X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Film)
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This article is about the film. For the video game, see X-Men Origins: Wolverine (video game). For the related toyline, see X-Men Origins: Wolverine (toyline). For other uses, see Wolverine. For the 2013 film, see The Wolverine (film).
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine | |
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Gavin Hood |
| Produced by | Lauren Shuler Donner Ralph Winter Hugh Jackman John Palermo |
| 'Screenplay by | David Benioff Skip Woods |
| Based on | {{Based on|Wolverine|Roy Thomas Len Wein John Romita, Sr. |
| Starring | Hugh Jackman Liev Schreiber Ryan Reynolds Danny Huston Dominic Monaghan |
| Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams |
| Cinematography | Donald McAlpine |
| Edited by | Nicolas De Toth Megan Gill |
| Production companies | Marvel Entertainment The Donners' Company Seed Productions |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date | April 9, 2009 (Sydney) May 1, 2009 (United States) |
| Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $150 million |
| Box office | $373.1 million |
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics fictional character Wolverine, distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the fourth installment of the X-Men film series and the first spinoff of its standalone Wolverine trilogy. The film was directed by Gavin Hood, written by David Benioff and Skip Woods, and produced by and starring Hugh Jackman. It co-stars Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan and Ryan Reynolds. The film is a prequel/spin-off focusing on the violent past of the mutant Wolverine and his relationship with his half-brother Victor Creed. The plot details Wolverine's childhood as James Howlett (Troye Sivan), his 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. Filming took place from January to May 2008. Production and post-production were troubled, with delays due to the weather and Jackman's other commitments, an incomplete screenplay that was still being written in Los Angeles while principal photography rolled in Australia, 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.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released worldwide on May 1, 2009, the film was a financial success, opening at the top of the box office and grossing $179 million in the United States and Canada and over $373 million worldwide. Due to the poor critical reaction and despite its success at the box office, the plans for X-Men Origins: Magneto were ultimately cancelled and its working draft script was handed over to Matthew Vaughn and his prequel; X-Men: First Class.
A second Wolverine film titled The Wolverine was released in 2013 to positive reviews and much greater success. A third film, titled Logan, was later given critical praise by critics in 2017, was cited as one of the best superhero films of all time by critics, and marked Hugh Jackman's final portrayal of the character.
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[edit] Plot
[edit] Cast
- A Canadian mutant and future X-Men member and often referred as Jimmy by Victor Creed. Jackman, who played Wolverine in the previous films, has also become producer of the film via his company Seed Productions, 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 Cardiovascularcardiovascular 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 Sivan as young James Howlett:
- Casting directors cast Sivan as the young Wolverine after seeing him sing at the Channel Seven Perth Telethon, and he was accepted after sending in an audition tape. Kodi Smit-McPhee was originally cast in the role, when filming was originally beginning in December 2007, but he opted out to film The Road. Smit-McPhee was later cast as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler in the 2016 film X-Men: Apocalypse.
- Logan's mutant half-brother and fellow soldier, who would later become his nemesis Sabretooth. Jackman and Hood compared Wolverine and Sabretooth's relationship to the Borg–McEnroe rivalry in the world of tennis: they are enemies but they can't live without each other. Sabretooth represents the pure animal and embodies the darker side of Wolverine's character, the aspect Wolverine hates about himself. These characters are two sides to the same coin. Tyler Mane, who played him in X-Men, had hoped to reprise the role. Jackman worked with Schreiber before, in the 2001 romantic comedy Kate & Leopold and described him as having a competitive streak necessary to portray Sabretooth. They egged each other on on set to perform more and more stunts. Schreiber put on 40 lb (18 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.
- Danny Huston as Major William Stryker:
- Huston was originally in negotiations for the part while Brian Cox, who played the character in X2, wanted to reprise the role. He believed computer-generated imagery, similar to the program applied to Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in the opening flashback of X-Men: The Last Stand, 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 breeder, 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.
- Wolverine's Native American (Blackfoot/Niitsítapi) mutant love interest and pawn of Stryker. She has the powers of tactile telepathy and hypnosis which allows her to control or convince others to do the things she wants them to by physical touch.<ref name=empire/> However, Victor is immune to telepathy. Describing her role, Collins said "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." Michelle Monaghan turned down the role because of scheduling conflicts, despite her enthusiasm to work with Jackman.
- A Cajun mutant thief who has the ability to convert the potential energy of any object he touches into kinetic energy, forcing it to explode. The size of the object determines the magnitude of the resulting explosion.<ref name=empire/> 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."
- 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 Adkins as Weapon XI / Deadpool:
- Weapon XI is a genetically altered mutant killer. He has powers taken from other mutants killed or kidnapped in the film, as well as retractable blades in his arms. He is referred to by Stryker as "the pool, the mutant killer: Deadpool" because the compatible powers of the other mutants have been 'pooled' together into one being. This interpretation of Deadpool is lacking his traditional red suit and mask, and also includes a mouth sewn shut and the abilities of Cyclops' optic blasts, Wraith's teleportation, and samurai swords that come out of his fists from within his arms, similarly to Wolverine's claws. 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.
- will.i.am as John Wraith:
- A teleporting mutant. This was 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 Nightcrawler. He enrolled in boot camp to get into shape for the part. When filming a fight, he scarred his knuckles after accidentally punching and breaking the camera.
- A mutant with a nearly indestructible layer of skin. 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. 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. David Harbour auditioned for the role, but was turned down for being too fat at the time.
- A mutant who can manipulate electricity and electronic objects. It was originally reported that Monaghan was going to play Barnell Bohusk / Beak.
- A mutant member of the Weapon X program and a superhumanly accurate mercenary with expert tracking abilities and lethal sniper skills.<ref name=empire/> 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.
Additionally, Tim Pocock portrays a young Scott Summers / Cyclops. Max Cullen and Julia Blake portrayed Travis and Heather Hudson, an elderly couple who take care of Wolverine after his adamantium bonding. The Hudsons are heavily adapted from the comics' James MacDonald and Heather Hudson.
Tahyna Tozzi portrays Emma, a mutant with the power to turn her skin into diamond, who in the film is Silverfox's sister. The film depiction of Emma was originally intended to be Emma Frost. However it was noted that she does not exhibit the character's traditional telepathic abilities. It is later revealed by Bryan Singer that this character is actually not Emma Frost, but instead a mutant with similar abilities.
Wolverine's parents also appeared in the film; Aaron Jeffery portrayed Thomas Logan while Alice Parkinson portrayed Elizabeth Howlett. Peter O'Brien appeared as John Howlett, James' alleged father.
The film includes numerous cameo appearances 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 appeared to not yet lose the use of his legs. However, with timeline and story inconsistencies within the film series, Singer developed an idea to tie all the films together and fix the continuity. In X-Men: First Class Xavier loses the use of his legs at a much younger age, than he appears in Origins. As an explanation, Xavier can be seen walking in X-Men: Days of Future Past (which chronologically takes place prior to the events of this film), by creating the illusion that he is standing in various scenes, when in reality the character is only present by telepathic projection.
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 Lee ended up not appearing in the film as he could not attend filming in Australia.
[edit] Production
[edit] Development
[edit] Filming
[edit] Effects
[edit] Music
[edit] Release
[edit] Leaked workprint
[edit] Marketing
[edit] Video game
- Main article: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (video game)
[edit] Theatrical run
[edit] Home media
[edit] Reception
[edit] In Literature
[edit] Sequels
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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