X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Encyclopedia
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 American action film
based on the Marvel Comics
' fictional character Wolverine
. The fourth installment in the X-Men film series
, it was released worldwide on May 1, 2009. The film is directed by Gavin Hood
and stars Hugh Jackman
as the title character, along with Liev Schreiber
as Victor Creed, Danny Huston
, Will.i.am
, Lynn Collins
, Dominic Monaghan
, Taylor Kitsch
, Daniel Henney, Kevin Durand
and Ryan Reynolds
. The film acts as a prequel
/spin-off
for the X-Men trilogy, focusing on the violent past of the mutant
Wolverine and his relationship with his half-brother Victor Creed
. The plot also details Wolverine's early encounters with Major William Stryker
, his time with Team X
, and the bonding of Wolverine's skeleton with the indestructible metal adamantium during the Weapon X
program.
The film was mostly shot in Australia and New Zealand, with Canada also serving as a location. Production and post-production were troubled, with conflicts arising between director Hood and Fox's executives, and an unfinished workprint
being leaked on the Internet one month before the film's debut. Reviews for X-Men Origins: Wolverine were mixed, with critics considering the film and its screenplay uninspired, but praising Hugh Jackman's performance. It opened at the top of the box office, and has grossed $179 million in the United States and Canada and over $373 million worldwide.
sees his father killed by groundskeeper Thomas Logan
. The trauma activates the boy's mutation: bone claws protrude from James' hands, and he kills Thomas, who reveals with his dying breath to be James' real father. James flees into the forest along with Thomas's son Victor Creed
, who is thus James' brother. They spend the next century as soldiers, fighting in the American Civil War
, both World War
s and the Vietnam War
. In Vietnam, Victor (Liev Schrieber) attempts to rape a local village woman, but is stopped after killing a senior officer. James (Hugh Jackman
) defends his brother, and the two are sentenced to execution by firing squad
, which they survive. Major William Stryker
(Danny Huston
) approaches them, now in military custody, and offers them membership in Team X
, a group of mutants
including marksman Agent Zero (Daniel Henney), swordsman Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds
), teleporter John Wraith (Will.i.am
), invulnerable Fred Dukes
(Kevin Durand
) and electropathic Chris Bradley (Dominic Monaghan
). They join the team, but the group's questionable actions and disregard for human life cause James to leave.
Six years later, James, now going by the name Logan, lives in Canada with his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox
(Lynn Collins
). Colonel Stryker locates Logan and warns him that someone is killing members of the team; both Wilson and Bradley are dead. Shortly afterward, Victor murders Kayla and attacks Logan. Stryker offers Logan a way to beat Victor; Logan undergoes an operation to reinforce his skeleton with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal. Before the procedure, Logan asks for new dog tags
inscribed with "Wolverine", based on a story that Kayla told him. Once the procedure is complete, Stryker orders Logan's memory erased, but Logan overhears and fights his way out. As Logan runs, Zero tracks him down but is killed.
Logan locates Wraith and Dukes and asks them about the location of Stryker's new laboratory, referred to as "The Island". They tell him to find Remy "Gambit" LeBeau
(Taylor Kitsch
), who escaped and knows the location of The Island. Logan and Wraith locate Gambit in New Orleans, but when Logan asks for the Island's location, Gambit suspects he was sent to recapture him and attacks. Outside, Logan finds Victor, who had just killed Wraith and the two fight. When Logan is about to kill Victor, Gambit interrupts, and Victor escapes. Logan and Gambit fight before Logan convinces him he is not working for Stryker. Gambit takes him to Stryker's facility on Three Mile Island
. When General Munson tries to shut Weapon XI down, learning of Stryker's son and believing that he is too emotionally close to the situation, Stryker kills him.
There, Logan learns that Kayla is alive and conspired with Stryker in exchange for her sister's safety. Enraged, Logan leaves. Victor then arrives, demanding the adamantium bonding promised for his service, but Stryker refuses on the basis that Victor would not survive the procedure. Victor attempts to kill Kayla, but Logan hears her screams and returns. Logan defeats and nearly kills Victor, but Kayla stops him. Meanwhile, Stryker activates Weapon XI, a "mutant killer" with the abilities of other mutants created upon Wilson's body, which Stryker refers to as "The Deadpool".
Kayla and Logan free the imprisoned mutants, and on their escape they are found by Weapon XI. Logan holds Weapon XI off while the mutants flee. During the escape, Kayla, mortally wounded, decides to stay behind while the party led by Scott Summers
(Tim Pocock) is greeted by Professor Charles Xavier
(Patrick Stewart
), who offers them shelter at his school
.
Logan lures Weapon XI to the top of one of the plant's cooling towers. Logan is almost killed until Victor intervenes. Logan decapitates Weapon XI and kicks him into the base of the cooling tower. As he falls, the head fires optic blasts that cause the tower to start falling apart. Victor departs and Logan is saved from the collapsing tower by Gambit. After Logan finds Kayla, Stryker shoots him in the forehead with adamantium bullets, rendering him unconscious. Kayla uses her persuasion powers to make Stryker drop the gun and commands him to walk away before dying from her wounds. Gambit returns as Logan regains consciousness, but the brain damage caused by the bullets has triggered amnesia. Gambit tries convincing Logan to come with him, but he declines, wanting to go his own way.
The film includes numerous cameo appearance
s of younger versions of characters from the previous films, including Jason Stryker
(William Stryker's lobotomized telepathic son whom he keeps in cryogenic suspension). There was a cameo for a young Storm, which can be seen in the trailer, but it was removed from the released film. A digitally rejuvenated Patrick Stewart
also makes an uncredited cameo as a younger Charles Xavier
who had not yet lost the use of his legs.
Asher Keddie
played Dr. Carol Frost. Poker player Daniel Negreanu
has a cameo. Phil Hellmuth
wanted to join him but was unable because he committed to an event in Toronto
. X-Men co-creator Stan Lee
said he would cameo, but ended up not appearing in the film.
, a comic book fan, pursued the project for almost three years before he was hired to write the script in October 2004. In preparing to write the script, he reread Barry Windsor-Smith
's "Weapon X
" story, as well as Chris Claremont
and Frank Miller
's 1982 limited series on the character
(his favorite storyline). Also serving as inspiration was the 2001 limited series Origin
, which reveals Wolverine's life before Weapon X. Jackman collaborated on the script, which he wanted to be more of a character piece compared with the previous X-Men films. Skip Woods
, who had written Hitman
for Fox, was later hired to revise and rewrite Benioff's script. Benioff aimed for a "darker and a bit more brutal" story, writing it with an R rating in mind, although he acknowledged the film's final tone would rest with the producers and director. Jackman did not see the need for an R-rating. The film's final rating was PG-13.
Deadpool had been developed for his own film by Reynolds and David S. Goyer
at New Line Cinema
in 2003, but the project fell apart as they focused on Blade: Trinity
and an aborted spin-off. Benioff wrote the character into the script in a manner Jackman described as fun, but would also deviate from some of his traits. Similarly, Gambit
was a character who the filmmakers had tried to put in the previous X-Men films. Jackman liked Gambit because he is a "loose cannon" like Wolverine, stating their relationship echoes that of Wolverine and Pyro
in the original trilogy. David Ayer
contributed to the script. Benioff finished his draft in October 2006, and Jackman stated there would be a year before shooting, as he was scheduled to start filming Australia
during 2007. Before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
began, James Vanderbilt
and Scott Silver
were hired for a last-minute rewrite.
Gavin Hood
was announced as director of the project in July 2007 for a 2008 release. Previously, X-Men
and X2
director Bryan Singer
and X-Men: The Last Stand
director Brett Ratner
were interested in returning to the franchise, while Alexandre Aja
and Len Wiseman
also wanted the job. Zack Snyder
, who was approached for The Last Stand, turned down this film because he was directing Watchmen
. Jackman saw parallels between Logan and the main character in Hood's previous film Tsotsi
. Hood explained that while he was not a comic book fan, he "realized that the character of Wolverine, I think his great appeal lies in the fact that he's someone who in some ways, is filled with a great deal of self-loathing by his own nature and he's constantly at war with his own nature". The director described the film's themes as focusing on Wolverine's inner struggle between his animalistic savagery and noble human qualities. Hood enjoyed the previous films, but set out to give the spin-off a different feel. In October, Fox announced a May 1, 2009, release date and the X-Men Origins prefix.
in Sydney, during late 2007. Principal photography
began on January 18, 2008 in New Zealand. One of the filming locations that was selected was Dunedin
. Controversy arose as the Queenstown
Lakes District Council disputed the Department of Labour's decision to allow Fox to store explosives in the local ice skating rink. Fox moved some of the explosives to another area. The explosives were used for a shot of the exploding Hudson Farm, a scene which required four cameras. Jackman and Palermo's Woz Productions reached an agreement with the council to allow recycling specialists on set to advise the production on being environmentally friendly.
Filming continued at Fox (where most of the shooting was done) and New Orleans, Louisiana. Cockatoo Island was used for Stryker's facility; the enormous buildings there saved money on digitally expanding a set. Production of the film was predicted to generate A$
60 million for Sydney's economy. Principal photography ended by May 23. The second unit
continued filming in New Zealand until March 23, and were scheduled to continue filming for two weeks following the first unit's wrap. This included a flashback to Logan during the Normandy Landings, which was shot at Blacksmiths, New South Wales
.
Hood and Fox were in dispute on the film's direction. One of the disputes involved the depiction of Wolverine as an Army veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder
, with the executives arguing that audiences would not be interested in such heavy themes. The studio had two replacements lined up before Richard Donner
, husband of producer Lauren Shuler Donner
, flew to Australia to ease on-set tensions. Hood remarked, "Out of healthy and sometimes very rigorous debate, things get better. [...] I hope the film's better because of the debates. If nobody were talking about us, we'd be in trouble!" Hood added he and Thomas Rothman
were both "forceful" personalities in creative meetings but they had never had a "stand-up" argument. In January 2009, after delays due to weather and scheduling conflicts, such as Hugh Jackman's publicity commitments for Australia
, production moved to Vancouver
, mostly at Lord Byng Secondary School
and in University of British Columbia
. Work there included finishing scenes with Ryan Reynolds, who had been working on two other films during principal photography.
Gavin Hood has announced that multiple "secret endings" exist for the film and that the endings will differ from print to print of the film. One version shows Wolverine drinking in a Japanese bar. The bartender asked if he is drinking to forget, Logan replies that he is drinking to remember. The other shows Weapon XI on the rubble of the destroyed tower, trying to touch his severed head.
in them, which required three effects supervisors and seventeen different companies to work on the film. The most prominent was Hydraulx
, who had also worked in the X-Men trilogy and was responsible for the battle in Three Mile Island and Gambit's powers. Many elements were totally generated through computer-generated imagery
, such as the adamantium injection machine, the scene with Gambit's plane and Wolverine tearing through a door with his newly-enhanced claws. CG bone claws were also created for some scenes because the props did not look good in close-ups. Extensive usage of matte painting
s was also made, with Matte World Digital
creating five different mattes for the final scene of the film—a pullback depicting the destroyed Three Mile Island—and Gavin Hood handing company Hatch Productions pictures of favela
s as reference for the Africa scenes.
, the score
for X-Men Origins: Wolverine was mixed by Malcolm Luker, engineered by Costa Kotselas, and featured Martin Tillman
on the electric cello
.
In a 2008 interview with Christopher Coleman of Tracksounds.com, Gregson-Williams said that Gavin Hood
attracted him to the project, adding: "I happened to meet him at the Golden Globes dinner about three years ago. That night we were both nominees, but both losers. He had been nominated for Tsotsi
and during the dinner I had spoken to him and he seemed like a really smart and creative guy...and into music. So I was really delighted when I got a call to meet him and discuss the possibilities for Wolverine."
In late March 2009, Jon Burlingame of Variety
was at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century-Fox to listen and report on the recording of the score. Gregson-Williams conducted "a 78-piece orchestra and a 40-voice choir (20 male, 20 female)" to achieve the sound. At the time of his visit, Burlingame noted that the choir was singing "stanzas from an ancient Norse poem in Old Icelandic" to underscore what would be first track, "Logan Through Time." Director Gavin Hood commented on Gregson-Williams' style, saying: "Harry's challenge is to give us operatic scale, but also keep it intimate and human. Harry's music has a kind of muscular confidence and strength that is very useful for the action, but he also has tremendous soul." Hood also called the recording performance "frigging brilliant!"
of the film without a timecode or watermark, with some unfinished effects shots, a different typeface for titles and casting, and alternate sound effects was leaked online. The studio said it would be able to determine the source of the leak using forensic marks in the workprint. The FBI and MPAA began investigating the illegal posting. Fox estimated the workprint was downloaded roughly 4.5 million times by the time Wolverine was released in theaters.
The print contained a reference to Rising Sun Pictures
, an Australian visual effects company working on the film. The company denied that they ever had a full copy of the film. Executive producer Thomas Rothman
noted the leaked version lacked the ten minutes added during pick-ups in January 2009. However, the theatrical version of the film has no extra scenes that were not included in the leaked workprint. Both versions run exactly 107 minutes, but director Gavin Hood
said "another ending exists that features the film's villain."
Roger Friedman
, a gossip reporter for Fox News
—a channel also owned by Fox's parent company News Corporation
—was fired for writing a review of the film using the leaked copy he downloaded from the Internet. He described how easy it was to find and download the film even if the original source of the leak was no longer available on the web. The article he wrote for his column on the Fox News website was immediately removed.
, Papa John's Pizza
, and Schick
. Hugh Jackman also posed as Wolverine for the Got Milk?
campaign. In February 2009, Hasbro
released a film-related toyline
, featuring action figure
s and a glove with retractable claws. In April, Marvel debuted a new comic series, Wolverine: Weapon X, which writer Jason Aaron
said that while not directly influenced by the film, was written considering people who would get interested in Wolverine comics after watching the film.
Raven Software
developed a video game
based on the film with the same name, which Activision Blizzard
published. Marc Guggenheim
wrote the script, while Hugh Jackman, Schreiber, and will.i.am voiced their characters from the film. The storyline goes beyond the one from the film, including other villains from the comics such as the Sentinels
and the Wendigo
, as well as the appearance of Mystique
, who was in the other three X-Men films.
In December 2009, Hot Toys released the 12 inch highly detailed figure of Wolverine based on the movie with Hugh Jackman's likeness.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released on April 29, 2009, in the UK, Denmark, South Africa, and Australia; April 30, 2009 in the Philippines and in the Dominican Republic; and May 1, 2009 in the United States and Canada. A contest was held on the official website to determine the location of the world premiere on April 27. In the end, the Harkins
at the Tempe Marketplace
in Tempe, Arizona
won the premiere. The release in Mexico was delayed until the end of May due to an outbreak of H1N1 flu in the country. On April 22, nine days before the release of the film, it was reported that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was outselling Iron Man
"3-to-1 at the same point in the sales cycle (nine days prior to the film’s release)."
During its first day of wide release, Wolverine took in an estimated $35 million, with almost $5 million of that from midnight showings. The earnings placed the film as the 16th highest-grossing opening day ever (22nd with ticket-price inflation). It went on to be number one film at the box office with a total of $85 million. Among summer kick-offs, it ranked fifth behind Spider-Man
, X2, Spider-Man 3
, and Iron Man and it was in the top ten of comic book adaptations. The opening was lower than the last film in the franchise, X-Men: The Last Stand, as well as X2, but higher than X-Men, the first film in the series.
The worldwide opening was over $158.1 million, but Fox stated that some markets underperformed, mostly due to the leaked workprint in countries with illegal downloading problems. However, in an article for the "piracy issue" of Screen International
magazine, film critic John Hazelton was doubtful of this explanation, writing that the film's initial performance was "uncertain" as the outbreak of swine flu in territories with the worst piracy problems means that other territories did not compare at all.
While it has received mixed reviews from critics, the film has been a financial success at the box office. According to Box Office Mojo
Wolverine has grossed approximately $179,883,157 in the United States and Canada. It took in another $193,179,707 in other territories, giving it a worldwide total of $373,062,864.
exclusive 3-disc set, which includes a standard DVD copy of the film was also released. The two-DVD special edition includes the two commentaries, the featurette with Stan Lee and Len Wein, an origins featurette, deleted and alternate scenes, and an anti-smoking PSA on disc one; disc two has a digital copy of the film. The single-disc DVD release has the origins featurette and anti-smoking PSA.
Wolverine was the highest selling and most rented DVD release of the week, selling over three million copies, 850,000 of them on Blu-ray. Through its first six weeks the DVD has sold 3.79 million copies, generating $64.27 million in sales.
, rates the film with a 37% approval rating based on 246 reviews. The site's consensus is "Though Hugh Jackman gives his all, he can't help X-Men Origins: Wolverine overcome a cliche-ridden script and familiar narrative." Metacritic
reports a "metascore of 43 out of 100 from 36 critic reviews." Comparatively, Yahoo! Movies
currently reports a grade of "C+" averaged from 13 critic reviews.
Richard Corliss
of TIME commented on the film's standing among other Marvel films, saying that it is "an O.K., not great, Marvel movie that tells the early story of the prime X-Man, and attempts to make it climax in a perfect coupling with the start of the known trilogy." He also said that "superhero mythologies can be so complicated, only a lonely comic-book-reading kid could make sense of it all." James Mullinger of GQ also commented on the structure of the story in saying that the "film clumsily tries to explain the origins of James [Howlett], AKA Wolverine, which had wisely only ever been briefly referred to in the original X-Men saga. In doing so, it creates a fairly bland plot which is full of holes." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post
was generally more favorable towards Origins, stating "Fortunately, Jackman is well-matched with Schreiber, who can sneer with the best of them and wears fangs well. The two have three spectacular battles together before squaring off against a formidable enemy atop a nuclear reactor." Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor
also praised Jackman's performance, saying that "Hugh Jackman demonstrates that you can segue effortlessly from a tuxedoed song-and-dance man at the Oscars to a feral gent with adamantium claws and berserker rage." Claudia Puig of USA Today
considered the movie "well-acted, with spectacular action and witty one-liners".
Roger Ebert
gave the film two stars out of four and expressed his views on the title character: "Why should I care about this guy? He feels no pain and nothing can kill him, so therefore he's essentially a story device for action sequences." James Berardinelli
gave Wolverine two and a half stars out of four, calling the action scenes competently executed but not memorable, and considering that when dealing with Wolverine's past "there's little creativity evident in the way those blanks are filled in", and that the revelations made Wolverine "less compelling". Comparatively, Bill Gibron of AMC's Filmcritic.com website gave the film a positive "4.0 out of 5 stars," saying that although Hugh Jackman is "capable of carrying even the most mediocre effort, he singlehandedly makes X-Men Origins: Wolverine an excellent start to the summer 2009 season." He did however predict that "there will be purists who balk at how Hood and his screenwriters mangle and manipulate the mythology;" and further said that "any ending which leaves several characters unexplained and unaccounted for can't really seal the full entertainment deal."
Regarding Wolverine within the context of the X-Men film series, Tom Charity of CNN
commented: "Serviceable but inescapably redundant, this Wolverine movie does just enough to keep the X-Men franchise on life support, but the filmmakers will have to come up with some evolutionary changes soon if it's going to escape X-tinction." Similarly, A. O. Scott
of The New York Times
expressed that "X-Men Origins: Wolverine will most likely manage to cash in on the popularity of the earlier episodes, but it is the latest evidence that the superhero movie is suffering from serious imaginative fatigue." On a more negative note, Philip French of The Observer
said that the film's "dull, bone-crushing, special-effects stuff" is "of interest only to hardcore fans who've probably read it all in Marvel comics."
Sukhdev Sandhu of The Daily Telegraph
stated that "Wolverine is an artificial stimulus package of the most unsatisfying kind. Aggressively advertised and hyped to the hills, it will no doubt attract full houses at first; after that though, when word-of-mouth buzz-kill goes into overdrive, there’s bound to be widespread deflation and a palpable feeling of being conned." Similarly, Orlando Parfitt of IGN
(UK) praised the performances of the actors and the action scenes, but stated that the film felt underdeveloped: "There's an enjoyable time to be had with Wolverine, but it's also somewhat unsatisfying." Furthermore, Scott Mendelson of The Huffington Post
gave the film a grade of "D", noting that "Wolverine was the lead character of [the X-Men] films, and we've already learned everything we need to know from the films in said franchise," adding that "the extra information given here actually serves to make the character of Logan/Wolverine less interesting." Trevan McGee of Ink also commented on the supporting cast, saying "the movie bends over backward trying to inject as many cameos and secondary characters into the movie as possible. The mutants invented for the movie are uninspired and boring..."
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
based on the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' fictional character Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
. The fourth installment in the X-Men film series
X-Men (film series)
The X-Men film series consists of superhero films based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. The films star an ensemble cast, focusing on Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, who is drawn into the conflict between Professor Xavier and Magneto , who have opposing views on humanity's...
, it was released worldwide on May 1, 2009. The film is directed by Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood is a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for writing and directing the Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film Tsotsi...
and stars Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
as the title character, along with Liev Schreiber
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
as Victor Creed, Danny Huston
Danny Huston
-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
, Will.i.am
Will.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
, Lynn Collins
Lynn Collins
Viola Lynn Collins , better known as Lynn Collins, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Kayla Silverfox in the live-action film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.-Life and career:...
, Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
, Taylor Kitsch
Taylor Kitsch
-Early life and modeling career:Kitsch was born in Kelowna, British Columbia. He has two older brothers and two younger half sisters. Originally set to become a professional hockey player, he played for the Langley Hornets in the Canadian BCHL before a bad knee injury ended his career...
, Daniel Henney, Kevin Durand
Kevin Durand
Kevin Serge Durand is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Joshua in Dark Angel, Martin Keamy in Lost, Fred J. Dukes in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Archangel Gabriel in Legion, and Little John in Robin Hood....
and Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian film and television actor, best known for his roles in such films as National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Waiting..., The Amityville Horror, Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal, Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Green Lantern.One of his best known...
. The film acts as a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
/spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
for the X-Men trilogy, focusing on the violent past of the mutant
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
Wolverine and his relationship with his half-brother Victor Creed
Sabretooth (comics)
Sabretooth is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. The character first appeared in Iron Fist #14...
. The plot also details Wolverine's early encounters with Major William Stryker
William Stryker
Col. William "Bill" Stryker, M.D. is a fictional comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and enemy of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Brent Anderson, he first appeared in the 1982 graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.Rev...
, his time with Team X
Team X (comics)
-Comics:In the Marvel Universe, Team X was a CIA black ops team that operated during the 1960s and was linked to Weapon Plus. It was made up of Logan , Victor Creed , Mastodon, David North/Christoph Nord , the Major Arthur Barrington, Silver Fox, Noel Higgins , Aldo Ferro and John Wraith...
, and the bonding of Wolverine's skeleton with the indestructible metal adamantium during the Weapon X
Weapon X
Weapon X is a fictional clandestine government genetic research facility project in the Marvel Universe conducted by the Canadian Government's Department K, which turns willing and unwilling beings into living weapons. The project often captures mutants and experiments on them to enhance their...
program.
The film was mostly shot in Australia and New Zealand, with Canada also serving as a location. Production and post-production were troubled, with conflicts arising between director Hood and Fox's executives, and an unfinished workprint
Workprint
A workprint is a rough version of a motion picture, used by the film editor during the editing process. Such copies generally contain original recorded sound that will later be re-dubbed, stock footage as placeholders for missing shots or special effects, and animation tests for in-production...
being leaked on the Internet one month before the film's debut. Reviews for X-Men Origins: Wolverine were mixed, with critics considering the film and its screenplay uninspired, but praising Hugh Jackman's performance. It opened at the top of the box office, and has grossed $179 million in the United States and Canada and over $373 million worldwide.
Plot
In 1845 Canada, young James HowlettWolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
sees his father killed by groundskeeper Thomas Logan
Thomas Logan
Thomas Logan is a fictional character of Marvel Comics. He was created by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, and Paul Jenkins. He was featured in the limited series Origin, which detailed the formative years of Wolverine of the X-Men and was published from November, 2001 to July, 2002.-Character...
. The trauma activates the boy's mutation: bone claws protrude from James' hands, and he kills Thomas, who reveals with his dying breath to be James' real father. James flees into the forest along with Thomas's son Victor Creed
Sabretooth (comics)
Sabretooth is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. The character first appeared in Iron Fist #14...
, who is thus James' brother. They spend the next century as soldiers, fighting in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, both World War
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
s and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. In Vietnam, Victor (Liev Schrieber) attempts to rape a local village woman, but is stopped after killing a senior officer. James (Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
) defends his brother, and the two are sentenced to execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
, which they survive. Major William Stryker
William Stryker
Col. William "Bill" Stryker, M.D. is a fictional comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and enemy of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Brent Anderson, he first appeared in the 1982 graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.Rev...
(Danny Huston
Danny Huston
-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
) approaches them, now in military custody, and offers them membership in Team X
Team X (comics)
-Comics:In the Marvel Universe, Team X was a CIA black ops team that operated during the 1960s and was linked to Weapon Plus. It was made up of Logan , Victor Creed , Mastodon, David North/Christoph Nord , the Major Arthur Barrington, Silver Fox, Noel Higgins , Aldo Ferro and John Wraith...
, a group of mutants
Mutant (Marvel Comics)
In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...
including marksman Agent Zero (Daniel Henney), swordsman Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian film and television actor, best known for his roles in such films as National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Waiting..., The Amityville Horror, Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal, Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Green Lantern.One of his best known...
), teleporter John Wraith (Will.i.am
Will.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
), invulnerable Fred Dukes
Blob (comics)
The Blob is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an adversary of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #3 ....
(Kevin Durand
Kevin Durand
Kevin Serge Durand is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Joshua in Dark Angel, Martin Keamy in Lost, Fred J. Dukes in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Archangel Gabriel in Legion, and Little John in Robin Hood....
) and electropathic Chris Bradley (Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
). They join the team, but the group's questionable actions and disregard for human life cause James to leave.
Six years later, James, now going by the name Logan, lives in Canada with his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox
Silver Fox
Silver Fox is a fictional character, a human in the Marvel Comics universe.- Fictional character biography :Silver Fox is a lover of Wolverine who first appeared in Wolverine vol.2 #10, where she is killed by Sabretooth...
(Lynn Collins
Lynn Collins
Viola Lynn Collins , better known as Lynn Collins, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Kayla Silverfox in the live-action film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.-Life and career:...
). Colonel Stryker locates Logan and warns him that someone is killing members of the team; both Wilson and Bradley are dead. Shortly afterward, Victor murders Kayla and attacks Logan. Stryker offers Logan a way to beat Victor; Logan undergoes an operation to reinforce his skeleton with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal. Before the procedure, Logan asks for new dog tags
Dog tag (identifier)
A dog tag is the informal name for the identification tags worn by military personnel, named such as it bears resemblance to actual dog tags. The tag is primarily used for the identification of dead and wounded and essential basic medical information for the treatment of the latter, such as blood...
inscribed with "Wolverine", based on a story that Kayla told him. Once the procedure is complete, Stryker orders Logan's memory erased, but Logan overhears and fights his way out. As Logan runs, Zero tracks him down but is killed.
Logan locates Wraith and Dukes and asks them about the location of Stryker's new laboratory, referred to as "The Island". They tell him to find Remy "Gambit" LeBeau
Gambit (comics)
Gambit is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero that has been a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, the character first appeared briefly in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 , weeks before a more comprehensive appearance in Uncanny X-Men #266...
(Taylor Kitsch
Taylor Kitsch
-Early life and modeling career:Kitsch was born in Kelowna, British Columbia. He has two older brothers and two younger half sisters. Originally set to become a professional hockey player, he played for the Langley Hornets in the Canadian BCHL before a bad knee injury ended his career...
), who escaped and knows the location of The Island. Logan and Wraith locate Gambit in New Orleans, but when Logan asks for the Island's location, Gambit suspects he was sent to recapture him and attacks. Outside, Logan finds Victor, who had just killed Wraith and the two fight. When Logan is about to kill Victor, Gambit interrupts, and Victor escapes. Logan and Gambit fight before Logan convinces him he is not working for Stryker. Gambit takes him to Stryker's facility on Three Mile Island
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station is a civilian nuclear power plant located on Three Mile Island in the Susquehanna River, south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It has two separate units, known as TMI-1 and TMI-2...
. When General Munson tries to shut Weapon XI down, learning of Stryker's son and believing that he is too emotionally close to the situation, Stryker kills him.
There, Logan learns that Kayla is alive and conspired with Stryker in exchange for her sister's safety. Enraged, Logan leaves. Victor then arrives, demanding the adamantium bonding promised for his service, but Stryker refuses on the basis that Victor would not survive the procedure. Victor attempts to kill Kayla, but Logan hears her screams and returns. Logan defeats and nearly kills Victor, but Kayla stops him. Meanwhile, Stryker activates Weapon XI, a "mutant killer" with the abilities of other mutants created upon Wilson's body, which Stryker refers to as "The Deadpool".
Kayla and Logan free the imprisoned mutants, and on their escape they are found by Weapon XI. Logan holds Weapon XI off while the mutants flee. During the escape, Kayla, mortally wounded, decides to stay behind while the party led by Scott Summers
Cyclops (comics)
Cyclops is a fictional character, the leader of the X-Men superhero team in the . A mutant, Cyclops emits a powerful energy beam from his eyes...
(Tim Pocock) is greeted by Professor Charles Xavier
Professor X
Professor Charles Francis Xavier, also known as Professor X, is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero known as the leader and founder of the X-Men....
(Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
), who offers them shelter at his school
X-Mansion
In the fictional Marvel Comics universe, the X-Mansion is the common name for Professor Xavier's mansion. It is the base of operations and training site of the X-Men and the location of a school for mutant teenagers, the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, formerly Xavier's School for Gifted...
.
Logan lures Weapon XI to the top of one of the plant's cooling towers. Logan is almost killed until Victor intervenes. Logan decapitates Weapon XI and kicks him into the base of the cooling tower. As he falls, the head fires optic blasts that cause the tower to start falling apart. Victor departs and Logan is saved from the collapsing tower by Gambit. After Logan finds Kayla, Stryker shoots him in the forehead with adamantium bullets, rendering him unconscious. Kayla uses her persuasion powers to make Stryker drop the gun and commands him to walk away before dying from her wounds. Gambit returns as Logan regains consciousness, but the brain damage caused by the bullets has triggered amnesia. Gambit tries convincing Logan to come with him, but he declines, wanting to go his own way.
Cast
- Hugh JackmanHugh JackmanHugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
as James Howlett / Logan / WolverineWolverine (comics)Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
: The mutant and future X-MenX-MenThe X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
member. Jackman, who played Wolverine in the previous films, has also become producer of the film via his company Seed ProductionsSeed ProductionsSeed Productions is a film production company associated with 20th Century Fox, started by Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness, with producer and business partner John Palermo....
, and earned $25 million for the film. Jackman underwent a high intensity weight training regimen to improve his physique for the role. He altered the program to shock his body into change and also performed cardiovascular workouts. Jackman noted no digital touches were applied to his physique in a shot of him rising from the tank within which Wolverine has his bones infused with adamantium.- Troye SivanTroye SivanTroye Sivan, born Troye Sivan Mellet , is an Australian child actor and singer. He played Young James Howlett in the X-Men film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and most recently starred in the film Spud-Personal life:...
as Young James: Casting directors cast Sivan as the young Wolverine after seeing him sing at the Channel Seven Perth TelethonChannel Seven Perth TelethonThe Channel Seven Perth Telethon, known simply as Telethon, is an annual telethon produced by TVW, a Seven Network owned television station in Perth, Western Australia for two main beneficiaries; Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, plus...
, and he was accepted after sending in an audition tape. Kodi Smit-McPheeKodi Smit-McPheeKodi Smit-McPhee is an award-winning Australian actor, most known for his roles as The Boy in the The Road and Owen in Let Me In. He has also appeared in Australian films, Romulus, My Father and Matching Jack....
was originally cast in the role, when filming was originally beginning in December 2007, but he opted out to film The Road.
- Troye Sivan
- Liev SchreiberLiev SchreiberIsaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
as Victor CreedSabretooth (comics)Sabretooth is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne. The character first appeared in Iron Fist #14...
: Logan's half-brother and fellow soldier. Jackman and Hood compared Wolverine and Sabretooth's relationship to the Borg–McEnroe rivalry in the world of tennis: Victor hates him because he loved and needed his brother, but is too proud to admit he needs him back. Tyler Mane, who played him in X-MenX-Men (film)X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and Tyler Mane...
, had hoped to reprise the role. Jackman worked with Schreiber before, in the 2001 romantic comedy Kate & LeopoldKate & LeopoldKate & Leopold is a 2001 romantic-comedy fantasy that tells a story of a duke who travels through time from New York in 1876 to the present and falls in love with a career woman in the modern New York...
and described him as having a competitive streak necessary to portray Sabretooth. They "egged" each other on set to perform more and more stunts. Schreiber put on 40 lb (18.1 kg) of muscle for the part, and described Sabretooth as the most monstrous role he ever played. As a child, he loved the Wolverine comics because of their unique "urban sensibility". Schreiber had studied to be a fight choreographer and wanted to be a dancer like Jackman, so he enjoyed working out their fight scenes.- Michael James OlsenMichael James Olsen-Career:Michael-James Olsen began his career by playing young Victor Creed in the X-Men film X-Men Origins: Wolverine which was released worldwide on May 1, 2009.-Skills:...
as Young VictorDog LoganDog Logan is a fictional character from Marvel Comics that appeared in the limited series Origin...
- Michael James Olsen
- Danny HustonDanny Huston-Early life:Huston was born in Rome, Italy. He hails from the illustrious Huston acting and filmmaking dynasty. He is the son of legendary director John Huston, half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston and screenwriter Tony Huston, uncle of actor Jack Huston, stepbrother of Allegra Huston, and...
as William StrykerWilliam StrykerCol. William "Bill" Stryker, M.D. is a fictional comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and enemy of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Brent Anderson, he first appeared in the 1982 graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.Rev...
: Schreiber was originally in negotiations for the part, while Brian Cox, who played the character in X2X2 (film)X2 is a 2003 superhero film based on the fictional characters the X-Men. Directed by Bryan Singer, it is the second film in the X-Men film series...
, wanted to reprise the role. He believed computer-generated imageryComputer-generated imageryComputer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
, similar to the program applied to Patrick StewartPatrick StewartSir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
and Ian McKellenIan McKellenSir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
in the opening flashback of X-Men: The Last StandX-Men: The Last StandX-Men: The Last Stand is a 2006 superhero film and the third in the X-Men series. It was directed by Brett Ratner and stars an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones,...
, would allow him to appear as the younger Stryker. Huston liked the complex Stryker, who "both loves and hates mutants because his son was a mutant and drove his wife to suicide. So he understands what they're going through, but despises their destructive force." He compared the character to a racehorse breederHorse breedingHorse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
, who rears his mutant experiments like children but abandons them when something goes wrong. His son is shown to be frozen at the Weapon X facility and the reason Stryker starts the Weapon XI program. - Will.i.amWill.i.amWilliam James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
as John Wraith: A teleportTeleportationTeleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
ing mutant. It is will.i.am's major live-action film debut. Although he initially did not get on with the casting director, he got the role because he wanted to play a mutant with the same power as NightcrawlerNightcrawler (comics)Nightcrawler is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1...
. He enrolled in boot campRecruit trainingRecruit training, more commonly known as Basic Training and colloquially called Boot Camp, is the initial indoctrination and instruction given to new military personnel, enlisted and officer...
to get into shape for the part. When filming a fight, he scarred his knuckles after accidentally punching and breaking the camera. - Lynn CollinsLynn CollinsViola Lynn Collins , better known as Lynn Collins, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Kayla Silverfox in the live-action film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.-Life and career:...
as Kayla SilverfoxSilver FoxSilver Fox is a fictional character, a human in the Marvel Comics universe.- Fictional character biography :Silver Fox is a lover of Wolverine who first appeared in Wolverine vol.2 #10, where she is killed by Sabretooth...
: Wolverine's love interest and later captive of Stryker. She has the powers of tactile telepathy/hypnosis. However, Victor is immune to her powers due to his resistance to telepathy. Describing her role, Collins said that "I had to play off all the guys and their testosterone-heavy abilities. But I learned that the female powers of persuasion easily trump fangs and knives and guns." In addition to Lynn Collins' acting talent, the film's casting department selected Collins to portray native person, Layla Silverfox (a member of the Blackfoot/Niitsítapi nation in the Marvel Comics universe), because they discovered that she is "a Texas native". Michelle MonaghanMichelle MonaghanMichelle Lynn Monaghan is an American actress known for her roles in Mission: Impossible III, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Gone Baby Gone, Made of Honor, The Heartbreak Kid, Eagle Eye, and Source Code.-Early life:...
turned down the role because of scheduling conflicts, despite her enthusiasm to work with Jackman. - Kevin DurandKevin DurandKevin Serge Durand is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Joshua in Dark Angel, Martin Keamy in Lost, Fred J. Dukes in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Archangel Gabriel in Legion, and Little John in Robin Hood....
as Fred J. Dukes / The BlobBlob (comics)The Blob is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an adversary of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #3 ....
: A mutant with a nearly indestructible layer of skin and the ability to create his own gravitational field. In the film's early sequences, he is a formidable fighting man, but years later, due to a poor diet, has gained an enormous amount of weight that gives him an invulnerability. A fan of the X-Men movies, Durand contacted the producers for a role as soon as news of a new film came out. The suit went through six months of modifications, and had a tubing system inside to cool Durand down with ice water. - Dominic MonaghanDominic MonaghanDominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
as Chris Bradley: A mutant who can manipulate electricity and a technopath. It was originally reported that Monaghan was going to play Barnell Bohusk / Beak. - Taylor KitschTaylor Kitsch-Early life and modeling career:Kitsch was born in Kelowna, British Columbia. He has two older brothers and two younger half sisters. Originally set to become a professional hockey player, he played for the Langley Hornets in the Canadian BCHL before a bad knee injury ended his career...
as Remy LeBeau / GambitGambit (comics)Gambit is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero that has been a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, the character first appeared briefly in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 , weeks before a more comprehensive appearance in Uncanny X-Men #266...
: A CajunCajunCajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
thief who has the ability to charge any object he touches with kinetic energyKinetic energyThe kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...
, forcing it to explode. The size of the object determines the magnitude of the resulting explosion. He is also skilled in the use of a staff, and happens to be very agile. Due to the nature of his power, he displays supernatural durability, being able to take Wolverine's elbow to his face and return to fight moments later. When asked about his thoughts on the character, Kitsch had said, "I knew of him, but I didn't know the following he had. I'm sure I'm still going to be exposed to that. I love the character, I love the powers, and I love what they did with him. I didn't know that much, but in my experience, it was a blessing to go in and create my take on him. I'm excited for it, to say the least." - Daniel Henney as Agent Zero: A member of the Weapon X program and an expert tracker with lethal sniper skills. An X-Men fan, Henney liked the role of a villain because "there are no restrictions playing it, allowing you freely to express it, so you can act how you want to". He described the film as more realistic and cruder than the X-Men trilogy.
- Ryan ReynoldsRyan ReynoldsRyan Rodney Reynolds is a Canadian film and television actor, best known for his roles in such films as National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Waiting..., The Amityville Horror, Just Friends, Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal, Buried, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Green Lantern.One of his best known...
as Wade Wilson: A wisecracking mercenary with lethal swordsmanship skill and athleticism, who later becomes Deadpool. Reynolds had been interested in playing the character in his own film since 2003. Originally, Reynolds was only going to cameo as Wilson but the role grew after he was cast. Reynolds did sword-training for the character, and also worked out to get his physique comparable to Jackman's.- Scott AdkinsScott AdkinsScott Adkins is an English actor and martial artist who is perhaps best known for playing Yuri Boyka in Undisputed II: Last Man Standing and Undisputed III: Redemption and Bradley Hume in Holby City and Ed Russell in Mile High...
as Weapon XI / Deadpool: Weapon XI is the final antagonist of the film, having been genetically altered to be the ultimate mutant killer. He has powers taken from other mutants killed or kidnapped in the film, as well as retractable blades in his arms. Ryan Reynolds portrays Weapon XI for close-ups, standing shots, and simple stunts while Scott Adkins is used for the more complicated and dangerous stunt work.
- Scott Adkins
- Tim PocockTim PocockTim Pocock is an Australian actor who may be known best for his role as Scott Summers in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as well as Ethan Karamakov in the ABC television series Dance Academy....
as Scott SummersCyclops (comics)Cyclops is a fictional character, the leader of the X-Men superhero team in the . A mutant, Cyclops emits a powerful energy beam from his eyes...
: A mutant capable of emitting powerful beams of energy from his eyes, who will later become Cyclops, leader of the X-Men. He is shown as a Weapon X captive as he is caught by Victor Creed. Pocock is a debuting screen actor who previously worked with Opera AustraliaOpera AustraliaOpera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
, who decided to play the character as "his own" instead of following James MarsdenJames MarsdenJames Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.-Early life...
's performance in the X-Men trilogy, feeling that "he's a very different human being at that point in time. He's a teenager. What teenager is the same when they're 30 years old?" Pocock also described Wolverine as being Cyclops' "big transition moment", with the character going from a troubled teenager to a leader throughout the course of the film. - Max CullenMax CullenMax Cullen is an Australian stage and screen actor. Max has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film Spider and Rose and the television series The Flying Doctors and Love My Way.Cullen was born in Wellington, New South Wales...
and Julia BlakeJulia BlakeJulia Blake is a British-born actress based in Australia.Blake was born in London, England. She is married to Terry Norris. She is the mother of actresses Sarah and Jane Norris....
as Travis Hudson and Heather Hudson: An elderly couple who take care of Wolverine after his adamantium bonding. The Hudsons are heavily adapted from the comics' James MacDonaldGuardian (Marvel Comics)Guardian , also known as Weapon Alpha and Vindicator, is a fictional character, a Canadian superhero in the who was the leader of Alpha Flight. He was created by John Byrne, and first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #109 which was co-plotted by Byrne and his long-time collaborator Chris Claremont...
and Heather Hudson. - Peter O'Brien as John Howlett: James' alleged father, shot by Thomas Logan in the film's opening.
- Aaron JefferyAaron JefferyAaron C. Jeffery is a Logie Award winning New Zealand – Australian actor.-Early life:Born in Howick, Auckland, Jeffery moved to Australia at the age of 17 and studied acting at NIDA.-Career:...
as Thomas LoganThomas LoganThomas Logan is a fictional character of Marvel Comics. He was created by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, and Paul Jenkins. He was featured in the limited series Origin, which detailed the formative years of Wolverine of the X-Men and was published from November, 2001 to July, 2002.-Character...
: Victor and James' real father, who ends up getting killed by James. - Alice Parkinson as Elizabeth Howlett: James' mother.
- Tahyna TozziTahyna TozziTahyna Valentina Tozzi is an Australian model, singer and actress, perhaps best known for her role as Perri on Australian television series Blue Water High on free to air channel ABC.- Early life :...
as Kayla's Sister / Emma: A mutant with the power to turn her skin into diamond, who in the film is Silverfox's sister. X2 writer Dan Harris said that Sigourney WeaverSigourney WeaverSigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
would have played Emma FrostEmma FrostEmma Grace Frost is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 , and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne....
in X-Men: The Last Stand if Bryan SingerBryan SingerBryan Singer is an American film director and film producer. Singer won critical acclaim for his work on The Usual Suspects, and is especially well-known among fans of the science fiction and superhero genres for his work on the X-Men films and Superman Returns.-Early life:Singer was born in New...
had stayed on to direct. The film depiction of Emma does not exhibit the character's traditional telepathic abilities.
The film includes numerous cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s of younger versions of characters from the previous films, including Jason Stryker
Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde)
Mastermind is a Marvel Comics supervillain, an adversary of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #4 . He was given his "real name", Jason Wyngarde, by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.The original Mastermind was a mutant with the power to...
(William Stryker's lobotomized telepathic son whom he keeps in cryogenic suspension). There was a cameo for a young Storm, which can be seen in the trailer, but it was removed from the released film. A digitally rejuvenated Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
also makes an uncredited cameo as a younger Charles Xavier
Professor X
Professor Charles Francis Xavier, also known as Professor X, is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero known as the leader and founder of the X-Men....
who had not yet lost the use of his legs.
Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie is an Australian actress who is perhaps best known for her role in the Australian television series Offspring. She is also known for her theatre work and leading roles in the television series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and Love My...
played Dr. Carol Frost. Poker player Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles. He is currently ranked second in the all-time career earnings list and is the star of poker game show Million Dollar Challenge. He plays a big...
has a cameo. Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...
wanted to join him but was unable because he committed to an event in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. X-Men co-creator Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
said he would cameo, but ended up not appearing in the film.
Development
David BenioffDavid Benioff
-Early life:Born David Friedman in New York City, he changed his name to David Benioff, his mother's maiden name. He is the youngest of three children....
, a comic book fan, pursued the project for almost three years before he was hired to write the script in October 2004. In preparing to write the script, he reread Barry Windsor-Smith
Barry Windsor-Smith
Barry Windsor-Smith, born Barry Smith is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best known work has been produced in the United States....
's "Weapon X
Weapon X
Weapon X is a fictional clandestine government genetic research facility project in the Marvel Universe conducted by the Canadian Government's Department K, which turns willing and unwilling beings into living weapons. The project often captures mutants and experiments on them to enhance their...
" story, as well as Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
and Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's 1982 limited series on the character
Wolverine (comic book)
Wolverine is a number of Marvel Comics comic book series starring the X-Men member Wolverine.-Publication history:The first Wolverine was a limited series written by Chris Claremont with pencils by Frank Miller, inks by Joe Rubinstein, letters by Tom Orzechowski, and colored by Glynis Wein...
(his favorite storyline). Also serving as inspiration was the 2001 limited series Origin
Origin (comics)
Origin is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics from November 2001 to March 2002, written by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada and Paul Jenkins, and illustrated by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove ....
, which reveals Wolverine's life before Weapon X. Jackman collaborated on the script, which he wanted to be more of a character piece compared with the previous X-Men films. Skip Woods
Skip Woods
Skip Woods, is an American screenwriter, producer and film director. He is best known for writing the screenplay for Swordfish and the film adaptation of the Hitman video game series...
, who had written Hitman
Hitman (2007 film)
Hitman is a 2007 film directed by Xavier Gens and based on the video game series of the same name. A gun-for-hire "Hitman" is a genetically-engineered assassin known as Agent 47. He is hired by a group, 'The Organization' and becomes ensnared in a political conspiracy. He finds himself pursued by...
for Fox, was later hired to revise and rewrite Benioff's script. Benioff aimed for a "darker and a bit more brutal" story, writing it with an R rating in mind, although he acknowledged the film's final tone would rest with the producers and director. Jackman did not see the need for an R-rating. The film's final rating was PG-13.
Deadpool had been developed for his own film by Reynolds and David S. Goyer
David S. Goyer
David Samuel Goyer is an American screenwriter, film director and comic book writer.-Early life:Goyer was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended Hebrew school and has described himself as "half Jewish"...
at New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
in 2003, but the project fell apart as they focused on Blade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity is a 2004 American superhero vampire action film, written and directed by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the screenplays to the first two Blade films...
and an aborted spin-off. Benioff wrote the character into the script in a manner Jackman described as fun, but would also deviate from some of his traits. Similarly, Gambit
Gambit (comics)
Gambit is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero that has been a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, the character first appeared briefly in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 , weeks before a more comprehensive appearance in Uncanny X-Men #266...
was a character who the filmmakers had tried to put in the previous X-Men films. Jackman liked Gambit because he is a "loose cannon" like Wolverine, stating their relationship echoes that of Wolverine and Pyro
Pyro (comics)
Pyro is a fictional character in Marvel Comics and an enemy of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, he first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #141 ....
in the original trilogy. David Ayer
David Ayer
David Ayer is an American screenwriter, film producer and film director.-Early life:David Ayer was born in Champaign, Illinois in 1968. He grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota and Bethesda, Maryland, where he was kicked out of his house by his parents as a teenager...
contributed to the script. Benioff finished his draft in October 2006, and Jackman stated there would be a year before shooting, as he was scheduled to start filming Australia
Australia (2008 film)
Australia is a 2008 epic historical romance film directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, behind Crocodile Dundee. The screenplay was written by Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Ronald Harwood...
during 2007. Before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
began, James Vanderbilt
James Vanderbilt
James Platten Vanderbilt is an American screenwriter.A member of the Vanderbilt family of New York, he is the son of Alison Campbell and Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt III...
and Scott Silver
Scott Silver
-Filmography:*Johns ... writer and director*The Mod Squad ... writer and director*8 Mile ... writer*X-Men Origins: Wolverine ... writer*The Fighter ... writer-External links:...
were hired for a last-minute rewrite.
Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood is a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for writing and directing the Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film Tsotsi...
was announced as director of the project in July 2007 for a 2008 release. Previously, X-Men
X-Men (film)
X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and Tyler Mane...
and X2
X2 (film)
X2 is a 2003 superhero film based on the fictional characters the X-Men. Directed by Bryan Singer, it is the second film in the X-Men film series...
director Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer is an American film director and film producer. Singer won critical acclaim for his work on The Usual Suspects, and is especially well-known among fans of the science fiction and superhero genres for his work on the X-Men films and Superman Returns.-Early life:Singer was born in New...
and X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: The Last Stand is a 2006 superhero film and the third in the X-Men series. It was directed by Brett Ratner and stars an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones,...
director Brett Ratner
Brett Ratner
Brett Ratner is an American film director, film producer and music video director. He is best known for directing the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man, Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Tower Heist. He was also a producer on the Fox drama series, Prison Break.- Early life :Ratner was...
were interested in returning to the franchise, while Alexandre Aja
Alexandre Aja
Alexandre Aja is a French film director who rose to international stardom for his 2003 horror film Haute Tension .-Personal life:...
and Len Wiseman
Len Wiseman
Len Ryan Wiseman is an American film director best known for his work on the Underworld series and Live Free or Die Hard. His latest project, Total Recall, is set for release in summer 2012...
also wanted the job. Zack Snyder
Zack Snyder
Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and producer. After making his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead, he gained wide recognition with the 2007 box office hit 300, adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller's Dark Horse Comics...
, who was approached for The Last Stand, turned down this film because he was directing Watchmen
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
. Jackman saw parallels between Logan and the main character in Hood's previous film Tsotsi
Tsotsi
Tsotsi is a 2005 film written and directed by Gavin Hood. The film is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard. The soundtrack features Kwaito music performed by popular South African artist Zola as well as a score by Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker featuring the voice of South African...
. Hood explained that while he was not a comic book fan, he "realized that the character of Wolverine, I think his great appeal lies in the fact that he's someone who in some ways, is filled with a great deal of self-loathing by his own nature and he's constantly at war with his own nature". The director described the film's themes as focusing on Wolverine's inner struggle between his animalistic savagery and noble human qualities. Hood enjoyed the previous films, but set out to give the spin-off a different feel. In October, Fox announced a May 1, 2009, release date and the X-Men Origins prefix.
Filming
Preliminary shooting took place at the Fox Studios AustraliaFox Studios Australia
Fox Studios Australia is a major movie studio located in Sydney, Australia, occupying the site of the former Sydney Showground at Moore Park...
in Sydney, during late 2007. Principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began on January 18, 2008 in New Zealand. One of the filming locations that was selected was Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
. Controversy arose as the Queenstown
Queenstown, New Zealand
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....
Lakes District Council disputed the Department of Labour's decision to allow Fox to store explosives in the local ice skating rink. Fox moved some of the explosives to another area. The explosives were used for a shot of the exploding Hudson Farm, a scene which required four cameras. Jackman and Palermo's Woz Productions reached an agreement with the council to allow recycling specialists on set to advise the production on being environmentally friendly.
Filming continued at Fox (where most of the shooting was done) and New Orleans, Louisiana. Cockatoo Island was used for Stryker's facility; the enormous buildings there saved money on digitally expanding a set. Production of the film was predicted to generate A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
60 million for Sydney's economy. Principal photography ended by May 23. The second unit
Second unit
In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...
continued filming in New Zealand until March 23, and were scheduled to continue filming for two weeks following the first unit's wrap. This included a flashback to Logan during the Normandy Landings, which was shot at Blacksmiths, New South Wales
Blacksmiths, New South Wales
Blacksmiths is a coastal suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Pacific Ocean south of Newcastle's central business district, between the suburbs of Belmont and Swansea-Facilities:...
.
Hood and Fox were in dispute on the film's direction. One of the disputes involved the depiction of Wolverine as an Army veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
, with the executives arguing that audiences would not be interested in such heavy themes. The studio had two replacements lined up before Richard Donner
Richard Donner
Richard Donner is an American film director, film producer, and comic book writer.The production company The Donners' Company is owned by Donner and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner. After directing the horror film The Omen, Donner became famous for the hailed creation of the first modern...
, husband of producer Lauren Shuler Donner
Lauren Shuler Donner
Lauren Shuler Donner is an American film producer who specializes in mainstream youth and family-oriented entertainment.-Early life and career:...
, flew to Australia to ease on-set tensions. Hood remarked, "Out of healthy and sometimes very rigorous debate, things get better. [...] I hope the film's better because of the debates. If nobody were talking about us, we'd be in trouble!" Hood added he and Thomas Rothman
Thomas Rothman
Thomas "Tom" Edgar Rothman is an American film executive. He is co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment with Jim Gianopulos...
were both "forceful" personalities in creative meetings but they had never had a "stand-up" argument. In January 2009, after delays due to weather and scheduling conflicts, such as Hugh Jackman's publicity commitments for Australia
Australia (2008 film)
Australia is a 2008 epic historical romance film directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, behind Crocodile Dundee. The screenplay was written by Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Ronald Harwood...
, production moved to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, mostly at Lord Byng Secondary School
Lord Byng Secondary School
Lord Byng Secondary School is a grade 8-12 school located in the West Point Grey neighbourhood on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
and in University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
. Work there included finishing scenes with Ryan Reynolds, who had been working on two other films during principal photography.
Gavin Hood has announced that multiple "secret endings" exist for the film and that the endings will differ from print to print of the film. One version shows Wolverine drinking in a Japanese bar. The bartender asked if he is drinking to forget, Logan replies that he is drinking to remember. The other shows Weapon XI on the rubble of the destroyed tower, trying to touch his severed head.
Effects
More than 1,000 shots of Wolverine have visual effectsVisual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
in them, which required three effects supervisors and seventeen different companies to work on the film. The most prominent was Hydraulx
Hydraulx
hy*drau"lx, alternatively spelled HYDRAULX and Hydraulx, is a visual effects company based in Santa Monica, California.It was founded in 2002 by Greg and Colin Strause, directors of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. In 2005, the studio completed over 700 visual effects shots for feature films...
, who had also worked in the X-Men trilogy and was responsible for the battle in Three Mile Island and Gambit's powers. Many elements were totally generated through computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
, such as the adamantium injection machine, the scene with Gambit's plane and Wolverine tearing through a door with his newly-enhanced claws. CG bone claws were also created for some scenes because the props did not look good in close-ups. Extensive usage of matte painting
Matte painting
A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that would otherwise be too expensive or impossible to build or visit. Historically, matte painters and film technicians have used various techniques...
s was also made, with Matte World Digital
Matte World Digital
Matte World Digital is a visual effects company based in Novato, California that specializes in realistic matte painting effects and digital environments for feature films, television, electronic games and IMAX large-format productions.-History:...
creating five different mattes for the final scene of the film—a pullback depicting the destroyed Three Mile Island—and Gavin Hood handing company Hatch Productions pictures of favela
Favela
A favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...
s as reference for the Africa scenes.
Music
Composed by Harry Gregson-WilliamsHarry Gregson-Williams
Harry Gregson-Williams is a prolific British composer, orchestrator, conductor, and music producer. He is best known for his film scores, of which he has composed over sixty using electronic music and orchestral pieces...
, the score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
for X-Men Origins: Wolverine was mixed by Malcolm Luker, engineered by Costa Kotselas, and featured Martin Tillman
Martin Tillman
Martin Tillman is a Swiss composer and world renowned cellistHe has established himself in the motion picture and recording world as one of the most sought after talents of experimental acoustic and electric cello.-Biography:...
on the electric cello
Electric cello
The electric cello is a type of cello that relies on electronic amplification to produce sound. An acoustic cello can be fitted with a bridge or body mounted contact pickup providing an electric signal, or a built-in pickup can be installed...
.
In a 2008 interview with Christopher Coleman of Tracksounds.com, Gregson-Williams said that Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood is a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for writing and directing the Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film Tsotsi...
attracted him to the project, adding: "I happened to meet him at the Golden Globes dinner about three years ago. That night we were both nominees, but both losers. He had been nominated for Tsotsi
Tsotsi
Tsotsi is a 2005 film written and directed by Gavin Hood. The film is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard. The soundtrack features Kwaito music performed by popular South African artist Zola as well as a score by Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker featuring the voice of South African...
and during the dinner I had spoken to him and he seemed like a really smart and creative guy...and into music. So I was really delighted when I got a call to meet him and discuss the possibilities for Wolverine."
In late March 2009, Jon Burlingame of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
was at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century-Fox to listen and report on the recording of the score. Gregson-Williams conducted "a 78-piece orchestra and a 40-voice choir (20 male, 20 female)" to achieve the sound. At the time of his visit, Burlingame noted that the choir was singing "stanzas from an ancient Norse poem in Old Icelandic" to underscore what would be first track, "Logan Through Time." Director Gavin Hood commented on Gregson-Williams' style, saying: "Harry's challenge is to give us operatic scale, but also keep it intimate and human. Harry's music has a kind of muscular confidence and strength that is very useful for the action, but he also has tremendous soul." Hood also called the recording performance "frigging brilliant!"
Leaked workprint
On March 31, 2009, a full-length DVD-quality workprintWorkprint
A workprint is a rough version of a motion picture, used by the film editor during the editing process. Such copies generally contain original recorded sound that will later be re-dubbed, stock footage as placeholders for missing shots or special effects, and animation tests for in-production...
of the film without a timecode or watermark, with some unfinished effects shots, a different typeface for titles and casting, and alternate sound effects was leaked online. The studio said it would be able to determine the source of the leak using forensic marks in the workprint. The FBI and MPAA began investigating the illegal posting. Fox estimated the workprint was downloaded roughly 4.5 million times by the time Wolverine was released in theaters.
The print contained a reference to Rising Sun Pictures
Rising Sun Pictures
Rising Sun Pictures is an Australian-based visual effects company. It was founded in 1995 in Adelaide, South Australia, and is named after the Rising Sun Inn in Kensington.-Credits:...
, an Australian visual effects company working on the film. The company denied that they ever had a full copy of the film. Executive producer Thomas Rothman
Thomas Rothman
Thomas "Tom" Edgar Rothman is an American film executive. He is co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment with Jim Gianopulos...
noted the leaked version lacked the ten minutes added during pick-ups in January 2009. However, the theatrical version of the film has no extra scenes that were not included in the leaked workprint. Both versions run exactly 107 minutes, but director Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood
Gavin Hood is a South African filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor, best known for writing and directing the Academy Award-winning Foreign Language Film Tsotsi...
said "another ending exists that features the film's villain."
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is an American entertainment news journalist. Friedman created and wrote the FOX411 news column on Foxnews.com for 10 years. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz 411, an entertainment news column.-Career:...
, a gossip reporter for Fox News
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
—a channel also owned by Fox's parent company News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
—was fired for writing a review of the film using the leaked copy he downloaded from the Internet. He described how easy it was to find and download the film even if the original source of the leak was no longer available on the web. The article he wrote for his column on the Fox News website was immediately removed.
Marketing
Among the companies which provided tie-in merchandising were 7-Eleven7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
, Papa John's Pizza
Papa John's Pizza
Papa John's Pizza is the third largest take-out and delivery pizza restaurant chain in the United States, behind Pizza Hut and Domino's Pizza. It is based in Louisville, Kentucky. Papa John's slogan is "Better Ingredients. Better pizza. Papa John's"...
, and Schick
Schick (razors)
Schick is a brand of safety razors by Wilkinson Sword, a subsidiary of Energizer Holdings. It was founded in 1926 by Jacob Schick as the Magazine Repeating Razor Company. In 1934, Schick introduced its highly successful single blade safety razor system, that stored ten blades in a steel injector...
. Hugh Jackman also posed as Wolverine for the Got Milk?
Got Milk?
Got Milk? is an American advertising campaign encouraging the consumption of cow's milk, which was created by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993 and later licensed for use by milk processors and dairy farmers. It has been running...
campaign. In February 2009, Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
released a film-related toyline
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (toyline)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a toyline manufactured by Hasbro, made of mainly of 3¾" scale action figures. Although these figures are part of the merchandise for the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and appear to be separate from the Marvel Universe line, they are compatible with the Marvel Universe...
, featuring action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s and a glove with retractable claws. In April, Marvel debuted a new comic series, Wolverine: Weapon X, which writer Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as The Other Side, Scalped, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and PunisherMAX.-Early life:Jason was born in Jasper, Alabama...
said that while not directly influenced by the film, was written considering people who would get interested in Wolverine comics after watching the film.
Raven Software
Raven Software
Raven Software is an American video game developer. The company was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel. In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them...
developed a video game
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (video game)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 action-adventure game loosely based on the film of the same name. The game release coincided with the release of the film on May 1, 2009 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable. The game was developed...
based on the film with the same name, which Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., formerly Activision, Inc. is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, announced on December 2, 2007, in a...
published. Marc Guggenheim
Marc Guggenheim
Marc Guggenheim is an American television writer-producer and a writer for Marvel Comics and DC Comics. His brother is screenwriter Eric Guggenheim.-Television:...
wrote the script, while Hugh Jackman, Schreiber, and will.i.am voiced their characters from the film. The storyline goes beyond the one from the film, including other villains from the comics such as the Sentinels
Sentinel (comics)
Sentinels are a fictional variety of mutant-hunting robots, appearing in the Marvel Comics Universe. They are usually portrayed as antagonists to the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they first appeared in The X-Men #14 .According to Marvel canon, Sentinels are programmed to locate...
and the Wendigo
Wendigo (comics)
Wendigo is a fictional monster in the Marvel Comics universe. He is based on the mythical creature of the same name...
, as well as the appearance of Mystique
Mystique (comics)
Mystique is a fictional character associated with the Marvel Comics' franchise X-Men. Originally created by artist David Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont, she first appeared in Ms...
, who was in the other three X-Men films.
In December 2009, Hot Toys released the 12 inch highly detailed figure of Wolverine based on the movie with Hugh Jackman's likeness.
Theatrical run
Harkins Theatres
Harkins Theatres is a movie theater chain with locations throughout the Southwestern United States. Harkins Theatres is privately owned and operated by its parent company, Harkins Enterprises, LLC...
at the Tempe Marketplace
Tempe Marketplace
Tempe Marketplace is an open air shopping center located in Tempe, Arizona. It is located along the Salt River near the interchange of the Loop 101 Pima/Price Freeway and Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway near the Tempe borders with Mesa and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.- History :The...
in Tempe, Arizona
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
won the premiere. The release in Mexico was delayed until the end of May due to an outbreak of H1N1 flu in the country. On April 22, nine days before the release of the film, it was reported that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was outselling Iron Man
Iron Man (film)
Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron...
"3-to-1 at the same point in the sales cycle (nine days prior to the film’s release)."
During its first day of wide release, Wolverine took in an estimated $35 million, with almost $5 million of that from midnight showings. The earnings placed the film as the 16th highest-grossing opening day ever (22nd with ticket-price inflation). It went on to be number one film at the box office with a total of $85 million. Among summer kick-offs, it ranked fifth behind Spider-Man
Spider-Man (film)
Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp...
, X2, Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
, and Iron Man and it was in the top ten of comic book adaptations. The opening was lower than the last film in the franchise, X-Men: The Last Stand, as well as X2, but higher than X-Men, the first film in the series.
The worldwide opening was over $158.1 million, but Fox stated that some markets underperformed, mostly due to the leaked workprint in countries with illegal downloading problems. However, in an article for the "piracy issue" of Screen International
Screen International
Screen International is a multimedia film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by EMAP, a British b2b media company.The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business...
magazine, film critic John Hazelton was doubtful of this explanation, writing that the film's initial performance was "uncertain" as the outbreak of swine flu in territories with the worst piracy problems means that other territories did not compare at all.
While it has received mixed reviews from critics, the film has been a financial success at the box office. According to Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
Wolverine has grossed approximately $179,883,157 in the United States and Canada. It took in another $193,179,707 in other territories, giving it a worldwide total of $373,062,864.
Home media
On September 15, 2009, Fox Home Entertainment released X-Men Origins: Wolverine on DVD and Blu-ray disc. The two-disc Blu-ray includes commentary by Hood, another commentary by producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter, the featurette "The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with X-Men creators Stan Lee and Len Wein", the featurette "Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins", 10 character chronicles, two more featurettes, a trivia track, deleted scenes with commentary from Hood, two alternate sequences, a Fox Movie Channel premiere featurette and imdb BD Live technology. Disc two of the set includes a digital copy. In addition, a Wal-MartWal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
exclusive 3-disc set, which includes a standard DVD copy of the film was also released. The two-DVD special edition includes the two commentaries, the featurette with Stan Lee and Len Wein, an origins featurette, deleted and alternate scenes, and an anti-smoking PSA on disc one; disc two has a digital copy of the film. The single-disc DVD release has the origins featurette and anti-smoking PSA.
Wolverine was the highest selling and most rented DVD release of the week, selling over three million copies, 850,000 of them on Blu-ray. Through its first six weeks the DVD has sold 3.79 million copies, generating $64.27 million in sales.
Reception
X-Men Origins: Wolverine received generally unfavorable reviews. Review aggregate website, Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, rates the film with a 37% approval rating based on 246 reviews. The site's consensus is "Though Hugh Jackman gives his all, he can't help X-Men Origins: Wolverine overcome a cliche-ridden script and familiar narrative." Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reports a "metascore of 43 out of 100 from 36 critic reviews." Comparatively, Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies , provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Yahoo! Movies also includes red carpet photos, actor galleries, and production...
currently reports a grade of "C+" averaged from 13 critic reviews.
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
of TIME commented on the film's standing among other Marvel films, saying that it is "an O.K., not great, Marvel movie that tells the early story of the prime X-Man, and attempts to make it climax in a perfect coupling with the start of the known trilogy." He also said that "superhero mythologies can be so complicated, only a lonely comic-book-reading kid could make sense of it all." James Mullinger of GQ also commented on the structure of the story in saying that the "film clumsily tries to explain the origins of James [Howlett], AKA Wolverine, which had wisely only ever been briefly referred to in the original X-Men saga. In doing so, it creates a fairly bland plot which is full of holes." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
was generally more favorable towards Origins, stating "Fortunately, Jackman is well-matched with Schreiber, who can sneer with the best of them and wears fangs well. The two have three spectacular battles together before squaring off against a formidable enemy atop a nuclear reactor." Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
also praised Jackman's performance, saying that "Hugh Jackman demonstrates that you can segue effortlessly from a tuxedoed song-and-dance man at the Oscars to a feral gent with adamantium claws and berserker rage." Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
considered the movie "well-acted, with spectacular action and witty one-liners".
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film two stars out of four and expressed his views on the title character: "Why should I care about this guy? He feels no pain and nothing can kill him, so therefore he's essentially a story device for action sequences." James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
gave Wolverine two and a half stars out of four, calling the action scenes competently executed but not memorable, and considering that when dealing with Wolverine's past "there's little creativity evident in the way those blanks are filled in", and that the revelations made Wolverine "less compelling". Comparatively, Bill Gibron of AMC's Filmcritic.com website gave the film a positive "4.0 out of 5 stars," saying that although Hugh Jackman is "capable of carrying even the most mediocre effort, he singlehandedly makes X-Men Origins: Wolverine an excellent start to the summer 2009 season." He did however predict that "there will be purists who balk at how Hood and his screenwriters mangle and manipulate the mythology;" and further said that "any ending which leaves several characters unexplained and unaccounted for can't really seal the full entertainment deal."
Regarding Wolverine within the context of the X-Men film series, Tom Charity of CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
commented: "Serviceable but inescapably redundant, this Wolverine movie does just enough to keep the X-Men franchise on life support, but the filmmakers will have to come up with some evolutionary changes soon if it's going to escape X-tinction." Similarly, A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
expressed that "X-Men Origins: Wolverine will most likely manage to cash in on the popularity of the earlier episodes, but it is the latest evidence that the superhero movie is suffering from serious imaginative fatigue." On a more negative note, Philip French of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
said that the film's "dull, bone-crushing, special-effects stuff" is "of interest only to hardcore fans who've probably read it all in Marvel comics."
Sukhdev Sandhu of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
stated that "Wolverine is an artificial stimulus package of the most unsatisfying kind. Aggressively advertised and hyped to the hills, it will no doubt attract full houses at first; after that though, when word-of-mouth buzz-kill goes into overdrive, there’s bound to be widespread deflation and a palpable feeling of being conned." Similarly, Orlando Parfitt of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
(UK) praised the performances of the actors and the action scenes, but stated that the film felt underdeveloped: "There's an enjoyable time to be had with Wolverine, but it's also somewhat unsatisfying." Furthermore, Scott Mendelson of The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
gave the film a grade of "D", noting that "Wolverine was the lead character of [the X-Men] films, and we've already learned everything we need to know from the films in said franchise," adding that "the extra information given here actually serves to make the character of Logan/Wolverine less interesting." Trevan McGee of Ink also commented on the supporting cast, saying "the movie bends over backward trying to inject as many cameos and secondary characters into the movie as possible. The mutants invented for the movie are uninspired and boring..."