At this point it’s no secret that Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) will be making an appearance in this summer’s Hugh Jackman reboot “The Wolverine.” What remains less clear is what role, exactly, the seemingly-deceased mutant will be playing in the story.

Director James Mangold sort of answers that question in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly (via the Playlist), in which he tells the magazine that Grey will be a “shadow presence” who “pops up to mock, comfort and advise Logan much as Number 6 tortured Gaius Baltar on ‘Battlestar Galactica.’”

Yeah, I already figured as much. Whether…

We’re not far away now, but the studio and producers keep dropping little bits of new scenes from the film. I wonder how much of the film we could cut together from everything that’s been released so far?

Well in any event, you’re going to want to have a look at this if you looking forward to this film as I am. Lots of goodies here, as usually lots of glimpses at the film footage that we have already seen, and some that we have not.

The chase for more info about a film before it’s release, and yet trying to keep from being spoiled by the big reveals is always lots of fun!

The directors of the Oscar-nominated Kon-Tiki are directing the next Pirates of the Caribbean film. Norwegian directing team Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg will soon sign to helm Pirates of the Caribbean 5, starring Johnny Depp, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Jeff Nathanson.

Sigh. Well, I guess we’re going to do this. I guess this is really happening. I guess the pencil pushers think they can squeeze a few jillion more dollars out of Johnny Depp.

Franchise fatigue anyone?

Yeah, I know I never published the first trailer. I actually thought I did, but I searched through the archives and couldn’t find it.

This is following up on the first film installment based on the book series. Though I am not particularly negative about the film(s) or anything, it failed to sufficiently capture my interest such that I would bother to see the film. And at the time the first film came out, I did not have a movie website or a big enough movie going budget, so I therefore did not see the first film. I probably need to play a little bit of catch up so I’ll be ready to see…

It won’t be long now before we get to see Superman back in action on the big screen in Zack Snyder’s and Christopher Nolan’s grand super-hero vision. In fact we’re only two weeks away from the June 14 premiere. And of course the promotional campaign is working overtime now. I have several TV spots to share with you, and the fun thing is that each of them have something new to offer that we have not seen yet. Obviously it’s mixed in and around things we have already seen before.

So, will Superman defeat General Zod? Will he save the world? Well I mean, come on, you never know, they may mix…

Alright, one more thing for The Wolverine today:

On November 1st 2012, I visited the set of The Wolverine in Sydney, Australia. To give you an idea of the timeline of my visit, Hurricane Sandy had just wreaked havoc in New York, and I woke up early one morning from the constant noises coming from my computer because I was getting so many notices of the breaking news that Disney had purchased LucasFilm and was making more Star Wars movies.

It is five in the morning and I’m standing in a street lined with Japanese houses covered with snow. The elaborate set was  built in a huge parking…

I don’t know what it is exactly, I’m having a hard time putting my finger on it, but it is not possible for me to care less about this upcoming film from Disney.

I think part of it is this trailer seems to have no heart, and does not hint at a cohesive story. And I have yet to be convinced that I want to go exploring the world of Cars without Lightning McQueen, Sally, Mater, and the others. It just doesn’t fit for me. Why do I care? Something seems to be missing here.

Award-winning composer Carter Burwell was all set to score Marvel‘s Thor: The Dark World. It would have marked his first superhero project to date. The studio even printed his name on the first official poster last month. But Deadline now confirms that Burwell is off the project altogether in what Marvel’s camp diplomatically describes as a creative split.

Huh. That’s kind of odd this far down the road. Patrick Doyle scored the first Thor film and it wasn’t great, which in my book is normal for Doyle, though I have to say I didn’t hate Thor‘s score as much as I have other work from…

Director James Mangold isn’t really interested in making a comic book movie. Not in the traditional sense. He’s not really interested in explosions or bombastic action sequences or 3D. He’s not interested in quip-spouting super heroes or nudging his audience in the ribs with a sly wink.

What he is interested in, is character. Mangold, whose previous works include Girl, Interrupted, Walk the Line and 3:10 to Yuma, is an actor’s director. He’s the man responsible for Angelina Jolie’s Lisa Rowe, Joaquin Phoenix’s Johnny Cash and Christian Bale’s Dan Evans. Mangold is unequivocally sincere…