20th Century Fox has, according to Vulture, narrowed down the hunt for a new director to helm their untitled sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. They've been meeting with talent for a while now, but the playing field has been reduced to just two names: David Slade (he of Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night, Eclipse) and Robert Schwentke (he of Flightplan, The Time Traveler's Wife, the up coming ensemble action flick Red). This doesn't mean they've actually hired Slade and Schwentke to both tackle the film, just that they're the last pair standing.

It will actually now be up to Wolvie himself, Hugh Jackman, to make the call on who wants bossing him around for a few months. Vulture's report is that he'll be meeting with both Slade and Schwentke, but that their tipster pins Slade as being a foregone conclusion. That's a great choice in my book, as I've been a big fan of the British director's work since Hard Candy (hell, he even managed to make a not-terrible Twilight movie). but even if it didn't go to Slade, I've yet to see anything of Schwentke's that makes me think I want him to make a superhero action movie (hopefully Red changes my opinion on that front).

Plus, my preference for their past films aside, I think Slade is the better choice solely because a Wolverine movie set in Japan is going to require a bold visual style; a style I've yet to see Schwentke execute properly. That's just me though. Who would you like to see direct the next Wolverine?