Adam Kubert is just one of the artists who has sent Wolverine to Japan over the years, and now Darren Aronofsky is set to do the same in his new film 'The Wolverine'

Credit: Marvel Comics

Earlier today, I sat down at the W Hotel in Hollywood to talk with Darren Aronofsky and Natalie Portman about their new film, "Black Swan," and we'll have those conversations here for you in the week before the film opens.

For now, though, there's one tidbit worth passing along from our conversation.  When Aronofsky was settling in for the interview, I mentioned to him that I had run into Matty Libatique the other night, and Aronofsky smiled.  "I saw that."  He offered up one correction to the information that we've run on the film so far, though, and as far as I can tell, this is the first time I've heard this.

The film that he's directing is officially called "The Wolverine," and there won't be a number attached to it.  In our interview, he referred to the movie as a "one-off," and he emphasized that the film isn't a sequel in any conventional sense.

It's an interesting move, and it certainly separates this from Gavin Hood's movie, and from the larger "X-Men" franchise in general.  Between this film and Matthew Vaughn's "X-Men: First Class," it sounds like any rules we've got in mind about these films and what to expect based on the first four films in the franchise are out the window.

Frankly, I like that.  Comics have always made room for different artists and writers to take these icons and bend and twist them and try different things with them, so why shouldn't the films be the same way?

We'll have more on "The Wolverine" and "Black Swan" for you soon here on HitFix.