What are the changes to expect in X-Men Origins: Wolverine?

[reveal]

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wolv...gins_wolverine

Interesting article on the characters in Wolverine and how they will be different than in the comics.

In the Comics: For the first 25 years of Wolverine's publication in Marvel Comics (first introduced in The Incredible Hulk #181, November 1974), Wolverine's true origin story was one of comics' greatest mysteries. As in the first three X-Men movies, readers were given bits of the puzzle over the years, but Wolverine's true roots weren't revealed until the 2001-2002 mini-series Origin, which detailed the events of Wolverine's youth and young adulthood. The comics have also now depicted in many different ways Wolverine's time as part of the Weapon X program, in which both he and Sabretooth were used as part of a military program to use mutants as super soldiers.

In the Movie: X-Men Origins: Wolverine borrows heavily from several of the comics that have dealt directly with Wolverine's origin story, but reportedly also has some new or different elements, especially in the Weapon X era. This is, of course, to be expected, since the first three movies very much departed from the comics, de-aging characters like Angel and Iceman, and having Wolverine join the X-Men by himself, rather as a member of a completely new team (with Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, etc).

In the Comics: Like Wolverine, Sabretooth is a Marvel Comics character known to be much older than he appears, and his encounters with Wolverine go back as far as 1910. As in the movie, Sabretooth served with Wolverine in the Weapon X program, although he did not undergo the same extensive experimentation as Wolverine. After parting ways with Weapon X, Sabretooth spent the next decades working as an assassin, coming into conflict with Wolverine many times, until eventually (and controversially) becoming an X-Man himself.

In the Movie: The most obvious departure for Sabretooth from the comics is the rumor that in the movie he is actually depicted as being Wolverine's half-brother. In the comics, Sabretooth is usually depicted as having blonde hair (as also depicted in the first X-Men movie), whereas Liev Schreiber has dark brown hair.

In the Comics: Before the release of X2: X-Men United, William Stryker was a relatively obscure character who had only appeared in the 1982 graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, as a Christian televangelist who has launched a campaign to destroy all mutants, who he sees as an abomination in the eyes of God.

In the Movie: Few X-Men characters were as changed from their comic book roots as William Stryker, who was used as the leader of Weapon X, the program responsible for giving Wolverine his adamantium skeleton, and the team that is central to much of the story of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

In the Comics: An orphan who was raised by New Orleans' Thieves Guild, Gambit took to travelling the world, using his mutant power to help him become a master thief. Gambit was eventually taken in by the genius geneticist known as Mr. Sinister, who helped Gambit better control his powers. In return, Gambit joined a group of mutant assassins called The Marauders (along with Sabretooth). Gambit eventually reformed his criminal ways and joined the X-Men, where he fell in love with Rogue.

In the Movie: Gambit's portrayal in X-Men Origins: Wolverine seems to more or less match that of the comics, except that the timing suggests that he would be older than Cyclops, who in the comics seems about the same age as Gambit. There are also some pretty wild things that we see Gambit do in the trailer, like using his power on his staff to allow him to climb walls, and set off a devastating quake. Although most of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was filmed in Australia, the production moved to New Orleans for our Cajun mutant's scenes. Gambit is also one of the two characters in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (along with Deadpool) who may also get his own franchise of solo movies.

In the Comics: Mercenary Wade Wilson joined Weapon X without being an actual mutant, but was also dying of cancer. So, Weapon X put Wade through an intensive genetic treatment which gave him super regenerative and healing powers, but at the price of his skin growing so fast as to be a permanent mass of scars, which is what led Wade Wilson to put on a mask and start calling himself Deadpool. In the many years since, Deadpool's adventures have brought him into contact with (or into conflict with) nearly all of the major figures in Marvel's world of mutants, and some others who aren't mutants at all.

In the Movie: How Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool, is being depicted is one of the hottest topics of discussion for Deadpool fans. There are rumors that Deadpool has been given powers that he does not have in the comics, but there are just as many rumors and speculation that the character in the trailer seen doing all that (watch out for Cyclops-like eye beams) is not actually Wade Wilson at all. Hopefully, whatever happens to Wade in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he will come out of the movie with the potential to become the same "Merc with a Mouth that fans love in the possible spin-off Deadpool movie that has been in development for several years already.

In the Comics: In the 1910s, Wolverine encountered a small community of the Blackfoot Indian tribe, where Sabretooth was also living at the time. Wolverine fell in love with the woman now known as Silver Fox (her real name unknown), and they shared a cabin in the woods. Sabretooth, however attacked, raped, and apparently killed Silver Fox, and causing Wolverine to leave town in grief. Silver Fox, however, had actually survived the attack. Years later, Silver Fox joined the Weapon X program, but because of the memory alterations done to her, Sabretooth, and Wolverine, it is unclear how much they remembered of their past conflicts. Eventually, Silver Fox reunites other members of Weapon X, including Wolverine, Sabretooth, Wraith, and Maverick to investigate the scientist who gave them their false memories, but the encounter ends with the scientist controlling Sabretooth, who kills Silver Fox.

In the Movie: The trailers for X-Men Origins: Wolverine hint quite heavily that Silver Fox's story in the movie is quite similar to that of the comics, intimating that Silver Fox had died many years earlier, and that Stryker suggests that his treatments will remove Wolverine's painful memories of her death.

In the Comics: The Blob is one of the X-Men's oldest enemies, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men #3, all the way back in 1964. The Blob was a member of the majority of the incarnations of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants for the next 25 years. That also included being a core member of the semi-heroic Freedom Force, which was members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants actually working for the U.S. government. However, in the 2006 House of M event, the Blob was one of the mutants who was de-powered by the Scarlet Witch, which left him with deformed body covered by the draping skin that his had previously covered his mutant fat.

In the Movie: The biggest difference between the comic book Blob and the movie Blob is that we see scenes of Fred J. Dukes when he is not super fat. It's not yet known if Dukes is able to "Blob out" and become his larger version, or if in the movie, his super fat form comes from sort of Weapon X treatment.

In the Comics: Born Christoph Nord in East Germany, the character known as both Maverick and Agent Zero started as a rebel agent fighting against Communist rule in the 1960s. His efforts were noticed by the CIA, who recruited him to join the Weapon X program. After leaving Weapon X, Nord eventually took the code name of Maverick, working as a mercenary. In the 1990s, Maverick was one of the several mutants who contracted the deadly Legacy Virus, which led Maverick to ask Wolverine to kill him (Wolverine refused). Years later, he was recruited into a second version of Weapon X, which gave him the additional power of super healing, allowing him to recover from the Legacy Virus. At this point, Maverick then took the new code name of Agent Zero. Agent Zero was one of the many mutants who lost his powers during the House of M event, thanks to Scarlet Witch. Reverting to the Maverick alias, he was last seen residing at a special home for former mutants recovering from the loss of their powers.

In the Movie: Agent Zero has two distinctive differences in the comics. First of all, the film portrays him as Asian, not German. Secondly, in the original Weapon X era, the character was more often known as Maverick. The reason for these changes may be that there were actually two characters in the comics known as Maverick, and that other one, AKA Bolt, also appears in the movie. It was not until North/Nord joined the revived Weapon X program that he became known as Agent Zero, which, in the Marvel Comics timeline, is many years after the period depicted in this movie.

In the Comics: John Wraith was a member of the original Weapon X program. Unlike many of the more high profile members, Wraith is a relatively obscure character, but he did appear later, when he found that his anti-aging mutation was not working correctly, and teamed up with the former members to investigate Weapon X. Wraith was recruited years later into the revived Weapon X, and was sent with Sabretooth to recruit Maverick, but was killed by Sabretooth in the ensuing fight (even though Maverick eventually joined anyway). John Wraith also has the distinction of being a character who was much more active in the Ultimate Universe than he was in the actual mainstream Marvel Universe.

In the Movie: The movie version of Wraith appears to be quite faithful to the Marvel Universe version of John Wraith, including the cowboy hat that he is often seen wearing. What is not yet known is whether the movie version of Wraith can also use his power to teleport his entire team, or whether he also uses explosives the same way the comic version does.

In the Comics: Chris Bradley was a young mutant who was taken in by Charles Xavier's school for mutants, where he was diagnosed as having the deadly Legacy Virus. Chris' parents withdrew him from the school, and he eventually met the original Maverick (AKA Agent Zero), who befriended him, as he also had the Legacy Virus. Taking the code name of Bolt, Chris eventually joined the team of young super heroes known as the New Warriors. When Bolt believed that the original Maverick had been killed, he took on the Maverick identity himself. However, this led him to come in conflict with the original Maverick, then using the identity of Agent Zero, who ironically killed Chris in his guise of Maverick II, not realizing he was his friend.

In the Movie: Thus far, very little has been seen of Dominic Monaghan in character in the trailers and images from the movie, including no images of him using his electric powers. A very interesting footnote to this character is that Monaghan's role was initially said to be Barnell Bohusk. In the comics, Bohusk is also known as a mutant named Beak with bird-like physical features (feathers, etc), but not the ability to fly. Unlike most of the other characters in the movie, Bohusk/Beak had no history of any connection to Weapon X, so the use of Bohusk's name was always peculiar. The revelation that the character is actually Bolt makes a lot more sense, thematically.

In the Comics: Emma Frost is a member of the older generation of mutants, first being known as one of the leaders of the Hellfire Club, a group of manipulative mutants who also trained young mutants, in competition to Charles Xavier's school. After years of competing with Xavier, Emma Frost eventually agreed to join his Academy as an instructor and member of the X-Men, where she eventually became the co-headmaster of the school (in Xavier's absence), along with Cyclops, with whom she had a romantic affair following the death of Jean Grey.

In the Movie: As we see Emma Frost in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, she is a teenager, but given that the movie is set many years ago, this does not necessarily suggest a drastic de-aging of the character as was done with Iceman and Angel in the previous X-Men movies. What is particularly interesting is that Emma Frost is depicted as having her ability to transform into a diamond-hard form, even though in the comics she did not acquire this ability until much later. What is not yet known is whether the movie version of Emma Frost also has her psychic abilities, or if the suggestion is that what is her primary ability in the comics will be her secondary ability in the movie(s).

In the Comics: Cyclops is one of the original members of the X-Men, and over the years has often taken on the role of leader of both the team and Xavier's school for mutants. A natural born leader, Cyclops has often come into conflict with the rebellious Wolverine.

In the Movie: The trailers imply that Cyclops is an apparent target of the Weapon X team; he's seen being chased by Sabretooth, and also held prisoner along with many other young mutants, including the young Jason Stryker (seen in X-Men: The Last Stand) and Banshee, the super-sonic mutant whose daughter Siryn was depicted as an Xavier student in X-Men: The Last Stand. This is perhaps one of the movie's greatest departures from the comics (in addition to the rumors about Deadpool); before joining Charles Xavier's academy, Scott Summers never had any known contact with the Weapon X team. The only significant character that Scott is known to have encountered in his pre-Xavier youth is the geneticist known as Mr. Sinister, who inhibited Scott's abilities through mental blocks.

[WayneLigon]

*headscratch* I certainly don't understand what they're talking about in 'de-aging' Iceman and Angel in the movies. Iceman was always the youngest X-Man; if anything he's older than he should be at the start of an X-Men storyline. Same with Angel; Angel's a grownup in the movie he appears in when he should be on par with Iceman.

Interesting, I checked up on James Marsden (Cyclops); he's starring in a movie made from Matheson's story 'Button Button'; this guy appears at your door and says if you press the button on this box then you'll instantly get (I think) $1 million, tax-free. But, someone you don't know will die at the same time. The story concerns the question of whether or not they press the button. (Twilight Zone also did this story back in it's first run). In the TZ version, They press the button, get the money, then the box is taken from them and they're told it'll be given to some other couple. "Don't worry, it won't be anyone you know." In the story, it's more of a Monkey's Paw ending, with her getting the insurance money after her husband - whom she never really knew - dies How they're going to stretch that to 90 minutes, I have no idea.

[reveal]

*headscratch* I certainly don't understand what they're talking about in 'de-aging' Iceman and Angel in the movies. Iceman was always the youngest X-Man; if anything he's older than he should be at the start of an X-Men storyline. Same with Angel; Angel's a grownup in the movie he appears in when he should be on par with Iceman.

I think they're refering to the fact that, by the time the "new mutants" like Wolverine and Storm joined the X-Men, Iceman and Angel were older (young adults) as opposed to the teenagers in the movies.

[Dacke]

*headscratch* I certainly don't understand what they're talking about in 'de-aging' Iceman and Angel in the movies. Iceman was always the youngest X-Man; if anything he's older than he should be at the start of an X-Men storyline. Same with Angel; Angel's a grownup in the movie he appears in when he should be on par with Iceman.

Pretty sure they mean compared to the other X-men. In the movies, the "starting" team consists of Cyclops, Storm, and Jean, with Wolverine joining in. Iceman, Pyro, and others are a "next generation" kind of thing.

Going by the comics, Iceman should probably still be younger than most of the "All-new" team that appeared in the late 70s (Storm, Nightcrawler, Banshee, Sunfire, Thunderhawk, and Colossus), seeing as most of the new team started out as adults, not teens (Colossus is probably the youngest of them), but not to the point of still being in school.

[Dacke]

I think they're refering to the fact that, by the time the "new mutants" like Wolverine and Storm joined the X-Men, Iceman and Angel were older (young adults) as opposed to the teenagers in the movies.

[archnerd]Wolverine, Storm, and the rest of that bunch weren't the "new mutants" - that was Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Mirage, and Karma, later joined by Cypher, Magma, Warlock, and Magik (and later yet by another bunch). The 1975 team was called the "All-new, All-different X-men" - which wasn't entirely true, since Cyclops stayed a member.

[reveal]

[archnerd]Wolverine, Storm, and the rest of that bunch weren't the "new mutants" - that was Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Mirage, and Karma, later joined by Cypher, Magma, Warlock, and Magik (and later yet by another bunch). The 1975 team was called the "All-new, All-different X-men" - which wasn't entirely true, since Cyclops stayed a member.

You know you're a fatbeard when you know exactly what someone is talking about but decide to correct them anyway.

Yes, I was referring to these guys as the "new mutants" because they were "mutants" who were "new" to the team, effectively replacing almost every one of the old guard:

[WayneLigon]

[archnerd]Wolverine, Storm, and the rest of that bunch weren't the "new mutants" - that was Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Mirage, and Karma, later joined by Cypher, Magma, Warlock, and Magik (and later yet by another bunch). The 1975 team was called the "All-new, All-different X-men" - which wasn't entirely true, since Cyclops stayed a member.

Yeah, I'm looking at the announcement of a volume three 'New Mutants' idea involving those characters and getting ready to have my childhood raped again.

[PoopPlopgush]

I've heard really bad things about the movie and most likely won't be seeing it.

Spoilerific review here, and it ain't good

http://fourpolacks.blogspot.com/2009...n-thundra.html

[skade]

I was excited until the most recent trailer. Then my childhood was raped, murdered and desecrated.

I will be fine, thanks for the condolences.

[sandielaw]

I am so excited to see this movie. Don't tell anyone...but I'm more excited about this than I am about Star Trek. Not only do I love the X-Men (both movies and comics), but Liev Schreiber is yummy.

[reveal]

I am so excited to see this movie. Don't tell anyone...but I'm more excited about this than I am about Star Trek. Not only do I love the X-Men (both movies and comics), but Liev Schreiber is yummy.