X-Men Origins: Wolverine Movie Trailer. Victor relishes the fight much more than Logan. “Victor is incredibly brutal and has a bloodlust unlike any character I’ve ever played,” says Liev Schreiber. “This guy is a real killer.” Victor’s savagery in battle leads the two to face a firing squad – but of course mere bullets cannot stop them. Recognizing their unique abilities, a military officer, Col. William Stryker, asks them to join a special team he is putting together – a covert, black ops unit known in comics lore as Team X.
The character of Stryker was introduced to movie audiences in “X2,” in which he tries to bring about the destruction of all mutants across the world. That film hinted at a long history between Logan and Stryker, but only through quick flashes of Logan’s lost memories. Now, with X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, the full measure of Stryker’s impact on Logan, Victor and other mutants is fully detailed.
Since the new film is set years before the events of “X2,” a younger actor was needed to portray Stryker. (Brian Cox essayed the role in “X2.”) The filmmakers tapped Danny Huston to play Stryker. “Every character Danny plays is so vivid and present,” says Jackman, who cites Huston’s performance as a sinister, complex figure in “The Constant Gardener,” among many others that impressed the actor-producer.
Huston sees Stryker as a kind of Dr. Frankenstein. “In a way, he helped create Wolverine. Stryker both hates and loves Logan, and certainly wants to control him and other mutants. He sees the mutants as children or wild animals. In controlling them, he can use them as weapons for what he perceives to be the safety of mankind. He loves Wolverine like a son.”
A key member of Team X is Wade Wilson, later to be known as Deadpool. Wade is a highly-efficient killing machine nicknamed the “Merc with the Mouth,” for his endless stream of wisecracks. Ryan Reynolds seemed destined to take on the role; the actor is a longtime fan of Marvel’s Deadpool comics, and was even mentioned in one issue. “I’ve wanted to play Deadpool most of my adult life,” says Reynolds. “It’s a beloved character with comics fans, so it’s not a responsibility I take lightly.” Wade/Deadpool’s weapon of choice are katana swords, and Reynolds trained extensively to make his swordplay convincing. “I lived, ate and breathed swords,” he recalls.
Another Team X member is Bradley, portrayed by Dominic Monaghan (“Lost,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy). Bradley, who can control and manipulate electricity, is a haunting figure, having gone into hiding from Stryker and Sabretooth, as a circus sideshow attraction. “When we meet Bradley in the film, he’s kind of fallen off the grid,” says Monaghan. “With Team X, he was a guerrilla soldier, but when things got out of hand, and he saw things he didn’t want to see, he left the unit.”
Team X member John Wraith, who becomes Wolverine’s closest friend, is a teleporter who can appear or disappear at will. “He’s not to be messed with,” says actor and music icon Will.i.am, of the famed group The Black Eyed Peas, who makes his motion picture acting debut in the film. Long after departing Team X, Wraith remains closely allied with one Fred J. Dukes, a supreme warrior who later let himself go, becoming a 700-pound behemoth known as The Blob – the meanest man you’ve ever seen. Kevin Durand, who portrayed a fearless mercenary on “Lost,” donned one of the largest and most elaborate fat suits in motion picture history, inside of which was a state-of-the-art cooling system originally designed for NASA.
An equally fearsome warrior is Agent Zero, an expert tracker with lethal marksmanship skills, played by Daniel Henney. The American-born actor, who became an enormous star in South Korea, notes that Zero and Logan, although once members of the Team, are enemies. “He’s always been jealous of Logan,” says Henney, “and he’s determined to stop him.”
The mutant known as Gambit was not a member of Team X – Logan encounters him much later in his journey – but he plays a key role in Logan’s revenge-fueled quest. Beloved by fans of the X-Men comics who have long awaited the character’s debut in the film franchise, Gambit, who also goes by the name Remy LeBeau, has the ability to charge matter with volatile kinetic energy, causing the object in question to explosively release its charge on impact. Gambit’s favorite things on which to direct his special talents are a deck of playing cards and a simple bö staff – both of which he turns into powerful weapons when the occasion dictates.
Gambit’s presence in X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE will certainly be celebrated and discussed by fans, a fact not lost on the filmmakers. Says producer Ralph Winter, who’s been involved in all the X-Men movies: “Before the start of each [X-Men] film, people would ask me, ‘Is Gambit in the movie? Is he going to throw cards? And I’d say, ‘Hang on, we’ll get to him.'”
Actor Taylor Kitsch, who nabbed the role after wrapping work for the season on the acclaimed series “Friday Night Lights,” says he understands that “the fans have been waiting [for Gambit’s appearance in an X-Men film],” and reports that he worked hard to live up to their expectations. “When I arrived in Sydney, to begin work on the film, I told the producers I was here to train and to work,” says Kitsch. His training included long sessions with the bö staff and fighting sticks – as well as interminable hours going through packs and packs of trading cards, learning the character’s signature moves. “By the time cameras rolled, I could do quite a bit with a deck of cards,” he says.
But in telling this story of “origins,” no mutant has greater impact on Logan’s journey than his brother, Victor Creed. Appalled by Stryker’s ethically-challenged directives, Logan had abandoned Victor and Team X, but the two brothers cannot be separated by time or by distance because they are two sides of the same person. “I think of Victor as Logan’s doppelganger, his darker side,” says Liev Schreiber. “What drives both of them is their desire to find their place in their world – to belong to something. And that one thing that Victor belongs to is Logan. When that bond is broken, Victor looks to reconnect with his brother, for better or for worse.”
It is Victor’s brutal murder of Kayla that triggers Logan’s quest for revenge. When they are reunited, Logan and Victor fight, leaving Logan battered and wounded. Stryker, again entering Logan’s life and again forever changing it, offers what he calls the only solution: the top-secret Weapon X program (“X” denoting the Roman numeral for ten). In the procedure, Logan’s entire skeleton will be bonded to adamantium, an impenetrable metal alloy that will make Logan virtually indestructible -turning him into the Wolverine we know from the previous X-Men movies. “To beat Victor,” Stryker tells Logan, “you’re going to have to embrace the other side of you. Become the animal.”
But to undergo this transformation, Logan has to suffer more pain than any man could ever endure. Audiences had seen tantalizing flashes of the Weapon X procedure in “X2,” but here its full power – and horror – is fully unveiled. As Logan lies in a water-filled plexiglass tank the size of a lidless coffin, robotic arms that taper into foot-long needles spin at high speeds, entering his body, bonding his bones to the adamantium. Wolverine has suffered and survived gunshots, knife wounds, car crashes, executions and explosions – but he’s never suffered like this.
Wolverine emerges from the ordeal to face yet another betrayal and an epic showdown with Victor and with the next generation of Stryker’s military experiments. Undeterred by Logan’s escape from Alkali Lake as the now indestructible Wolverine, Stryker has abducted mutants to fulfill his twisted mandate of turning them into weapons. The unwilling participants in this work are teenagers Scott Summers (Tim Pocock) and Emma Frost (Tahyna Tozzi). Scott, who can emit a powerful beam from his eyes, grows up to be Cyclops, a leader of the X-Men; Emma, another major figure in X-Men comics lore, is telepathic and possesses a diamond-like skin that is indestructible. Together, the mutants face off against an enemy who has sworn to see them destroyed, in a battle – a revolution – that will set the course of the epic war that lies ahead.
Boundless Enthusiasm
“I had more fun playing Wolverine in this film than ever before,” says Hugh Jackman. Adding to Jackman’s boundless enthusiasm for the character – and for the entire X-Men universe – was his new role as a producer. Along with director Gavin Hood, as well as Jackman’s producing partner in Seed Productions, John Palermo, and producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter, Jackman oversaw virtually every aspect of the film’s pre-production, production and post-production periods. He relished the new responsibilities. “I was trained in theater, where you’re involved with everything,” he explains. “By the time you go onstage opening night, you know a lot about not only your role, but about the set design, costume design, story development…everything. That excitement, knowledge and preparation are a key part of the experience.”
Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of his duties as producer was casting. “This film has lots of great characters new to the X-Men movies,” says Jackman. “It was particularly rewarding to establish these new characters and find the right actors to play them.”
Jackman the producer certainly put Jackman the actor through his paces, including a grueling physical training regimen that left him in the best shape of his life. Although he trained hard for each of the previous X-Men films, Jackman’s mantra to exceed expectations for X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE led him to achieve new levels of physical preparation. “With the previous X-Men films, I never had Logan looking exactly as I wanted him to look,” Jackman explains. “For this one, I wanted Logan to look animalistic, veins popping out, and coiled like a spring. I wanted audiences to say, ‘Okay, this guy is frightening; this guy could easily rip someone’s head off.”
In addition to spending countless hours in the gym, Jackman upped his protein and caloric intake to levels befitting a professional athlete. A typical day began at 4:00a.m., when he would awaken to drink a specially prepared protein shake. Then, up for good at 6:00 a.m. for weight training, during which he would sometimes find himself staying in character to maximize his workout. “I lift twenty percent harder, heavier and longer as Wolverine, than if I train as myself,” Jackman explains, with a laugh. “As myself, I could easily say, ‘Ah, that’s enough [weight] training. But as Wolverine, it’d be: ‘Now, I’m loving lifting the extra weight.'”
As physically imposing as Jackman became, he didn’t lose the athleticism that he’s brought not only to his action film roles, but to his stage work. “The camera loves Hugh,” points out producer Lauren Shuler Donner. “He has a dancer’s grace – it’s much more than just ‘pumping up’ for the role.”
Jackman’s work ethic and training regimen impressed the production’s entire team, especially Liev Schreiber, whose Victor Creed faces off several times with his on-screen nemesis, Jackman’s Logan. “Hugh definitely made me lift my own game,” says Schreiber, who gained 40 pounds of muscle for the role. “There was a definite chemistry and competition in our training and stunts. Just to do a fight scene with Hugh was terrific, because as a dancer he has that kind of discipline and choreography. We have some remarkable fight scenes together.”
In addition upping the ante for the action and bringing fresh characters to the X-Men film franchise, the filmmakers decided to change shooting locations. While “X-Men” was well served by its Toronto locations and sets, and “X2” and “X-Men: The Last Stand” made maximum use of Vancouver’s impressive settings and soundstages, most of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE was shot in New Zealand and Australia, with a few key sequences planned for Vancouver. “My desire to be challenged for this film included finding a new home for the production,” says Jackman. “While honoring the style of the previous X-Men films, I wanted this one to look bigger and different. There’s something otherworldly about New Zealand. It’s so magical. It helped elevate our world and the film’s reality.
Adds producer John Palermo: “Shooting in Australia and New Zealand has opened up the X-Men universe. Audiences are going to be really excited about the film’s look. We were very lucky to have access to the countries’ resources and amazing exteriors.”
Jackman, director Gavin Hood, director of photography Donald M. McApline, ACS/ASC (“Moulin Rouge”), and production designer Barry Robison used a cross section of those countries’ sets and locations to replicate five wars, the city of New Orleans, high schools in the U.S., and the remote Canadian wilderness. According to McAlpine, New Zealand’s magnificent vistas were invaluable, especially for sequences set at the fictional Canadian location of Alkali Lake (home of the Weapon X program) and the rural paradise, filmed on New Zealand’s South Island, where Logan finds an all-too-temporary respite with his love, Kayla Silverfox. Says McAlpine: “He’s leading an idyllic existence, with a cabin (designed by Robison) set on a peak, surrounded by even more massive mountain ranges.”
New Zealand’s South Island was also home for one of the film’s big action set pieces, featuring a helicopter chase and crash. Second unit director Peter MacDonald (“The Bourne Ultimatum”) worked with Hood to oversee the spectacular action, which also included blowing up a farmhouse, and Logan taking a thrilling ride on what becomes his iconic Harley Davidson.
Then it was on to Sydney, Australia, where the production filmed on locations throughout the city, including an abandoned hospital, a long-disused 1920s theater that became a boxing ring where Logan battles the 700-pound Blob, Centennial Park, the stunning beach on the North Shore, and a soccer field that the production transformed into a traveling carnival. But the most notable location was Cockatoo Island, which the production turned into an abandoned nuclear power plant – the home of Stryker’s laboratory and a “mutant containment area.” The Island was once Australia’s largest shipyard, boasting a dry dock built by convicts in 1857, and also the site of an imperial prison. It provided the perfect palette for the film’s art department to create the sinister, isolated world of Stryker and his mutant experiments.
The long-awaited motion picture debut of Gambit sees the mutant holding court in his home turf, New Orleans. The filmmakers captured the magic of the character and his city, at Fox Studios, Australia, in Sydney. The design team created a New Orleans alleyway, the scene of an explosive fight scene involving Logan, Gambit and Wraith. The controlled environment of the state-of-the-art facility enabled the stunt and special effects teams to execute the elaborate action. Cast and stunt doubles scaled walls, leapt across rooftops, and felt the full force of Gambit’s exploding poker cards and bö staff.
For the sequence depicting Logan and Victor hurtling through the battlegrounds of not one, but four wars, the two brothers take on the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, negotiate the trenches of World War I, land at Normandy Beach in World War II, and face the horrors of the Vietnam conflict. Costume designer Louise Mingenbach was tasked with designing the appropriate military garb for the hundreds of extras cast as soldiers. Armory specialists were brought in to assist with uniform accuracy and gun handling.
This sequence saw the end of principal photography in Australia and New Zealand. There remained the long-planned Canadian portion of the shoot, required to capture certain Canadian backdrops and weather conditions that could not be duplicated elsewhere; and when that wrapped, the critical post-production process kicked into high gear. As Jackman continued to work tirelessly on the project, he took time out to reflect upon his own “origins” with the character of Wolverine.
As many know, his casting in 2000’s “X-Men” – his Hollywood film debut – came just days before he had to step before the cameras. At first, Jackman’s unfamiliarity with the character and the X-Men mythology gave him second thoughts about taking the role. “I thought ‘X-Men’ was kind of an unusual choice to turn into a movie. And a guy with claws coming out of his hands? Of course, I was as yet unaware of the character and property’s incredibly rich history – and if I had known, I probably would have thought the role was too much pressure – and too much to live up to.
“If anyone had told me there would one day be a Wolverine movie, I’d have laughed,” Jackman continues. “I had no idea of the effect that the X-Men movies would have. And I couldn’t be more grateful to the fans and to the audiences.”
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Directed by: Gavin Hood
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, will.i.am, Dominic Monaghan, Ryan Reynolds
Screenplay by: David Benioff
Production Design by: Barry Robison
Cinematography by: Donald McAlpine
Film Editing by; Nicolas De Toth, Megan Gill
Costume Design by: Louise Mingenbach
Set Decoration by: Rebecca Cohen, Sandy Walker
Art Direction by: Michael Diner, Brian Edmonds, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy, Mark Robins
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams
MPAA Rating: PG-13 intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: May 1, 2009
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