According to Screenrant, actor Hugh Jackman made a surprise appearance at the San Diego Comic Con earlier today to promote his upcoming film Real Steel. During the Q&A session, Jackman shared some information on who the slated villain for the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be and when the film will begin shooting:
"I’m filming Les Miserables in February, but before that I will be filming Wolverine 2 in October. Chris McQuarrie has written a fantastic script and it should turn out really good. I’ll fight the Silver Samurai in it so that should be exciting. Most of the filming will take place in Japan."
It's been rumored for a while now that the sequel would be set in Japan and will presumably be based on Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's 1982 Wolverine mini-series that features Wolverine's romance and eventual engagement to Mariko Yoshida, half-sister to Kenuichio Harada, the Silver Samurai.
One month ago, 20th Century Fox selected James Mangold as the replacement director for the film after Darren Aronofsky dropped out of the production back in March. The sequel was originally slated for release in 2012, but with no additional casting information, it seems more likely that the film won't arrive until 2013 at the earliest.