**This article contains SPOILERS for ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’. Do not proceed if you wish to keep the kick-ass cameo contained within the movie a secret until you see the movie.**
In the final trailer for ‘X-Men: Apocalypse,’ you may have spotted an iconic set of claws popping into frame at the very end. Rumors previously spoke about Hugh Jackman reprising the role of Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s follow up to ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’, but now we know for sure that the man once known as James Howlett would indeed be crossing paths with the younger members of the X-Men once again. But which Logan would we be seeing in the latest installment of Fox’s Marvel mutant movies? The film’s writer and director have recently shed some light on that matter.
It may sound like a weird thought at first, but Wolverine has lived many lives. He was a soldier, a samurai, a teacher, a leader, and probably much more. So the question is pretty valid and it really refers to the point in his life that we’ll find him in when we catch up with him in ‘Apocalypse’. Keeping that in mind, Singer and Simon Kinberg gave us a little teaser while speaking to HeyUGuys about what to expect from Jackman’s cameo in the upcoming film. First, the director tells us something that many True Believers have been waiting sixteen years to hear:
“What’s really nice about his cameo is that he’s the Wolverine you’ve never seen before. He’s truly Weapon X. Not just the guy coming out of the tank, but the weapon.”
Kinberg elaborated further by talking about the process that led them to picking this particular version of Wolverine for this film. He even reveals some of the options that they considered in earlier drafts:
“There were a lot of different versions. I didn’t feel pressured to put Wolverine in this movie because I feel like there’s so many great characters in the X-Men Universe that we probably could have made a movie without Wolverine and it still would have been an engaging film. We talked about a lot of different versions. There was a version where he got introduced in the middle of the movie and became this sort of drill sergeant for the kids, but that felt like it stepped on Raven’s role of becoming the leader to the kids.
There were two or three different incarnations that we tried, but none of them felt quite right. As we were constructing the movie, we always imagined that they were abducted and taken [to Alkali Lake] and that Weapon X would be there and you’d see something that you’ve never really seen in these movies before which is the full on, out of control, animalistic, stripped down Wolverine. That suddenly became very interesting to us and this notion that there could be this moment between him and Jean which could be really rich as well.”
Before anyone jumps on the writer for including that moment with Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey, I can tell you that it was really innocent. In fact, it was a really nice beat that sort of sets the stage for their relationship from that point forward. Sure, that evolves into something more romantic later, but that’s definitely not the case here. As for Weapon X, I still can’t get over how awesome it was to see this particular iteration of Wolverine on the big screen. The sequence as a whole was super brutal and totally captured the fractured state of mind Logan was experiencing at that point in his life. But the second the animal is let out of its cage and you see this take on Weapon X, it’s just hard not to let out a little “Hell yeah!” in the theater. At least, that was my reaction to the excellent work they did with the costume.
Are you excited to finally see a proper Weapon X Wolverine on the big screen thanks to ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’? What other versions of the character do you hope Fox will adapt in the future? And are you disappointed that Hugh Jackman is hanging up the claws after only one more movie? Sound off in the comments.
‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ starring Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Ben Hardy, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Sophie Turner, Lana Condor, Olivia Munn, and Oscar Isaac opens in theaters on May 27, 2016.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences and puns far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.