When it was first announced that Darren Aronofsky would be the man to direct the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, comic book fans everywhere cheered. After all, Aronofsky is a director backed by years and years of critical acclaim. He's simply one of the best directors working today. He gave hope to those who watched the first Wolverine movie and hated how it represented such a classic character. Well, folks, I have some really bad news.

Deadline is reporting that Darren Aronofsky is no longer directing The Wolverine. According to a statement sent out by 20th Century Fox, the problem has nothing to do with creative control or the film in general, but with travel. "As I talked more about the film with my collaborators at Fox, it became clear that the production of ‘The Wolverine’ would keep me out of the country for almost a year," Aronofsky said. "I was not comfortable being away from my family for that length of time." The studio - which also faces an issue with tsunami-torn Japan, the planned location of much of the shoot - says that it plans to "regroup and move forward aggressively," meaning that we could hear about a new director very soon.

As happy as I was about the fact that Christopher McQuarrie, the Oscar-winning writer of The Usual Suspects, was taking care of the script, 99% of my confidence came from the fact that Aronofsky is such a competent director. Obviously the situation with the tsunami is going to alter plans a little bit (though there was no firm start date anyway), so let's hope that Fox doesn't try to hastily replace the director and, instead, picks the right person for the job.