What Happened to Yukio After ‘The Wolverine’?

Fox’s ‘X-Men’ movie franchise spawned many live-action incarnations of many Marvel characters that are either X-Men or associated with the team in any way. The popularity of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the original ‘X-Men’ trilogy granted him his own standalone trilogy, and the second movie featured a supporting character that is often associated with X-Men, particularly with the Wolverine in the source material. Her name is Yukio, and she debuted in live-action in 2013’s ‘The Wolverine,’ played by Rila Fukushima. In this article, we’ll talk about her character and try to explain what happened to her after the events of ‘The Wolverine.’

In ‘The Wolverine,’ Yukio is depicted as a Japanese ninja and a mutant who teamed up with Jackman’s titular character against various enemies, such as Yakuza, Viper, and the Silver Samurai. At the end of the movie, Wolverine and Yukio board the private jet, and it’s unknown what happens to Yukio afterward. That is because the next movie, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past,’ replaced the original timeline with the revised one, in which a different character of Yukio, played by Shiori Kutsuna, was introduced in 2018’s ‘Deadpool 2.’

Apart from being a skillful martial artist and swordswoman, Rila Fukushima’s Yukio also had the power to foresee someone else’s death. She worked with Wolverine to keep Mariko, Ichirō Yashida’s daughter, safe from Yakuza. Later she also teamed up with him against the Viper and the Silver Samurai. In the following paragraphs, we’ll dig deeper into her story and what happened to her after the timeline reset in ‘Days of Future Past.’

Yukio’s story in the source material and ‘The Wolverine.’

Created by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, Yukio first debuted in the source material in ‘Wolverine’ #2 in September 1982. She was always depicted as a supporting character of the X-Men, particularly Wolverine. The character was originally planned to be Storm’s love interest, but Marvel Comics’ editor-in-chief at the time, Jim Shooter, opposed having same-sex relationships in the comics.

In the source material, Wolverine and Yukio first met when she worked as an assassin for the Japanese crime lord Shingen Yashida, the abusive father of Wolverine’s girlfriend, Mariko Yashida. Although she was hired to kill him, Yukio started falling for Wolverine, and she eventually aided him in defeating Shingen. Later, in 1983’s ‘Uncanny X-Men’ Vol 1 #172, Yukio teamed up with Wolverine and Mariko to prevent the Viper and Silver Samurai from taking over Clan Yashida.

This story from the comics inspired 2013’s movie ‘The Wolverine,‘ the second movie in the Hugh Jackman-led trilogy. The movie depicted Yukio as a ninja and mutant who was tasked with finding Wolverine in Canada to bring him to Japan to say goodbye to Ichirō Yashida, who Wolverine saved from the nuclear explosion in Nagasaki in 1945.

Yashida’s real plan was to take Wolverine’s healing abilities to prevent his imminent death. The Viper, who posed as Yashida’s oncologist, used her abilities to remove Wolverine’s healing abilities, so Yukio decided to act as Wolverine’s bodyguard. She also told him that she foresaw his death; he would die with his heart in his hand. Although that proved to be false in that movie, it created a theory among fans that she actually meant his death in 2017’s Logan, when he held his daughter Laura as he was dying.

The movie’s third act eventually led to the final confrontation between the Wolverine and the Silver Samurai, who was Ichirō all along, while Yukio’s spent the third act fighting Viper. Following their victory, which resulted in Ichirō and Viper’s death and Mariko taking over the Yashida’s company. Yukio accompanied Wolverine on a private jet as he was set to leave Japan, telling him that she still considers herself his bodyguard.

What happened to Yukio after the events of ‘The Wolverine’?

‘The Wolverine’ ends with Hugh Jackman’s titular character and Yukio discussing where they should go next, and the mid-credit scene depicts Wolverine alone at the airport when he’s approached by Charles Xavier and Magneto, which leads into the events of ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past.’ Therefore, we can presume that he and Yukio parted ways sometime between the events of the movie and its mid-credit scene.

The next movie, ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past,’ used its story to change history and create a new, revised timeline in the franchise. While we haven’t seen Fukushima’s Yukio in the revised timeline, it is presumed she was erased from existence since Yukio in the revised timeline was introduced in ‘Deadpool 2,’ played by Shiori Kutsuna.

It’s important to note that Kutsuna as Yukio wasn’t just a recast of the same character. In the revised timeline, Yukio is depicted as a young mutant with abilities to control and manipulate electricity. She’s also depicted as Negasonic Teenage Warhead’s girlfriend.

Shiori Kutsuna has also officially signed to reprise the role in the upcoming ‘Deadpool 3,’ in which Hugh Jackman will also reprise the role of Wolverine. It’ll be interesting to see if Wolverine still remembers Yukio from the original timeline and how he’ll react when he meets Kutsuna’s version of the character.

Shiori Kutsuna will return as Yukio in ‘Deadpool 3,’ which is scheduled to be released on May 3, 2024. However, with the SAG-AFTRA strike currently ongoing in Hollywood, it’s hard to say the movie will stay at that date.

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