According to insiders close to Vulture, Fox has whittled the pack down to two in their quest to find a director to helm the sequel to “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”

The finalists are “Twilight: Eclipse” director David Slade, and Robert Schwentke, known for “Flightplan” and “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” Apparently the studio has ok’d both men and has left the final decision up to star, Hugh Jackman, who will likely make his decision after meeting with each next week.  However, sources have indicated that the meetings are a mere formality because, “It’s going to be Slade.”

News on the plot of the sequel to last year’s much maligned X-Men spin-off hasn’t changed much.  Christopher McQuarrie’s script will pickup roughly where the last film concluded, with Logan in Japan.  Here in the far east he falls into a star-crossed romance with a Japanese woman who is already spoken for by another man.

Because people generally don’t take kindly to their women being stolen by mutants that look like Hugh Jackman, a giant battle with samurai swords and adamantium skeleton claws inevitably ensues.