LOS ANGELES — Through five decades, three movies and hundreds of comic books, James “Logan” Howlett has been attempting to sift through the clues and figure out the exact nature of his origin. For nearly three years, “X-Men” fanboys have been doing the same, knowing only that their favorite razor-clawed rebel is getting a spinoff that explains his backstory.

And now, Black Eyed Peas rapper Will.I.Am is offering up some rare clues about his feature-film debut opposite Hugh Jackman’s iconic superhero in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”