it sounds like Fox is reconsidering making Wolverine 3 a showdown between the regenerating mutant and someone’s admittedly tough-sounding minion. We learned last month that Narcos’ Boyd Holbrook would be playing the bad guy, a “relentless, calculating, and intense head of security for a global enterprise.” And sure, Holbrook’s character could get some serious backup from whatever brawny badass Stephen Merchant will likely play, but something was still missing.
Luckily, Nerdist reports that the film won’t boil down to Wolverine being denied a visitor’s pass into some billion-dollar company’s headquarters. According to the publication, sources close to the film’s production indicate that Old Man Jackman will face off against the Reavers (no, not those) in his last (for now) film. In the comics, the Reavers are a team of evil cyborgs who battled the X-Men time and again. This particular iteration of the gang will reportedly be the one led by Donald Pierce, a cyborg who has been trying to commit genocide against mutantkind for some time—frankly, we’d expect nothing less of a character with the title “White Bishop.”
Nerdist has plenty of theories as to how Pierce and the Reavers will be worked into the story, including suggesting that Richard E. Grant’s mad scientist is actually Pierce, and that the Hellfire Club will make an appearance as well. The Reavers story could even open the door for the return of Lady Deathstrike. The Nerdist post/video has a bit of a spoiler for X-Men: Apocalypse, so those squeamish of advanced knowledge beware.