17. The Kanji On Wolverine's Sword (The Wolverine)
The Wolverine is a weird outlier in the X-Men franchise. On the one hand, it's the first entry in the expanded franchise that doesn't include the phrase X-Men anywhere in its title, the polar opposite of the clumsily monikered X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It's also not so in thrall to continuity, making vague reference to the death of Jean Grey and dissolution of the X-Men. It's based on a classic comic book story arc, and includes a bunch of familiar villains, but it never seems as packed with references, winks and nods for fans as the previous movies. Probably because it was pitched more at the Hugh Jackman audience than the geek audience. Anyway, there is one cool little Easter egg in The Wolverine. That sword he gets given by young Yashida early in the film? The kanji on it mean "Never Died, Never Aged, Never Destroyed". Pretty apt huh.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
