US Premiere: May 2009
Credits: Gavin Hood (Director), Skip Woods (Writer), Lauren Schuler Donner, Hugh Jackman and Ralph Winter (Producers), Stan Lee and Richard Donner (Executive Producers), Harry Gregson-Willaims (Composer), Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Will.I.Am, Lynn Collins, Kevin Durand, Daniel Henney (Main Actors)
Brief Description:
In the mid-19th century, young James Howlett witnesses his father being killed by a man. In a fit of anger, the young boy unsheathes his bone claws for the first time and kills the man. As he is dying, the man claims to be James’ real father. James flees with his friend, Victor Creed, the man’s son and therefore his brother. Over the course of many years, the two boys become men and put their skills to good use during numerous wars. However, by the time the Vietnam War comes around, the relationship breaks down, with James (now going by Logan) stopping Victor from killing an ally soldier. Nevertheless, the two are captured and sentenced to death anyway. When they don’t die during the execution, William Stryker approaches them and convinces them to work for him. They join his black-ops squad and go to Africa, where their objective is to find the origin of a precious rock Stryker is interested in. At a local African village, the team holds the population hostage until someone tells them where the rock came from. They refuse to tell and Victor starts killing people, the disgusted Logan leaves the team. Years later Logan is living in the Canadian Rockies with a woman called Kayla. However, when one of his former team members is killed, Stryker tracks him down, asking for help. Logan refuses, but after Kayla is attacked and killed by Victor, Logan tracks him down. Victor beats him easily, after which Stryker comes to see him again and offers to give him the ability to kill Victor. They go to his base, where Logan has adamantium grafted on to his skeleton. When Stryker sees that it was a success, he orders Logan’s abilities be used for Weapon XI and for Logan to have his memory wiped. Logan manages to escape and make his way to a local farmhouse. The couple let him sleep there the night but, in the morning, they are killed by Stryker’s soldiers. After Logan kills them all, he then tracks down John Wraith, one of his old teammates. John says he doesn’t know where Victor is but Fred Dukes does. Reluctantly, Dukes tells him that Stryker is capturing mutants and experimenting on them. Logan also realizes that Victor and Stryker are working together and he was tricked into having the metal put on his skeleton. After Dukes tells them only one person escaped from Stryker’s secret island base, Logan and John go to New Orleans and talk to Remy Lebeau, the mutant in question, about helping them find the island. While Logan speaks with Remy, Wraith is killed by Victor, who takes a DNA sample from him. Afterward, Logan forces him to take him to the island, which turns out to be the abandoned Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. After Remy drops him off and leaves, Logan enters the base and finds Stryker. Stryker admits everything and shows him Kayla, who apparently faked her death to give Logan incentive to go to Stryker. Since Stryker has her sister, Emma, captive, Kayla has reluctantly used her mutant persuasion powers in his service. Logan leaves them in anger but Victor appears and attacks Kayla, causing Logan to return to help her. He and Victor fight again, and this time Logan beats him. As Logan and Kayla free the captive children, they run into Stryker’s goal Weapon XI, who was one of Logan’s old teammates. Stryker had experimented on him, giving him numerous powers, as well as the ability for Stryker to completely control him via computer. Kayla takes the kids whilst Logan fights Weapon XI. During the escape, Kayla is shot and she stays behind whilst her sister and the other get away. Logan’s fight with Weapon XI moves to the top of one of the facility’s cooling towers, where he is being beaten, until Victor shows up to help. They eventually kill Weapon XI but destroy the tower in the process. Victor then turns on the exhausted Logan, but Remy comes back and saves Logan. Whilst Remy checks on the kids, Logan finds the dying Kayla. He begins to take her to Remy’s plane but he’s found by Stryker, who shoots him with an adamantium bullet. Logan is then shot in the head twice. Stryker then tries to kill Kayla, but she uses her powers on him to make him continue walking forever. After the children escape with Charles Xavier, Remy comes back to find Logan, rendered amnesiac by the two adamantium bullets to the head. They find the dead body of Kayla but Logan doesn’t recognize her anymore. Remy and Logan both escape the island as the police arrive.
Full Synopsis:
Northwest Territories, Canada, 1845
A young boy lies in bed coughing, as another boy sits in the corner of the room, sharpening his cat-like claws with a knife. The boy sharpening his claws tells the boy in bed that he’s always sick. In between the coughs, the boy says that he was sick when he was his age. The door opens and a well-dressed man enters. The boy sharpening his claws quickly gets to his feet and stands to attention and greets the man. The man greets him as Victor and, with disdain, says he didn’t realize he was still here. Victor says he was just keeping James company and the man says that is very kind of him. The man, James’s father, checks on how he is and James says he’s cold. His father tells him it’s just a mild fever and he’ll be better in the morning. After reassuring his son, he suddenly hears a commotion coming from downstairs. A man’s voice can be heard along with lots of banging. James’s father looks at Victor and says his father is drunk and he should help him home. Victor points out that it’s not his name the man is calling.
James’s father and Victor leave a worried James in his room. The shouting continues until a gunshot is heard. James jumps out of bed and rushes to the entrance hallway of his house. He sees his father lying on the floor, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest. Victor’s father is holding James’s mother by the arm as she screams. James rushes down the stairs, just as his father dies. Victor’s father, a rugged-looking man, tells James there some things he should know. James clenches his fist and bone claws start to pierce through the skin, much to the horror of the others. James himself looks stunned as they reach their full length. In a rage, he screams and runs towards the man who shot his father. The man points a gun at him but his mother pushes it out of the way just as it fires. James impales the man through the chest with both sets of claws. As he dies, the man says that James’ father wasn’t really his father. He slumps to the floor and calls James “son” before dying.
James pulls his claws out of him and then looks at his mother. His mother asks what he is but James just runs out of the front door. He runs through the woods until Victor catches up with him. James turns to fight Victor, saying he didn’t mean it, but Victor says he did and that the man deserved it. He puts his hands on James’s shoulders, calls him “Jimmy”-and tells him they are brothers – and brothers protect each other. James says he wants to go home but Victor tells him he can’t. They need to stick together and get rid of anyone who gets in their way. Barking dogs are heard in the distance and man with lanterns start making their way through the woods in search of the boys. The boys start to run.
Time passes. James and Victor, now adults, fight side-by-side during the American Civil War, World Wars 1 and 2 and the Vietnam War. They slyly use their powers to kill enemies and they are also shot numerous times, yet do not fall. By the time it gets to the Vietnam War, James, going by the name Logan now, is becoming more and more concerned with how Victor enjoys killing people. Victor eventually starts fighting his own allies, who try and stop him from raping a woman. Logan tries to stop him but still comes to his aid when the soldiers try to shoot him. The two brothers are eventually surrounded by their own forces and they reveal their claws in defense. They are strapped to some posts and sentenced to death by firing squad.
Later on, they are being kept in a small stone cell. The door opens and a man in a military uniform stands before them. He introduces himself as Major William Stryker and he says they have been charged with killing a senior officer. He says their sentence was carried out at 1000 hours by a firing squad and then asks them how it went. He asks them if they are tired of running and denying their true nature. When Victor asks why he cares, Stryker says he cares because he knows how special they are. He says they can stay locked up like freaks of nature or they can join him. He is putting together a special team with special privileges.
A military plane flies through the night sky. Logan and Victor are on it along with a group of other men. One of the men Wade, who is sharpening a katana, tells Victor he loves the sword more than anything in the world. He tells a little story about it but Victor says he’s confusing him with someone who gives a %*&$. Wade sits back and says it’s probably not as intimidating as having a gun, bone claws or the fingernails of a bag lady. Victor smiles at him and slowly unsheathes his claws. Logan manages to ease him off doing anything to the talkative man. Wade turns his attention to another one of the group, Fred. He says that he has a new tattoo and so Logan turns to see it. The tattoo is a woman on his arm and Logan says he only met her last night. Fred tells him he loves her but Logan says he can’t fall in love with her after one night. Fred simply replies him she’s a gymnast.
Further up the plane, Stryker is listening to the whole thing and smiling. He turns to a younger man called Bradley and tells him to take it down. Bradley puts a couple of fingers on his temple and concentrates hard. The plane suddenly changes direction, causing Logan to feel sick. Agent Zero, a dark-haired man, teases him and says that more people die from driving than flying but Logan asks him how about impaling. Wraith, an African-American man in a cowboy hat, says to be nice or at least his approximation of nice.
Lagos, Nigeria
After the plane lands, the team travels through a shanty town at night time. The approach a heavily guarded tower block and stop. Inside the tower are men sat at tables inspecting small diamonds. Outside, Stryker calls upon Agent Zero and he walks towards the guarded fence and stops. The guards see him and arm themselves ready. Zero slowly puts his hands up and then rests them on his head. Unbeknownst to the guards, he has pistols strapped to his back. With super speed, he grabs the guns and fires them, killing all the nearby guards. The gunshots alert other guards who come running to the front gate, but Zero is on the move and he runs towards the gate as turret guns fire at him. With incredible precision, he jumps through the air, changes the magazines in his guns and fires at the remaining guards, killing them all. He lands in the front yard as the guards fall out of their towers. After Zero opens the gate to allow the others through, Victor rushes forward and a man in a tank quickly closes the hatch. Stryker indicates at Fred, who walks towards the tank. As he peers down the huge gun barrel on it, the man inside spots him and fires the weapon. Fred jams his fist in the barrel’s end and causes the tank to explode. The explosion alerts everyone on the inside of the building to the attack. Meanwhile, Victor climbs up the side of the tower block and watches the scene from the roof.
Inside the tower block, the group takes the elevator up to the top floor. However, the man in charge of the building cuts power to the elevator about halfway. Wade starts making jokes, much to the annoyance of Stryker. He tells him to shut up and that he’s up next but Wade continues to talk. Logan asks if he ever shuts up and Wade tells him “not while he’s awake.” Stryker gets Bradley to use his powers to take them to the top floor. Bradley concentrates hard and the power comes back on in the elevator and it continues its ascent. The man in charge of the building sees the elevator moving again and tries to stop it, but to no avail. When he realizes the elevator isn’t stopping, he orders his guards to stand outside it with their guns. At the top floor, the doors open and Wade steps out. The guards immediately shoot but Wade uses his super speed and his katanas to block the hundreds of bullets flying at him. He slowly walks into the room, deflecting the bullets back at the men until they are all dead. When they only person remaining is the boss, he yells for the rest of his group. Stryker walks through the room and tells Wade that if he didn’t have the mouth on him he would be the perfect soldier.
The boss slowly tries to reach for a shotgun under his desk but Wraith teleports next to him and points a machine gun at him. Seeing his is outmatched, the boss puts up his hands and tells the group to take the diamonds. Stryker says he doesn’t want the diamonds. He picks up a lump of rock off the boss’s desk and says he wants that. The boss looks confused and says it’s just a souvenir. Stryker says he wants the source and the man tells him it’s from a small village further inland.
Later on at the village, Stryker has the entire population on their knees as he quizzes a man. Stryker tells Wade, who is acting as a translator, to tell the man that the rock is more valuable than his life. After a short talk, Wade says the man told him it came from the sky. Stryker looks at the man for a few seconds and then Logan perks up and says he is telling the truth. He says it’s a meteor fragment and Stryker says he’s asking him where he found it. Bradley suddenly speaks up and says that their base wants to know their location. Stryker tells him to shut them down, so Bradley complies. Stryker bends down to the man’s level and says that everyone will die unless he tells him where he found the rock. The man speaks to Wade and Wade says that the rock is sacred. Stryker steps back and indicates to Victor, who smiles and quickly snaps the man’s neck.
The villagers suddenly become scared and start to run, but Agent Zero starts firing on them. Horrified, Logan tackles him to the floor, but Victor continues to attack more villagers and so Logan runs up to him and stops him. He grabs him by the arm and says that they didn’t sign up for this. The rest of the team start to circle them and Victor asks what he’s doing. They finally have a good thing and he doesn’t want to screw it up. Logan says he’s had enough but Victor says this is “who they are.” Logan tells him he’s done and asks if he’s coming. Victor just stares back at him so Logan starts to walk away. Calling him Jimmy, Victor shouts after him and says they can’t just let him walk away. Logan stops, rips off his dog tags and throws them on the floor. The others watch as Logan walks off into the night with Victor shouting after him.
Canadian Rockies, Six Years Later
Logan walks out of a lone cabin, atop a rocky outcrop. A dark haired woman comes out behind him and asks why he’s up so early. He smiles and hugs her in the early morning light. Later on, Logan and the woman, Kayla, drive into a logging camp. He gets out the pickup, grabs his axe from the back and says goodbye. She gets out of the car and calls him over again. She kisses his passionately as his workmates wolf-whistle in the background. He gets in another pickup and they smile at each other as he is driven off to work.
Springfield, Ohio
It’s night time at a carnival and a young couple is looking at all the games and attractions. They come across a small tent with a very bored looking Bradley stood in it. In front of his is a light bulb plugged into a device. He is flicking the light bulb on and off with his powers. The woman from the couple asks what he does and he says that the aim is to turn the light off for a prize. She hands over some money and then immediately flicks a switch next to the light. But the light stays on. He smiles at her so she unplugs the power cable to the device, but again the light stays on. The young man walks forward and cockily unscrews the bulb from its housing. But the light stays on still and it burns his fingers, causing him to drop it. The man says it’s a stupid trick but Bradley tells his it’s not a trick. The irritated man drags his girlfriend away.
Later on, after the carnival has shut down for the night, Bradley is in his caravan. The inside of it is full of electrical gadgets and lights, all operating and whirring around. He pours himself a drink and starts playing with the various devices. There’s a knock at his door but he yells that the show’s over. The person knocks again and Bradley gets up and repeats the show’s over as he opens the door. When sees Victor standing at his door, all the electrical gadgets in his room stop moving. Victor says the show’s never over and then asks if Bradley’s going to invite him in. Bradley says that he never said anything about what happened to anyone and he’s living a different life now. Victor unscrews one of the bulbs and stares at it for a few seconds. Bradley says he always thought it would be Wade who would come knocking at his door. Victor says Wade’s gone now and Bradley says he isn’t afraid of him or dying. Victor gets up close to Bradley and asks how he knows if he’s never tried it before. With that, he attacks Bradley and all the lights in the carnival go out.
Back in the Canadian Rockies, Logan wakes up and screams. Kayla is stood away from the bed with a scared look on her face. Logan looks down to see his bone claws are unsheathed and so he retracts them. Kayla asks which of the wars he was dreaming of and Logan says all of them. She goes up to him, puts her hand on his face and asks him to tell her. He spots some claw marks on her arm but she tells him it’s just a scratch. They lie back down and she says they will need new sheets again.
The next day at the lumber yard, Logan where is working a car drives through it. Before it gets to him, Logan recognizes who it is from the smell. Stryker gets out and Logan walks over to him. Stryker says he hasn’t aged a day and Logan puts it down to clean living. Stryker asks if he remembers Agent Zero, who is stood next to him. Logan asks him if he’s still shooting first and asking questions later. Quick as a flash, Zero takes a gun out of his jacket pocket, shoots the cigar Logan was smoking and then puts the gun away again. Stryker says he has a job for him but Logan says he has one. Zero asks if he means a lumberjack and says he earns $18,000 a year. Logan corrects him to $18,500 and points out he hasn’t had to kill anyone in a while. Zero asks if he’s starting to miss it and Logan says he is right now. Stryker tells Zero to get back to the car.
Stryker says he isn’t proud of how things ended between them. Logan says the conversation’s over and barges past him. Stryker follows him and says playing Little House on the Prairie with a school teacher just isn’t him. Logan asks him what he wants and Stryker hands over a newspaper with a report about Bradley’s murder on the front page. He says Wade was killed before that and he believes someone is hunting down their old team. Logan asks if there’s anyone else and Stryker says as far as he knows Victor’s safe. Whoever it is has names and addresses. Logan says he can take care of himself and walks to his car. Stryker says this isn’t about Logan, his country needs him. As Logan drives off, Stryker yells after him that he knows who he is.
Later on, Logan is waiting for Kayla outside her school. As they drive home, she asks him what’s wrong and he tells her about Stryker. When she asks him what Stryker wanted after all these years, Logan replies that it’s because he’s the best at what he does and what he does isn’t very nice. Kayla tells him he isn’t and animal and what he has is a gift. Logan mutters that you can return a gift.
They turn a corner and come across two cars parked in the road with the drivers talking to each other. Logan beeps the horn but the talking men ignore him. He goes to get out but Kayla begs him to stay inside. He says he’s just going to ask nicely and walks over to the men. He asks if the men mind letting him by and one of them asks if he’s in some kind of hurry. After some cross words the man goes to punch Logan but Logan grabs his fist before it hits him. He starts to crush the man’s fist, almost popping his claws. Kayla rushes over to them, puts a hand on each of them and tells them to calm down. The man says that her boyfriend has a big mouth. Kayla says he has a big temper too and pleads with him to let them pass. The man goes back to his car and drives off. Logan asks how she did that and she says she has powers of persuasion; it’s a gift. Logan asks if she used those powers on him and she points out he didn’t stay in the car.
Later that night, as a full moon rises over the cabin, Kayla asks Logan why the moon is so lonely. Logan doesn’t know and asks her why. She tells him it’s because she used to have a lover. She says his name was Kuekuatsheu and they used to live in the spirit world together. Kyla hands Logan and beer and sits on his lap as she continues her story. She tells him that the spirits used to wonder the skies together but one of the other spirits was jealous. Trickster wanted the moon for himself, so he told Kuekuatsheu that the moon had asked for flowers. He told him to go to the human world to pick her some wild roses, but Kuekuatsheu didn’t realize that once you leave the spirit world you can never go back. Now, every night he looks up at the moon and howls her name but he can never touch her again. Logan says that “Coo-coo-ka-choo” got screwed. She corrects him and says that the name means “the wolverine.”
The next day Logan goes to work, chopping down trees. Kayla drives back home but stops the car when she comes across Victor standing in the road. Victor, looking sinister, slowly walks towards the car. Meanwhile, Logan stops the work he is doing and smells the air. He turns and goes into the nearby undergrowth to find the decapitated head of a wolverine. He looks around to see claw marks slashed across some of the trees around him. Saying Kayla’s name, he rushes off through the forest. Victor approaches the car and takes out his claws and slowly cuts up the metalwork as he walks past it. As Logan runs through the forest, he spots Kayla’s car but finds no one in it. Panic-stricken, he sees the claw marks on the car and then runs off shouting her name. He spots something lying on the floor in the distance and he stops for a moment. As he gets closer, he sees Kayla lying on the ground, covered in blood. There is no response as he cradles her limp body. In anger, he roars into the air.
Later on, Victor is sat in a very simple looking bar, carving a smiley face into the woodwork with his claws. The barman says to Victor that he isn’t from around here, causing Victor to laugh and ask what gave him away. Before the man can answer, Logan’s voice can be heard screaming for Victor. Victor asks the barman if he has insurance on the place. The barman says no and Victor tells him it’s too bad. Logan’s voice gets closer and then the doors to the bar fling open and a furious Logan enters. The people in the bar stop and stare at him as Victor says to “look what the cat dragged in.” The barman says to take it outside but, when Logan unsheathes his bone claws, everyone in the room, expect Victor, runs out.
Logan glares at Victor and asks why. Victor chuckles as he gets off his stool. He says Logan doesn’t call or write and then asks how he is supposed to get his attention. Victor extends his claws and the two men start snarling. They rush towards each other but Victor manages to grab Logan by the waist and hurls him through the door. He immediately picks Logan up off the floor and throws him into a pile of logs that are stacked up nearby. A violent battle ensues with Logan being severely beaten. As Logan lies on the floor, Victor says he is disappointed in him. Logan picks himself up but Victor tells him to stay down. Logan attacks him and manages to stab him through the shoulder, but Victor digs his claws into Logan’s chest and the two men growl. Logan pulls his claws out and then immediately stabs him again and throws him into the pile of logs. Victor somersaults through the air and lands on his feet on the logs. Logan runs over to them but Victor breaks the chains holding them up and they tumble down onto him.
Victor jumps down and picks Logan up. Calling him “Jimmy,” he asks Logan if she was worth it. Before he can answer, Victor throws him in the path of a passing lorry. With Logan lying on the floor, Victor walks over to him and says to Logan that they are not like them. Logan tells Victor he is nothing like him but Victor tells him he is… he just doesn’t know it yet. Victor slams his foot down on Logan’s claws, snapping them off. Logan cries in pain and passes out as an approaching ambulance is heard.
In the emergency room, a group of doctors hurriedly deal with an unconscious Logan. One of them says he has multiple knife wounds but, when they cut his shirt off, they find nothing. One of the doctors asks another if it’s a joke but Logan suddenly wakes up. Logan grabs one of them by the scruff of the neck and asks “where is he?” The doctor doesn’t know who he is talking about but before Logan can say Stryker gets his attention. He tells Logan he can help him but Logan grabs him by the scruff of the neck as well. He pins Stryker against the wall and tells him that for six years no one knew him. Then he shows up and the next day she’s dead. Struggling to breathe, Stryker says he tried to warn him. Logan yells at him and asks why he didn’t say it was Victor. Stryker says he didn’t know but when Logan starts to choke him he swears on his son’s life that he didn’t know.
Logan lets him go and Stryker drops to the floor. Stryker says that Victor’s outbursts were becoming too public and he had to let him go. Victor thought he betrayed him and then went AWOL, saying he was going after all of them. Logan tells Stryker he didn’t come to warn him… he came to save his own ass. He starts walking away but Stryker goes after him. He asks Logan what his plan is and tells him he can’t beat him. Logan says he is going to find him and kill him. Stryker tells him he can give him the tools to defeat him, causing Logan to stop and turn to him. Stryker continues and says they can still save the others. When Logan asks if he means he can save himself, Stryker ignores him and says he can promise him two things. He will endure more pain than he can imagine but he will have his revenge. Logan says if he is going with him then he is going for blood. There will be no laws or codes of conduct. Stryker will point him in the right direction and then get out of his way.
A helicopter flies through mountainous terrain. It follows the path of a large gorge with a river flowing through it. It passes by a concealed entrance, built into the cliff face. Inside, Logan is lying on a metal table that is being held over a tank of water. He in injected with something and a female doctor draws marks on him skin, indicating points for the procedure. She tells him that when it starts to focus on the reason why he is doing this. Maybe it will get him through it. He tells her he’s been through worse, but with an air of confidence she tells him he hasn’t. She walks away and tells Stryker she’s ready. Stryker tells Logan that they are going to make him indestructible but first they need to destroy him. He asks Logan if he remembers what they were looking for in Africa. He says that they found it and it allowed him to create a metal compound so strong that it will be able to withstand virtually anything. He calls it adamantium. Stryker says he can’t put Victor down himself, to kill him Logan is going to have to embrace the other side and become the animal. Logan tells him to do it. Before he leaves, Stryker goes to give him back his dog tags. Logan tells him he wants new ones and when Stryker asks what he wants them to say he replies “Wolverine.”
With his new tags on, Logan is prepped for the procedure. A number of high ranking military generals arrive to witness the experiment. Standing in an observation area above the main laboratory floor, Stryker tells the generals that today they are going to witness medical history with the creation of Weapon X. One of the men, General Munson, asks what the X stands for and Stryker tells him it’s the Roman numeral for 10. He finishes by saying that they are about to bond adamantium to Weapon X’s skeleton. The procedure begins and Logan is lowered into the water. Various pieces of equipment are activated and a series of needles around Logan start to whir and move into position. They hover over him for a few seconds until the go-ahead is given and the procedure continues. The needles jab into him and the liquid adamantium flows into his skeleton.
Logan struggles with the pain and so he tries to focus on Kayla and his feelings about Victor. As his body temperature starts to rise, General Munson asks Stryker why Logan is thrashing around and not sedated. Stryker says he feels pain but anaesthesia won’t work on him, which is why he had to volunteer. The doctors continue to monitor his heart rate and body temperature as they increase. The x-rays show the adamantium being grafted on at extremely high temperatures. The doctors become worried but Stryker says he can do it.
Logan’s last thoughts before slipping unconscious are of Kayla telling him the story about the moon. The procedure is completed but Logan flat lines. The adamantium on his bones cools down and all the doctors and generals stare in silence. At the back of the room, Agent Zero mutters that it looks like Logan can die after all. After a while of no heartbeat, Stryker turns away with a look of defeat on his face. Then, the heart rate monitor suddenly picks up a faint heart beat and he turns back again. Everyone stares in amazement as his heart rate rises back to normal again. The doctors confirm the procedure was successful and that his body suffered no rejection. Stryker is happy that it worked and Zero asks if they are going to take him to the island. Stryker thinks for a second or two and then tells him no. The bonding worked so they will use his DNA for eleven. Stryker gives the order for the doctors to erase his memory.
However, Logan can hear what the men are saying, thanks to his super senses. He wakes up and starts to struggle in the tank. As he unsheathes his new adamantium-laced claws, Zero tells Stryker that he may have heard him. Logan breaks free of his confines and stands up, roaring as he does so. The generals back away and Zero fires at him, however the bullets just ricochet off his metal skull. Naked, he jumps out of the tank and attacks the nearby guards. Zero continues to fire at him but it’s not use. Logan escapes through a door before it slams shut. Using his new metal claws, he rips through another door and steps outside. He stares at his claws for a few seconds before continuing. He jumps off a waterfall into the river below. Inside, Stryker is shocked by what just happened. He turns to Zero and tells him to hunt Logan down and to take his head off.
A pickup truck drives across a small bridge in the mountains. An elderly couple is inside and they drive up to their secluded farm. They stop the car when the naked Logan runs in front of them and into their barn. Heather tells her husband, Travis, who carefully enters the structure, armed with a shotgun. He eventually finds an exhausted Logan crouching down in one of the horse stalls. At gunpoint, he asks Logan what he’s doing and Logan replies that it’s cold. Travis points out that he has no clothes on and asks if he’s on drugs. He invites Logan to the house and offers him some of his son’s old clothes. He chucks a sheet at him and tells him to cover up before he gives his wife a heart attack.
Later that night, Logan is washing up in the bathroom of the farmhouse. He feels his arm and unsheathes his claws to inspect the metal. He starts grinding his claws together but, when there’s a knock on the door, he spins around and accidentally slices through the sink, shelf and radiator. Travis asks if Logan is okay and says that dinner is on the table. Logan struggles with the mess he made and then says he will be there in a minute. He goes downstairs and enters the kitchen, holding a chunk of the sink. Travis and Heather look shocked and they tell him to set it down on the side. He thanks them for taking him in and Travis says it wouldn’t have been decent to leave him outside to freeze. Logan muses at the use of the word “decent,” saying he isn’t really used to that word.
Logan tells Travis he has a nice motorcycle outside. Travis perks up and asks Logan if he knows about them, to which Logan says his favorite is a 48 pan-head. He bought one new off the line. Travis tells him he is a little young for that. Heather says to Logan he must be tired and he should get a good night’s sleep. Travis chips in that it will be in the barn as there’s nothing he can break out there. Later on in the barn, Logan sits on a make-shift bed, thinking about the story Kayla told him about the moon.
The next day, Logan is sat on the motorcycle, stuck in deep thought. Travis enters and asks if he slept well. He then tells Logan he looks like a man who is about to do a bad thing. He asks Logan if he knows what happens when a man goes looking for blood. When Logan asks him for the answer, Travis says that “they find it.” He says that everyone has a choice but Logan tells him his got taken away. Travis just swears at that concept. He gives Logan his son’s leather jacket to try on. The jacket is dark brown with orange/tan banding on it. It fits perfectly and he thanks Travis. Travis asks if he wants to take his bike for a spin to test the suspension. Logan smiles and sits on the bike again but, as he does so, his weight causes the seat and the suspension to struggle. Travis exclaims at how heavy he is and Logan says he put on a little weight recently.
Heather enters with some breakfast and tells him the jacket fits him beautifully. She starts to speak again but the window suddenly shatters along with the jug on her tray. They all stare for a second before she is shot in the back again and falls to the floor. Another shot comes through the window and it hits Travis in the chest. Logan catches him as he falls down dead. Agent Zero is on a small hillside a little way off with a sniper rifle. He radios to his base that Weapon X is in the barn and he just murdered two civilians. At the base, Stryker tells him to blow him to bits.
A helicopter takes off behind Zero and heads for the barn. It takes aim and launches a missile. The barn explodes but, as it does so, Logan rides out of the flames on Travis’ motorcycle. The smug look on Zero’s face is wiped off and he orders the helicopter to come get him. The helicopter flies past him and he runs along the hilltop and jumps into it. Logan makes his way across the rugged farmland on the bike, closely followed by the helicopter. Stryker is watching it all go down from his base, thanks to cameras placed on the side of the helicopter.
As Logan drives into the forest, Agent Zero fires a mounted machine gun at him. Logan evades the bullets and comes out into the open again. Zero radios down to another team, who are in a jeep. They burst out of the undergrowth next to Logan and continue the chase. Logan finds himself on a dirt road and is quickly joined by another jeep. The second jeep is in front of him and it has a machine gun attached to it. The man operating the gun goes to fire, but Logan chops the end of the gun off with his claws as he passes it. Logan accelerates away from the two jeeps but, as he heads over the brow of a hill, the helicopter comes over it. Logan slams the brakes on and turns the bike, digging one set of claws into the ground as he does so. The bike spins 180 degrees and Logan drives away from the helicopter but towards the jeeps. The helicopter continues to fire its machine gun at him. Ignoring it for the moment, Logan spots one of the jeeps coming at him and he unsheathes his claws. He drives past it and digs his claws into the side of it. The force causes the jeep to twist and flip over, catapulting it through the air. The helicopter only just manages to avoid the airborne vehicle.
The other jeep comes along and Logan jumps from his bike onto the top of it. He takes control of the machine gun on top and aims it at the helicopter. Agent Zero spots him, though, and fires a missile at the jeep. Logan jumps forward as the missile hits. The jeep is blown up and Logan is sent flying through the air towards the helicopter. As he reaches it, he holds out his claws and slices the rotor blades off it. He jams his claws in the helicopter as it loses control and crashes to the ground. Just before it hits, he jumps clear of the carnage. The helicopter explodes and then bounces along the road for a bit before coming to a stop.
Logan lies on the floor for a few seconds as his injuries quickly heal. As he walks towards the wreckage, he hears Stryker radioing through to Zero, asking if Logan is dead. The pilot is dead and Zero is injured and pinned against the windshield. He radios back, saying he doesn’t know if Logan is dead and that he is in a bad way. Logan grabs the radio off Zero and speaks to Stryker. He says that he tried to have him killed and then asks where Victor is. Stryker says that if he comes back to base then he will explain everything and they can take Victor down together. Logan says that that’s the wrong answer and that, after he kills Victor, he is coming for him. Stryker tells him if he goes down this road he won’t like what he finds. Logan says that he wanted the animal and now he has it.
Logan drops the radio and turns his attention to Zero. He tells them that there were good, innocent people back there. Zero just laughs and Logan walks away he tells him it’s funny how innocent people tend to die around him. Logan stops, pops his claws and then strikes the ground. The sparks he makes set fire to some of the fuel which spilt out of the helicopter. The flames race back to the fuel tanks and they blow up, destroying the helicopter and killing Zero.
Doctor Cornelius, one of the doctors that grafted the adamantium onto Logan, passes Stryker a case. Inside it is a gun with six bullets. He tells Stryker that Zero never stood a chance and the only thing that will take him down is an adamantium bullet. Stryker picks up one of the bullets and tells Cornelius that the facility is compromised and he needs to prepare transport. General Munson tells Stryker that it is turning into a disaster. They just spent half a billion dollars making him indestructible. A younger man enters and tells Stryker the young mutant they have been looking for has been located. Stryker tells Munson that Logan isn’t the only piece of the puzzle. He tells him that the facility needs to be evacuated and that he should go back to Washington.
In a high school, a teenage Scott Summers is sitting in a Spanish class. The teacher stops the lesson and tells him off for wearing his red glasses in class. He says he has a headache but she tells him that he can wear the glasses in detention then.
Logan drives to Las Vegas on the motorcycle. When he gets there, he finds Wraith at a local boxing club. Wraith is in charge and he and Logan talk in his office. He hands Logan a beer and asks if he is sure it’s Victor. Logan says he is and Wraith tells him he’s sorry. Logan goes over to a window and looks down to the main boxing ring room. When he asks what happened to Victor after he left, Wraith tells him that he felt he was abandoned, they all did, but Victor took it the worse. He was hunting and killing everything in front of him. Wraith says he quit a few months later, as he couldn’t deal with rounding them up.
Logan asks what he means and Wraith stands up and goes to walk away. Logan becomes angry and asks what he was talking about. Wraith relents and says they were hunting their own kind and there’s a special place in hell for the things they did. Logan asks why and Wraith tells him that Stryker said they would be making a difference… protecting people from the bad ones. He asks Logan how he is going to take Victor down. Logan asks if he remembers that stuff in Africa and then pops a claw to show Wraith the metal. Wraith asks what they did to him but Logan just says not to ask.
Logan asks him if he knows anything about an island that he heard Zero mention. Wraith says he doesn’t but Dukes may know, as he and Zero were tight. Logan asks where he is and Wraith tells him he’s right here. Logan wants to go see him but Wraith says he doesn’t get there till around four. He goes to the fridge, grabs another beer and warns Logan that Dukes developed a bit of an eating disorder. Everyone has their coping mechanisms but Wraith says he is trying to whoop him back into shape. If Logan wants his help, then he shouldn’t mention his weight.
A short while later two men are fighting in the boxing ring. Wraith is shouting out advice to Fred as he and Logan watch. Suddenly one of the men is hurled out of the ring. As Fred sips triumphantly on a soft drink, Logan stares at him and whispers to Wraith that it looks like the man who ate Fred Dukes. Fred has now gained a LOT of weight and he has huge rolls of fat around his neck and his belly hangs below his shirt. Logan walks up to him and accidentally calls him “fat” before quickly correcting himself to “Fred.” Logan looks at the stretched tattoo on Fred’s arm and says he remembers when the girl was eighty-five pounds. Fred sarcastically says he is still so funny but Logan ignores him and asks where Victor is.
Fred looks uncomfortable and says he has no idea. Logan asks what the island is and then calls Fred “Slim.” Fred looks annoyed by that and tells Logan not to let the door hit him on the way out. Logan climbs up onto the boxing ring and says he isn’t leaving until he tells him where Victor is. He says to do it for old time’s sake and then calls Fred “Bub.” Fred asks if Logan just called him Blob. Logan says no but Fred angrily lunges forward and slams into him. Logan is flung across the room and into one of the other spectators. Wraith teleports over to him and says he told him not to mention his weight. Logan says he didn’t call him Blob, he said “Bub.” Logan gets angry and starts to take off his jacket. But Wraith intervenes and says he has an idea.
Wraith gets Logan inside the ring and hands him some boxing gloves. Logan says it isn’t much of an idea but Wraith points out he is just helping, plus Fred doesn’t like him that much. He says to dance with him a little bit and let him take some of his anger out on him. If he gives him a good fight, then maybe he will tell him everything he wants to know. Logan puts on the gloves and looks at Fred, who is stretching in the other corner of the ring. He says that Fred’s ass is coming out his front and he is likely to have a coronary. He jokingly asks Wraith is there is a stretcher big enough to carry him out.
A bell dings and Logan turns around to be immediately punched in the head by Fred. Logan looks dazed as Wraith tells him it isn’t Fred he’s worried about getting out on a stretcher. Logan squares off against Fred and punches him a few times in the gut but Fred barely responds. Fred punches Logan, floors him and jumps around him. Logan gets back up, punches Fred a few times and is then knocked down again. Fred picks Logan up and head butts him but the metal in Logan’s head stuns him for a few seconds. Logan quickly runs to the corner, climbs onto the ropes and jumps towards Fred. He slams his fist on the top of Fred’s head and Fred falls backwards, breaking most of the boxing ring. Logan jumps on top of him, pops his claws through the glove and asks him where Victor is.
Victor stands outside the high school as Scott writes lines on a board for detention. Victor goes up to the window and taps on it. Scott sees him and immediately runs out of the classroom and down the hallway. Victor comes through the doors at the end and Scott almost runs into him. Victor tells him it’s a little dark for sunglasses as Scott turns and runs. Victor chases him down the hallway, using his super agility to bounce off the walls until he manages to grab Scott by the legs. As Scott falls down, he twists and his glasses come off. His optic beams blast a hole through the school roof. As Scott struggles on the floor he closes his eyes. Victor pins him down as Stryker enters.
Back at the gym, Logan slaps Fred until he wakes up. He asks him where Victor is and a dazed Fred says that he is on the island with Stryker and they run it together. Logan is confused that Victor and Stryker are together. He walks away and thinks about it for a few seconds, trying to contain his rage.
At the school, Stryker walks towards Scott and knocks him out with a taser gun. He tells Victor that all that’s left is Logan and then says he trusts that Victor can handle that. Victor says he did before and Stryker dryly agrees with him. Victor turns to him and asks if their deal still applies. As Stryker walks away, he says of course it does and then tells Victor to bag and tag Scott.
At the gym, Logan asks Fred what the island is. Fred says that it’s where Stryker takes them after Victor has caught them. Logan asks who he means and Fred tells him mutants. He says that the rumor is that Stryker is experimenting on them. He turns to Wraith and asks if he ever wondered what happened to them. Wraith looks sad and says he tried not to. Logan looks stunned as he stares at his fist. He says they killed her so he would let them put adamantium in him. They killed her for an experiment. Getting angry, he goes over to Fred and asks where the island is. When Fred only says that Stryker kept it secret, Logan unsheathes his claws in his face. Fred sees the claws and tells him that a prisoner escaped there once. A man named Remy Lebeau, a street hustler from New Orleans. The guards at the prison called him Gambit because he kept taking their money at poker. Wraith asks what Stryker’s end game is and Fred says he’s taking their powers and trying to combine them. Fred says that’s all he knows, to which Logan threatens to take his head off if he has to come back. He grabs his jacket and walks off. Wraith teleports up to him and says he’s going with him. Logan tells him there’s no redemption where he’s going but Wraith says he wasn’t asking.
The two men drive to New Orleans. It’s night time and there are lots of people in the streets, partying and drinking. They enter into one of the clubs and walk through the crowd. They soon spot a man sitting at a table in the corner, doing card tricks. Wraith is impressed by the feats he is performing with the cards. He tells Logan he will go cover the back in case he tries to escape. Logan says he isn’t going to fight with him but Wraith doesn’t exactly agree. Logan asks him if he thinks he gets in fights with everyone and Wraith simply retorts by asking if dogs kill cats. Wraith leaves and Logan walks to the table. As he approaches it, he sees the men around it are playing poker. Logan asks the mysterious man doing tricks if he is Remy Lebeau. The man asks if he owes Logan money and when he tells him no, the man admits he is Remy. Outside, Wraith looks around and spots Victor walking down one of the nearby alleys.
Logan sits down at the table and Remy asks if he wants to be dealt in. Logan asks what he can get for seventeen dollars. Remy sniggers and tells him a cab ride home. Outside, Wraith teleports into the alley and Sabretooth appears behind him. He asks Wraith if he is his brother’s new babysitter. Wraith turns to him and says he isn’t Bradley, and Victor’s creepy black coat doesn’t scare him. Victor says it worked on Dukes and so Wraith punches him. He quickly teleports behind him and says he will kill Victor before Logan gets the chance. Victor goes to grab him but Wraith teleports away again.
Inside, Remy asks Logan what brings him to the city. Logan tells him Victor Creed, causing Remy to stop dealing the cards. Remy looks nervous for a second and then asks who that is. Logan says it’s the man he is going to kill. He works on an island with a guy named Stryker. He just wants to know where the island is. Remy asks why he would know that and Logan calls him “Gambit” and says he knows who he is. He’s the guy who escaped off the island and he’s the guy who’s going to take him back there. Remy sits back in his chair and stares at Logan.
Outside, Victor and Wraith square off. Victor slowly walks towards Wraith and says there is something he always wanted to tell him. Wraith punches him a few times, teleporting as he does so. He teleports behind Victor but as he materializes Victor spins around and jams his hand into his chest. Victor says he is predictable as Wraith struggles, in pain. He is involuntarily teleporting but he doesn’t move from the position he is in. Victor says he can feel his spin and tells him he never knew he had one. Victor rips his spine out, killing Wraith.
Inside, Remy tells Logan that he has some nice dog tags on. The man who took him wore tags just like them. Gambit stares at Logan and hold up a card. The card starts to glow purple, as do Remy’s irises. Logan tries to calm him down but Remy throws the card and it hits him in the chest. Logan is flung backwards, away from the table. Remy stands up and picks up the deck of cards. He flings them into the air, each one glowing with purple energy. He then telekinetically fires the cards at Logan, smashing him through the wall of the club into the alley behind.
At the end of the alley, Victor is bent over Wraith’s body, taking a blood sample from him. As Logan struggles to his feet, Victor puts the needle into a case. Logan spots Victor and the body of Wraith and stares at him for a few seconds. Remy comes out of the hole in the building and approaches Logan, saying that he spent two years in that hellhole and he isn’t going back. However, Logan just elbows him in the face, dropping the man to the floor.
Logan unsheathes his claws and Victor asks him if he knows how to kill him. Logan tells him he will cut his head off and see if that works. Victor just laughs and the two men run at each other. Victor goes to grab him around the waist like he did before but Logan slides along the floor under him. Victor collides with some garbage cans and falls down. Logan tells him he’s getting slow. They walk towards each other and Victor goes to hit him. Logan stabs him through the hand instead and then jams his other set of claws into his throat. He has Victor pinned up against the wall and he tells him he’s about to die for what he did to her.
However, Remy runs along one of the nearby rooftops. He jumps off it, spinning a staff as he does so. He slams down on the floor, unleashing his powers. A shockwave blasts out from him, smashing up everything in the alley. Victor and Logan are sent flying into the air at opposite ends of the alley. Victor runs away and Logan goes to chase him, but Remy hits Logan with his staff, knocking him to the floor. Remy twirls the staff around, so Logan shows him his claws. They start to fight and Logan slices the staff in half.
Logan ends up on the floor and Gambit climbs up the side of a building and onto the roof. He somersaults across the alley onto a fire escape and starts to run up it. Logan rushes to the base of the fire escape and starts slashing at it. It falls away from the building and Logan continues to furiously hack it apart. The level Remy is on gets lower and lower until the whole thing tilts sideways and he falls to the ground. Logan grabs him and pins him against a wall. He tells Remy he is going to take him to the island where he will kill Victor, Stryker and everyone that he hates in the world. Remy asks if he is really going to kill them and Logan says he will as long as he stays out of his way.
At Stryker’s base he wipes the frost off a cryogenic tube. There is a young boy with different colored eyes in it. General Munson looks under a sheet and asks Stryker if he is looking at Weapon XI. Stryker simply says that it has all of their strengths and none of their weaknesses. He walks towards Munson, going past dozens of other cryogenic tubes. Munson asks Stryker is he really hates them but Stryker replies that he doesn’t. He says after twenty years of working with mutants he just knows what they can do. Munson stares under the sheet at the unconscious Weapon XI. It is Wade Wilson and he has had his head shaved and mouth stitched shut. He has numerous markings drawn on him as well as needles sticking into him.
Stryker tells him they can win the war before it starts and save countless lives. Pre-emptive action is the only action here. The days of sitting on the sidelines are over and now they need to take the fight to the enemy before the enemy brings the fight to them. Munson says he admires Stryker’s passion but this is as far as it goes. Stryker says that Weapon X was a hiccup. Munson tells him they know about his son, the fact he is a mutant and he killed Stryker’s wife. He tells Stryker he shouldn’t have kept it from them.
Stryker gets angry and then immediately calms himself. He says it has nothing to do with his work but Munson doesn’t believe him. He tells Stryker he’s shutting it all down. Stryker turns away and says he is right, but his son simply brought it all home for him. He took an oath to protect the American people from threats, both foreign and domestic. As he says the last part, he takes a katana blade off a tray next to him and stabs Munson in the chest. Munson drops down dead and Stryker places the blade back on the tray.
A small two-man plane flies through a cloudy sky at night. Inside, a sick-looking Logan holds onto a leather strap next to him. Remy smiles and says he doesn’t like flying. Logan tells him to shut up and concentrate on flying. Remy points out that Logan is sweating and so Logan angrily tells him to look where he is going. Logan asks where he got the plane and Remy affectionately taps the control board and says he won her in a game. Remy tells him to relax as they are almost there. As they come out of the clouds, Remy shows him the island… the Three-Mile Island.
They look at the nuclear installation spread across it and Remy says no one will snoop around it, as they think it will turn them into freaks. Remy asks if Logan is ready as it’s now or never. Logan gets up and opens a hatch at the side of the plane. He looks down to see the ocean beneath him. Logan says if it makes Remy feel any better it’s going to hurt. Remy thinks for a second and says it does make it better. They say good luck to each other and then Logan jumps out of the plane into the water.
Inside the base, Stryker goes over to a team of doctors who are working on Weapon XI. He asks one of them how long they will be and she replies a few more hours yet. He looks down to see Weapon X’s eyes which are pinned open using metal devices. Stryker asks if he will respond to his commands and the doctor tells him he will. At an electronic door to the base, one of Logan’s claws silently sides past the lock and he enters. He keeps himself crouched down and in the shadows. Logan sees two men carrying an unconscious Scott into another room. He looks up at a viewing window to see movement inside. He finds a stairwell and goes up. He slowly walks into the room where the doctors are working on Weapon XI. Logan looks through the viewing window to see the entrance to the room where the men took Scott.
Without turning towards him, Stryker welcomes Logan back to the war. Logan says that before he guts him he wants to know why. Stryker says he wants Logan’s powers for the pool, the mutant killer… Deadpool. He spent years searching for the right combination of powers than can co-exist in the same body without ripping it apart. His son was the first piece of the puzzle and Logan was the last. He tells Logan it was him he who made Weapon XI possible. He asked Logan to help but he said he wanted the quiet life. He says that nothing motivates the men in his family like revenge.
Stryker leans against a desk and then stares past Logan. Logan turns to see what he is looking at and sees Kayla standing behind him. Logan is stunned and he asks who she is. She doesn’t reply, but Stryker says she’s real. Logan kneels down on the floor in shock. A little way off, Victor watches the scene unfold. Stryker asks if Logan thought they would just let him walk away. He’s a dangerous man and they like to keep an eye on dangerous men. Stryker tells Kayla to tell Logan about the day she died.
After a few seconds of hesitation, she says they gave her a shot of hydrochlorothiazide. It reduces the heart rate so low it appears you have flat lined. Victor then took a bag of her blood and tipped it on her and left her there for Logan to find. Stryker tells Logan not to be angry at her, as she’s a real credit to their species. Logan is surprised to find out she is a mutant. Before he can say anything, Stryker tells him that Kayla’s sister has diamond hard skin. Whereas Kayla’s mutation is tactohypnosis… she can influence people as long as she touches them. Quite a useful tool in a seduction; it was never real. Kayla starts to come forward to object but Stryker shows her a gun he has concealed in his jacket and she remains silent.
Logan looks at her and says it was real for him. Stryker says that he told him if he came down this road he wouldn’t like what he found. Logan tells Kayla that he got the story about the moon backwards. He thought she was the moon and he was the wolverine. But she was really the trickster and he was the fool who got played. Kayla starts to cry as Logan says he should have known but he ignored his instincts. He ignored what he really was but that won’t even happen again. With that, he gets up and walks outside.
Inside, Kayla approaches Stryker and pleads with him. She reminds him that he said he would let her sister go if she helped him. Stryker tells her it’s not that simple. Her mutation is unique and they need more time to analyze it. Victor suddenly jumps down from the rafters. He is annoyed at Stryker that he let Logan go. Victor says he can’t let him go and Stryker tells him he can’t beat him. Victor demands he be given the adamantium and when Stryker starts to make excuses he furiously tells him they had a deal. Stryker says he wouldn’t survive the operation but Victor says he can take anything Logan can. Stryker tells Victor he can’t and that he’s his favorite soldier and his time will come.
Kayla tells Victor that Stryker is using them and she tries to run away but Victor grabs her around the neck. She screams and outside Logan stops when he hears it. Holding Kayla off the floor Victor says to her maybe this time she should die for real. She grips his hand and tells him to let her go. He says her mind games won’t work on him though.
Suddenly, Logan enters the room again and screams Victor’s name. Victor drops Kayla and the two men run at each other in a feral rage. Logan impales Victor through the chest and pins him to the floor. Victor pushes Logan away but after a brutal skirmish they end up smashing through the viewing window into the room below. They land with Logan on top, stabbing Victor in the chest with both sets of claws. Logan removes one set of claws and puts it in front of Victor’s face. Victor laughs and says all the rage feels good. He goads Logan to try and kill him but Kayla appears in the window behind him. She tells Logan he isn’t an animal but Victor disagrees. He continues to try and goad Logan into finishing him but Logan can’t do it. He retracts his claws and punches Victor, knocking him out.
Kayla comes down and tells Logan they have her sister. She says she didn’t trick him into loving her and it was real for her too. She starts crying and says she’s sorry but they have her sister. Logan asks where she is and Kayla shows him the room with the caged children in. Watching the scene, Stryker tells one of the doctors to activate Weapon XI. The doctor says the bonding process isn’t complete but he orders her to do it anyway.
Logan and Kayla enter the cells and see lots of teenagers wearing red jumpsuits, trapped in small cages. Some of them are being restrained in special equipment to stop them using their powers to escape. After staring at them for a few seconds, he runs down the line of cells, breaking the locks with his claws. Kayla rushes to her sister, a young blonde girl, and gives her a big hug. Kayla gathers the children and Logan decides to help them escape. He takes Kayla’s hand and leads the way.
Stryker goes to a conference room and brings up footage of them escaping on a monitor. He watches as they make their way across a room, only to see the hanger doors at the other end open. Weapon XI stands in the doorway, staring back at them. His mouth has now been fused over with skin and he still has numerous lines drawn over his body. Wolverine unsheathes his claws but Weapon XI unsheathes a katana from out of his arm. Logan tells Kayla to take the kids another way out. After a little hesitation, she turns around and leaves with the kids.
Logan asks Weapon XI if he’s Wade but the man just stares blankly back at him. Logan jokes that it looks like Stryker finally found a way to shut him up. Stryker is viewing what Weapon XI is seeing through a computer screen. He types “engage” into the computer and Weapon XI walks towards Logan. Logan tells him he doesn’t have to do it but, when he gets no response, he says that “maybe he does.” They start to fight and Logan stabs Weapon XI in the chest. However, as soon as he removes his claws, the wounds heal up immediately. Logan looks shocked and Weapon XI manages to knock him to the floor.
Elsewhere, Kayla and the kids are escaping. One of the guards, standing in the viewing window, starts to fire on them. They duck for cover as Kayla’s sister, Emma, develops diamond skin. She acts as a shield to her sister. As they duck down, Scott shouts to them that he can help. He is currently wearing a blindfold to stop his eye beams. Kayla tells her sister to go help him and so she turns to diamond and runs over to him. Scott hides behind her and they position themselves as the guards continue to fire at them. When they are ready, she tells Scott to go and he lifts up his blindfold. He screams as his optic beams blast out, hitting all the guards in the window.
His eyes closed again, he asks Emma is he got them and she tells him he did, as she stares at the window, slightly stunned. Emma turns to Kayla and says they should go. Kayla says she can’t as she needs to stay there. She orders her sister to take the rest of the kids and go. As Emma runs off with the kids, Kayla takes her hand away from her stomach to reveal a gunshot wound.
Wolverine and Weapon XI continue to fight. Wolverine manages to give him the slip and he runs off. He uses his claws and climbs up one of the huge cooling towers. Stryker is watching the monitors and he directs Weapon XI to go after him.
Emma and the rest of the kids are running through the tunnels of the complex. They come to a t-junction and she doesn’t know which way to go. Scott suddenly hears a man’s voice in his head telling him to go left. Scott tells Emma they should go left and she points out he can’t see. He tells her to trust him and he leads them down the left hand tunnel.
Wolverine makes it to the top of the cooling tower. He looks down at Weapon XI and coaxes him into coming after him. However, Weapon XI teleports away and reappears behind Logan. Realizing what just happened, Logan turns to stab him but Weapon XI immediately teleports away again. Logan almost falls off the cooling tower but just manages to regain his balance. Weapon XI reappears and the two men continue their hand-to-hand fight. Weapon XI manages to flip Logan on the floor and then pin him face down by stabbing him with both katanas.
Stryker orders him to decapitate Logan and so Weapon XI removes a katana and readies himself. However, before he can swing the blade down, Victor appears from behind him and stops him. He pushes Weapon XI off the towers and Logan goes with him. Weapon XI teleports away and Victor just manages to catch hold of Logan. As he pulls Logan up, Victor says nobody kills him but him. Weapon XI teleports in-between them, kicks them a few times and then teleports away again.
Logan shouts to Victor to go back-to-back. They do so and Weapon XI appears in front of Logan. He starts back flipping towards him but then teleports to Victor’s side. He launches a quick teleporting assault on the two men – appearing, making a strike and disappearing again within the blink of an eye. Both men are being beaten until Victor manages to grab Weapon XI by the neck. Weapon XI stabs him through the chest and so Victor pushes him towards Logan, who stabs him in the back. Weapon XI teleports away again and reappears on the other side of the cooling tower.
Suddenly, Weapon XI develops black diamonds around his eyes and his irises glow red. He shoots an optic beam out towards the two men. They dive for cover as it blasts a chunk of the cooling tower out. He fires again but Logan stops the beam with his claws. Weapon XI continuously fires the beam, forcing Logan to the edge of the tower. Logan manages to reflect the beam back at him, destroying the concrete under Weapon XI. Logan falls off the tower but manages to dig his claws into the side before falling too far.
Weapon XI is knocked to the floor and so Victor rushes at him. However, he turns over and blast Victor away with his optic beams. Victor is thrown to the floor and Weapon XI walks over to him and fires his beams directly at him. Victor is pinned down as Weapon XI continues his attack. Logan climbs up to the top of the tower again and runs over to them. As he approaches Weapon XI, he jumps and swings his fist. Weapon XI turns around just as Logan slices through his neck. Weapon XI grabs hold of his neck and Logan kicks him off the tower. As he falls, he continues to fire his optic beam. His head falls away from his body, spinning as it goes. The beams blast through the tower, seriously damaging it.
In the tunnels, Scott is still leading the kids. Emma tells him it can’t be the way but he says it is. She asks how he knows and he says he just does. In his office, Stryker takes the adamantium gun out of its case and loads the bullets into it. A doctor walks in and she says it won’t kill him. He tells her Logan’s brain may heal but his memories won’t.
On the top of the cooling tower, Logan helps Victor up. Logan says it doesn’t change anything between them… they’re done. Victor says they could never be done; they are brothers and brothers look out for each other. Victor jumps off the cooling tower as it starts to crack and collapse. Logan looks around him and does the same. He slams into the ground as the cooling tower falls down around him. A huge chunk of the tower starts to fall directly where he lies. Before he can do anything, Remy suddenly jumps towards it and smashes it up. As he lands, he smiles and asks if he missed him. He walks towards the relieved Logan and says that when he said he was going to kill everyone he thought he was exaggerating. Logan asks if he looks like a man who exaggerates.
Logan’s attention is suddenly caught by Kayla’s faint voice. He tells Remy to go help the kids who are trying to get off the island. Logan runs through the clouds of dust and comes across Kayla lying on the floor. He spots the gunshot wound on her stomach that she is holding her hand over. She tells him she loves him and they kiss. She tells him she’s cold and he picks her up so they can leave. They walk through the rubble towards Remy’s plane, which has landed just off the shore of the island.
However, Stryker comes up behind him and fires the adamantium gun at him. Kayla screams as Logan drops to his knees. Stryker fires again, hitting him in the back. Logan puts Kayla on the floor and screams in rage. He unsheathes his claws and rushes at Stryker. Stryker fires again, hitting Logan in the shoulder. Stryker starts to run away and so Logan runs up a chunk of debris to cut him off. He jumps off the debris but Stryker shoots again. Logan drops to the floor, with a gunshot wound in the forehead. Stryker walks up to the unconscious Logan and shoots him point-blank in the head.
Stryker then walks over to Kayla and aims the gun at her. However, he suddenly turns the gun around and puts it to his chin. Kayla has a hand on his leg and is controlling him. She tells him she should make him pull the trigger but that would make them no better than him. She tells him to throw the gun away, which he does so. She then commands him to walk until his feet bleed, and then keep walking. With that, he turns around and walks away.
The kids finally come out of the tunnels and into the open air. As they do so, they see a military-style helicopter in front of them. A bald man steps off and walks towards them. The man speaks into Scott’s mind and introduces himself as Charles Xavier and tells him he is a mutant like he is. Scott telepathically says he can hear his thoughts and Xavier replies that he can hear his too. Xavier then speaks and says to everyone they are safe. As Remy catches up with them, he watches as the kids board the helicopter.
Logan eventually regains consciousness and his bullet wounds heal up. He sits up with a confused expression on his face and he looks down at his dog tags. He sees the name “Logan” written on one side and “Wolverine” written on the other. Remy comes up to him and tells him the kids are safe. He suddenly spots the wounds healing on Logan’s forehead and realizes something bad has happened. Logan asks who he is and Remy tells him he’s the guy who brought his there.
Logan becomes annoyed and grabs Remy, demanding to know where he is. Remy says that he’s a friend, to which Logan asks what his name is. Remy tells him it’s Logan. Remy tells Logan he needs to trust him and they need to go. He leads Logan towards the plane but they come across the body of Kayla lying on the floor. Logan checks her pulse but sees that she’s dead. Remy asks if he knows her but he says no. They hear sirens in the distance and Remy says that they are not going to like what Logan has done to the place and they should go. Logan says he’ll find his own way and Remy wishes him luck and leaves. Logan stays with Kayla’s body for a few more seconds and then leaves just as the police arrive.
A while later, Stryker is walking down a road. His shoes are falling apart and his feet are bleeding. A military vehicle drives up to him and some soldiers get out. They get his attention and he stops. They inform him he is wanted in connection with the death of General Munson.
(later) Wolverine is at a bar in Japan, drinking shots. The waitress asks him if he is drinking to forget and he tells her he’s drinking to remember.
Characters:
Logan/James Howlett/Wolverine
Victor Creed/Sabretooth
William Stryker
Kayla Silverfox
John Wraith
Fred Dukes/Blob
Bradley
David North/Agent Zero
Wade Wilson/Weapon XI
Remy Lebeau/Gambit
Professor Cornelius
Carol Hines
Numerous doctors
General Munson
Military commanders
Emma/Kayla’s sister
Captive children
Scott Summers
Heather Hudson
Travis Hudson
John Howlett
Elizabeth Howlett
Thomas Logan
African diamond dealer
African soldiers
African villagers
Carnival couple
Soldiers
Teacher
Pupils
Emergency room doctors
Barman
Logging company workers
Notes:
This was the fourth film to be released in the X-Men franchise. Since then, two further X-Men films set before the events of this one has been released, as well as a sequel to this film set after X-Men 3.
The movie grossed just over $370 million worldwide.
The in-movie timeline goes…
X-Men: First Class (2011)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
X-Men (2000)
X-Men 2 (also referred to as X2 or X-Men United) (2003)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
The Wolverine (2013)
Whilst being made after X-Men 2, which first introduced Stryker and expanded on Wolverine’s past, this film is set approximately 15 years before the initial X-Men trilogy. The only real indication for the time frame is the fact Cyclops appears to be about 16-17 here and in the first X-Men film he was in his early 30’s.
“I’m the best at what I do and what I do isn’t very nice” is Wolverine’s tagline.
Alongside “Emma” and Scott there are numerous other mutants being held by Stryker. Whilst none of them are identified, there are some whose physical characteristics or powers can hint at a possible comic counterpart. There is a boy with ginger/red hair whose mouth is strapped shut. He could be Banshee, although X-Men: First Class would go on to have Banshee as a main character. A boy who can spin around incredibly fast could be Riptide, but again he appeared in X-Men: First Class as an adult. There is also a boy with white/blonde hair who is kept restrained off the floor in a harness due to his immense speed. He would most likely be Quicksilver. Although, at the time of writing this Quicksilver is due to be featured in X-Men Days of Future Past set for a 2014 release. There are others such as a lizard-like boy (possibly Toad?) and a girl whose power is either extreme cold or she is being subjected to it to keep her powers at bay.
A hidden ending to the film shows Wolverine in Japan. The second film to star Wolverine simply titled The Wolverine was released in July 2013. It was set after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand.
In one of the cryogenic tubes Jason, Stryker’s son, can be seen. Jason first appeared in X-Men 2 as a disabled telepath who could cast illusions into people’s minds. He is loosely based on the comic character Mastermind.
The motorcycle Logan mentions as buying new off the line was first produced in 1948.
In theory, an adamantium bullet fired from an adamantium gun wouldn’t be able to get through Logan’s adamantium skull. Whilst the bullet would be durable, there still wouldn’t be sufficient force behind it to get through the metal.
The Three Mile Island is an island situated in Pennsylvania that houses a number of nuclear reactors. It rose to fame in 1979 when one of the reactors had a meltdown.
Major differences from the comics
Whilst some variation between the comics and the films is to be expected, the following are some of the particularly noteworthy differences…
In the comics, Sabretooth and Wolverine are not brothers. Whilst their true relationship has remained a mystery for years and a family connection has been hinted at, it has been said numerous times they are not brothers.
The old couple Wolverine takes shelter with is listed as Heather and Travis Hudson. In the comics, Heather Hudson goes by the name Vindicator and is part of the superhero team Alpha Flight. She is also married to James Hudson, not Travis. The movie version could easily be her mother or grandmother, although this is purely guesswork.
Emma Frost doesn’t have a sister called Kayla. Her sisters are Cordelia and Adrienne, plus she has a brother called Christian. Then again, this version of Emma is unlikely to be the real Emma Frost… see below for more.
Fred Dukes goes by the name Blob in the comics and his power gives him immense size and a gravity-style power to go with it. The movie version is just super strong and he isn’t over-weight initially. It’s only afterwards he visually takes on the characteristics of the Blob.
In the comics, Stryker is actually a reverend and he has nothing to do with the Weapon X program. The Weapon X program has had numerous leaders over the years but the likes of Malcolm Colcord and Dr. Cornelius are the most notable. Dr. Cornelius does make an appearance in the film but only as cameo role alongside fellow Weapon X doctor Carol Hines.
Whilst it isn’t stated in the film itself, Kayla is listed as Kayla Silverfox in the credits. Silverfox was a notable love of Wolverine’s whom Sabretooth seemingly killed. This event was called in question when another woman, for all intents the same Silverfox, inexplicably appeared without explanation and with a very different personality. However, the Silverfox in the comics wasn’t called Kayla and she didn’t have hypnosis powers.
The Wade Wilson of this film was supposed to be a pre-experimented Deadpool. During the film, he is given the powers of other mutants and unleashed on the world as Weapon XI. The end result bears very little in common with the Deadpool from the comics. Whilst initially he was talkative and annoying like Deadpool, the movie Wade Wilson had his mouth sewed shut. Deadpool never displayed optic beams in the comics or the katanas in his arms. Deadpool can teleport but only by technological means. The scarring all over his body is accurate but in the comics it is due to cancer. Ultimately, the movie version started off similar to how Deadpool started in the comics and then veered off into an entirely new character.
The current estimate for comic Wolverine’s birth date is 1882. However, in the film it would be approximately 1832-3 given that the young Wolverine looks around 12-13 years old in 1845.
The character Dominic Monaghan plays is referred to as Bradley. In the comics, his full name is Christopher Bradley, otherwise known as Bolt. In the films, he appears to be a technopath but in the comics he can create electricity.
Gambit has nothing to do with the Weapon X project in the comics.
Agent Zero aka David North is more commonly known as Maverick in the comics. However, he did go by Agent Zero for a short period.
Continuity issues between films
When the film was released, the Emma in it was said to be Emma Frost. In the credits, she is simply listed as Emma/Kayla’s sister. It’s only in the promotional material for the film that the full name Emma Frost is used. The diamond form and physical characteristics of the girl who plays her support this. However, a couple of years later, the film X-Men: First Class had January Jones playing Emma Frost, an entirely different character and one much closer to the characters in the comics. The film is set in 1963, before the events of this film, but Jones is about 15 years older than the actress who played her in this film. So the Emma from this film could not be the same Emma Frost.
Whilst it isn’t a continuity issue as such, it seems odd that Sabretooth does not recognize Wolverine when they meet again in X-Men 1. The only explanation must be that at some point between the end of the film and the beginning of the next one Sabretooth loses his memory. A prequel comic book released for X-Men 2 did explore the past between the Wolverine and Sabretooth although little was ultimately revealed. On the other hand, the character of Victor Creed was never referred to as “Sabretooth” in the film, hinting that it is not the same character.