[Movie] X² info!!

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waaaaaaaaay too much to list here, but be sure to bookmark Coming Attractions' page for all the latest! there's some incredible production stills (un-authorized) and always the latest from the inside. here's a sample with some of my favorite info so far:
"BRIAN COX HAS BEEN CAST AS STRYKER!

"I've seen Brian in person and he looks the part, scary shit.

"I'm working on X2 for a while and have access to a lot of the goodies. I've also been making my way onto some of the sound stages as I hear the sets look awesome. There's been stuff on the walls for a while now, but seeing the real thing nearly knocked me out. Here's what I've seen:

"Magneto's prison is a lot bigger and looks like a lot is going to take place there as there's a whole new big room attached to it at the end of the plastic tunnel." [Editor's note: Shadow X's report matches with Tenacious D's earlier report about the addition to Magneto's prison.]

"The Danger Room is huge, the size of a stadium and very high wall, yet is totally believable that this would be under Xavier's school. It's high tech and has these metal looking walls and glass. (I want a photo of me in there!) It's going to have every kind of weapon shooting at Wolverine and it's going to spin and morph.

"A full reconstruction of the White House and some stuntmen (same stunts as on Minority Report) are practicing in it for the Nightcrawler scenes. The oval office is where the battle ends but it looks like they're going to use every single room in the west wing and it will be like the real thing when it's finished.

"The X-Men's jet is being built inside and out and I've seen the minature for it and it's very sweet on the eyes. I'd love to take that baby home one day!

"There's another huge stage where all of Stryker's headquarters are being built. The drawings look like it might be the biggest of the scenes, huge tunnels, labs and Weapon X!

"From what I see and the people I've met, the crew is young and very with it. These guys know what they are doing. And by the way, Halle Berry is going to be Storm again so you can stop about the Angela Bassett dreams because Halle was walking around the production office just the other day, looking happy to be there."
i know there's a few other X² threads here, but this one needs it's own attention! we can discuss further updates to the CA page here!
Last edited by TC on 22/10/02, 15:06:21, edited 1 time in total.

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check this out:
Dark Horizons wrote:X2: All casting including major roles and cameos are complete on the "X-Men" sequel, and 'April 27' drops by to discuss the look of the big newcomer: "The crew has finalized the look for Nightcrawler. Actor, Alan Cumming is on set as we speak trying out the new duds and make up. He still has not filmed any scenes though, and will not start filming for some weeks from now. All I can tell you about his characters look is that he DOES have only three fingers like in the comics. Through the use of prosthectics it will be done. I'm not too clear on if his feet are like in the comics. What can I say about the fur, tail, eyes? I have no idea how they did it. He really looks creepy and it looks very realistic. Comic fans will be happy".
:mrgreen:

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jakerupe wrote:Brian Cox?!?!?! Not the football player is it?
Time Magazine wrote:56-year-old Cox is probably best remembered by genre fans as the fellow who first portayed another movie villain, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, in Michael Mann's 1986 movie Manhunter (now being remade as Red Dragon.) Cox is currently appearing in theaters in The Bourne Identity and will also be seen later this summer in Ring.

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Comics2Film wrote:Patrick Stewart recently talked with SCI FI Wire about X-Men 2, which he looks at as their "first true adventure" more than as a sequel.

"In many respects I always looked on the first X-Men film as being like a very expensive extended trailer," Stewart, who plays Professor X said. "We were introducing people to who the X-Men were, to what their world was like, who their enemies were and what their conflicts were going to be like.

"X-Men 2 is really extending those themes and notions that were just sketched in in the first film, and we're extending them much more deeply. So, there's my continuing conflict with Magneto [Ian McKellen] and with a new enemy, a very, very dangerous individual [General Stryker] played by Brian Cox," the actor continued.

"And, of course, Xavier is attempting to hold the X-Men together and trying to change humankind's perception of what mutants are, which finally climaxes in the movie with a very strong scene in the Oval Office between Professor Xavier and the president of the United States [played by Cotter Smith]."

X-Men 2 is currently filming in Vancouver and is due in theaters next year.
and......
Comics2Film wrote:Aint-It-Cool-News has done it again. Last night the venerable movie gossip website posted the first ever image of Alan Cumming in full Nightcrawler gear from the upcoming X-Men 2 movie.

Comics2Film has verified with an unimpeachable source that the picture is authentic. Reader Tosham74 sent C2F an altered version of the image, which dropped the original's obnoxious lime-green background in favor of a dark, smoky backdrop. Thanks to Zac P, Kev, InsanityGP and Chris for the assist!

Cumming made an appearance on E! News Daily on Friday. The Comics Continuum reports Cumming was on the show to promote his book, Tommy's Tale, but did take a few minutes to discuss the movie.

"He becomes an X-Men, but the film starts out with him doing a bad thing, but then kind of get better," Cumming said. "I don't know. You're so sworn to secrecy."

Cumming also said that at recent book signings, he is often given comics to sign as well, by fans.

Cumming also talked about the look of Nightcrawler in the movie compared to the comic book character.

"He's blue. He's got pointy ears. He's got yellow eyes. He's got hooves. And a tail," Cumming said. "The only thing that is different is that he doesn't have the same pecs or he doesn't the washboard stomach like he has the comic. He has my stomach."
CLICK HERE FOR FULL PICTURE. looks pretty damn cool to me!!!

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TC wrote:looks pretty damn cool to me!!!
why, he looks just like he did as the desk clerk in EWS...

:mrgreen:
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

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Magneto's Lair wrote:I arrived in Vancouver 14 weeks ago -- only my second visit to British Columbia. The first was for an AIDS fund-raiser last century when I had a couple of days looking round. Odd how little I remembered accurately, except the water surrounding the city and the gentleness of the people who live here. Many of them are immigrants from the east coast of Canada which they disparage in the way Los Angelenos are rude about New York. Which needn't concern Brits who are as welcome here as we are in Toronto, although I don't know about Montreal and Quebec.

The last time I was in Canada was to shoot X-Men in and around Toronto, in 1999 immediately before my year's service with Peter Jackson and J.R.R. Tolkien. Now I'm back with Bryan Singer and his writer David Hayter who ended up with the screen credit for having written the first movie but who has been nowhere to be seen since we started filming X-Men2. Instead every day diligently attentive on set, we have the writers Michael Dougherty (25) and Daniel Harris (22) -- and very nice too. Very friendly to the old boys like Patrick Stewart and me. This is their first big writing assignment and once more Singer is encouraging new talent as he has done on all his movies. It must be pretty overwhelming to them so I don't add to their worries by giving advice, except about their posture, which makes them look as if they are having a dreadful time, cowed and out of alignment. "Stand up straight boys!" is my cry. "Enjoy yourselves while it lasts!"
That's my own attitude to working in the movies, never to take it for granted. I think all the neurosis in Hollywood feeds off an insecurity about job prospects. To feel safe, everyone looks for approval, for status, for wealth but very few can have these desirables consistently throughout a career. A better way for me is just to enjoy it and keep roots in other places that I hope will always be there to work in. When this job is over in November, I am planning something for the theatre and so X-Men2 is my goodbye to the movies for a spell.
check out the link for some cool pix. this is from McKellen's official site. that last sentence makes me wonder about Gandalf's status with ROTK.....hm.

moving right along, check out this incredible update!
Coming Attractions wrote:October 7, 2002... He's been with us before, and now Tenacious D is back with his observations of the Weapon X labs from X-Men 2. This is where a good chunk of the film's climax takes place including the battle royale between...well, you'll see come next spring.

Medium SPOILERS are contained in D's report:

"This is not, the greatest scoop in the world, No-whoa-oh-oh-ohhh, No! This is just a tribute.

"Two words to get female X-men fans screaming: Wolverine. Naked.

"During the past few weeks, I've been able to slide myself, slick like a Kielbasa sausage into the dangerous confines of the newest batch of X-Men 2 sets, Stryker's base and Alkali Base.

"Two words about the sets and how they'll be used in a stunning combat du finalement: Fucking. Awesome.

"Taking a well written page from the rusty worn design of the Matrix's Nebuchadnezzar ship, Alkali base looks and feels like a run down 50's style torture chamber. Chains adore the walls, various surgical tools adorn metal beds stained with blood. Remember Wolvie's nightmare inserts from the first movie? Take it, use it, expand on it so very nicely. This place is rigged for a mighty nice fight folks. (From all degrees of mutant belief - good, bad, patient, intolerant, psychotic)

"Now, many have read about the final battle at Alkali base, (those of us who've read the script). And we've all wondered who's fighting who, and probably most of all... does Wolvie change sides if and when he discovers the truth about his past?

"Hmmmm... well, yesterday, Mr. Jackman showed off his acting chops running down a tunnel. A complex system of tunnels in the cold Alberta north. Confused and naked, Wolverine stumbles through a series of tunnels emanating from Alkali base to the great outdoors of the great white north where he emerged amongst...

"A crowd of screaming schoolgirls.

"Keeping the on set tone pretty light yesterday, while Hugh Jackman was prepping for scene at the entrance to the caves on one side, a massive group of what looked like every female crewmember amassed upon said exit, aka Wolverine's escape point. Mr. Jackman, quite the consummate actor, and ever the good sport, went from screaming with berserker rage the one minute, to laughing and shaking his ass to the many female admirers. Hopefully an outtake to supply on the DVD (a la Spidey from X1).

"And I don't wanna sound gay or nuth, but Mr. Jackman is looking hee-yuge in this movie. More bulky than X1 Wolverine. I don't know why I noticed this, but I did. Heh.

"Anyways... Strykers base is lined with various big LCD monitors (which are like $9000 each), all running programs that do as much as a Dr. Evil henchman. It is cold and rocky, rusted, like a sewer. It's really the anti-X Mansion. In most places, its just as high tech, but the cold blue steel is replaced with dimly lit dirty concrete. Tunnels sprouting from many directions, allowing many characters to converge in the main chamber. A jail room for holding prisioners, with a little skylight hole on top. Has Brian Cox gotten a lifetime acheivement award yet? Security cameras blanket the entire compound, and monitors diplay sweet innocent children, sad, in jail cells. Who could be more evil... Cox's Lecter, or Cox's Stryker? One point of interest to me is a spinning platform with a hummer on it. Apparantly Magneto is going to play with this hummer and another 4 wheel drive vehicle, like dinky cars, IN the base! Demolition derby! And much rock damage!

"In the tradition of Aliens, Godfather Part II, and other great, but rare sequels, X-Men 2 is going to smash its previous incarnation into flattened pancakes. Bigger everything, better story with already established characters. Now where's my LOTR: Two Towers advance tickets?"

['Tenacious D' arranged for us this tribute.]

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TC wrote:this is from McKellen's official site. that last sentence makes me wonder about Gandalf's status with ROTK.....hm.
My understanding is that all three films were made simultaneously. So shouldn't his stuff for all three movies already be in the can?

:?
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

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O-dot wrote:My understanding is that all three films were made simultaneously. So shouldn't his stuff for all three movies already be in the can?
they seem to keep going back for reshoots. if jackson gets a hair up his ass to do that again, looks like sir ian won't be available. but, i'm sure they'll make do.

from the tail end of that x-men saga, looks like we might actually see an alpha flight movie. how cool would that be? 8)

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comics2film has put up a brief interview with Iceman (no, not the flamer from top gun).
Comics2Film.com wrote:The Iceman Speaketh: A Talk With Shawn Ashmore

Shawn Ashmore has had super powers on two different occasions. He has fought on the side of right as Bobby Drake a.k.a. Iceman in X-Men and he has fought on the side of wrong as Clark Kent’s misguided super powered classmate Eric Summers in the Smallville episode "Leach".

In spring 2003 Shawn returns to the big screen to reprise his role as Iceman in X-Men 2. Comics2Film interviewed Shawn about his roles in X-Men 2 and Smallville.


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Comics2Film: What can Audiences expect from X-Men 2?

Shawn Ashmore: X-Men 2 will have all the excitement of the first film with some new and interesting characters added to the mix. I also think that fans can expect some amazing visuals and bigger and better action sequences.

C2F: Will there be more interaction with Iceman and Rogue?

SA: I think that it’s safe to say that there will be some continued interaction between Rogue and Bobby.

C2F: What was it like reuniting with the old cast?

SA: It’s a pretty amazing feeling to be working with a cast with this much talent and experience. The first time around on X1 I really didn’t get all that involved because I was only around for a few weeks, so to be brought back into the cast with a more important role is exciting.

C2F: From what we have heard a team of younger mutants at Xavier’s School play a larger role in this film. Does your character get more screen time in this film? What role does he play in this team?

SA: Sorry! Don’t want to give the story away.

C2F: There have been reports that X2 will feature cameo appearances by X-Men comic book characters such as Gambit and Colossus. Can you tell us anything about this?

SA: Again you’re just going to have to see the movie to find out. I bet the suspense is killing you!!!!

C2F: If X-Men 3 becomes a reality would you do it?

SA: If the experience could be similar to the first 2 films then absolutely.

C2F: What’s been the best part of making X-Men 2?

SA: I think the best part of working on X2 is being a superhero for six months.

C2F: What’s been the worst part?

SA: Always worrying about letting the cat out of the bag! Sometimes you just want to tell somebody about what you’re doing when they ask. Specifically fans who just want to get a little insight into the film.

C2F: You played a very interesting character on Smallville last season, sort of the Anti-Clark. How was it working on that show?

SA: Smallville was a great show to work on. It was a quick shoot. I shot for a week and then was done. In and out, real easy. Everybody on the show seemed really nice.

C2F: Any chance your Smallville character might return? At the end he was taken to S.T.A.R. Labs.

SA: far as I know the Smallville people haven’t said that they’d be interested in bringing that character back. I think that the show's concept of having new villains every show keeps it fresh and interesting.

C2F: You have acted in two comic book related projects. Are you a fan of comic books? If so do you read any on a regular basis?

SA: I’ve always had a casual interest in comics. I wouldn’t call myself a collector but I’ve been known to check out a comic or two.


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Shawn is right the suspense is killing us here at C2F. We along with many other fans eagerly await the film’s release date. If Shawn’s enthusiasm is any indication X-Men 2 will be a great film perhaps better than the original.

X-Men 2 opens in theaters nationwide on May 2, 2003.

X-men 1.5

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davisDVD.com wrote:Finally, on February 11th is the disc we knew was coming: X-Men 1.5 Collector's Edition. This 2-disc set features an anamorphic widescreen transfer, DD 5.1 and DTS (FINALLY) audio tracks, a new video introduction from director Bryan Singer, an audio commentary with Singer and actors Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan and Hugh Jackman, 24 deleted scenes, featurettes: "The Making Of X-Men: Part 1 (Origin Of The X-Men)", "Part 2 (The Uncanny Suspects)", "Part 3 (X-Factor)", "Part 4 (Shooting X-Men)" and "Part 5 (Remembering The X-Men)," X2 teaser trailer and behind the scenes, 11 internet interstitials, trailers and TV spots. Retail is $26.98.

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ZEN wrote:Cyclops gets a new visor
Actor James Marsden and production designer Guy Dyas talk about developing a new visor for Cyclops in X-MEN 2. Picture included!


Comics Continuum had the word:

Cyclops, played again by James Marsden, will get a leaner, meaner visor for the X-Men sequel.

"Jimmy Marsden, the actor, was really happy that I greatly reduced the mass around his face," production designer Guy Dyas said during a tour of design drawings for the film at the production offices in Vancouver, British Columbia.

He said it became incredibly difficult to act with everything from his eyebrows to his lower cheeks were sort of hidden by this visor. We felt it was a justified leap to give his visor a new look."

In a previous interview with The Continuum, Marsden said that the visor become "uncomfortable" during the first film.

"It obscured my peripheral vision," he said. "I had to have people lead me around like a blind man. And the ruby red crystal was had to see through."

Dyas showed a gathering of online press computer drawings of Cyclops' new look. He said that he wanted to eliminate the "Princess Leia look," with the large circular devices over the ears.

"Anytime you're dealing with headphones or headsets, it's important that the comfort level is high," Dyas said.
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ZEN wrote:Singer Shows Concern for Characters
Posted on Tuesday, October 22 @ 10:09:47 EDT by Ajax (153 reads)

X-MEN 2 director Bryan Singer talks about character development and mutant screen time in the sequel.

Sci Fi Wire had the details:

Bryan Singer, director of the upcoming X-Men sequel, X2, told SCI FI Wire that the film will give more screen time to each character, as well as to new characters such as Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) and Iceman (Shawn Ashmore). "I solved that," Singer said during a press conference from the set of the film in Vancouver, B.C. "It'll be a longer movie. And that way, everyone will get the same amount of time."

Singer added, "Oddly enough, with all the characters and a bit of splintering that happens in terms of locations where people end up and how they come apart [and] come together, it's ... very evenly spaced, so to speak. ... I think that certain characters that weren't utilized as much in the last film will emerge a great deal more in this film, and then the new characters. ... Every character serves the story at any given time, so ... I have no tally in my head. Sometimes certain characters that have more lines have less screen time, and vice versa."

Singer said that he's a little more free in the sequel to tell a story, though he understands that audiences will expect more. "It's kind of necessary, because I think people are going to see a sequel, and they ... don't want to simply see a continuation of ... exactly what they've seen before. They want to see ... an evolution. So you want to improve upon it, make it better. The benefit here is not to be saddled with introducing a new universe to an audience that may not be familiar with it. Introducing 12 new characters. ... The characters are already introduced, so it's a great opportunity to now have fun with them. And the few new characters that are going to be introduced in this film, one can do with ... less exposition and have more fun with. ... So it's actually a lot easier. The pressure is, you know, you want to make it bigger. More spectacular. Fortunately, we have a little more time, a couple more dollars, and everybody knows what they're doing a little better." X2 is still in production in Vancouver and is slated for a May 2003 release.

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thedigitalbits wrote:(LATE UPDATE - 10/28/02 - 3:30 PM PST)

We'll be back with Robert Harris' column soon, but I wanted to chime in here quickly with news on Fox's X-Men 1.5: Collector's Edition DVD, which is due on 2/11 (SRP $26.98). The spec list for the 2-disc set has been revised. Here's what to expect now:

Disc One features will include an "enhanced viewing mode" allowing access to 6 deleted scenes and 17 behind-the scenes featurettes while watching the film, and audio commentary by director Bryan Singer. The film will be in anamorphic widescreen video with English DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, along with French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Surround. Subtitles will be available in Spanish and English.

Disc Two features will include an introduction by Bryan Singer, The Uncanny Suspects casting featurette, the X-Factor: The Look of the X-Men costume featurette, The Special Effects of the X-Men featurette, storyboard-to-animatic-to-film comparisons, the Reflection of the X-Men featurette, exclusive movie premiere footage from Ellis Island and around the world, multi-angle scene studies, a still photo gallery, 3 theatrical trailers, 14 TV spots, 12 web interstitials and the X-Men 2 sneak preview teaser.

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be sure to check out http://www.x-men-the-movie.com - finally the X2 site is up with some great stills! here's some more info:
comics2film wrote:In part one of the press X-Men 2 conference, Comics2Film heard from half of the panel that attended. Today we explore the comments made by Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Halle Berry (Storm), Famke Janssen (Dr. Jean Grey), James Marsden (Cyclops), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), Anna Paquin (Rogue), and Shawn Ashmore (Bobby/Iceman).

Jackman attended the conference in full Wolverine hair and make up, which was extremely cool to behold. He had been filming that morning, and was scheduled to recommence later that day. Jackman started off the press conference with a bang fielding a question about his kissing Jean Grey in the film's trailer. "It's mostly Wolverine trying to keep her at bay, but she's so hot for him all the time. (laughs)"

Janssen cut in with "Cyclops is sitting right next to me!", but Jackman got the last word by commenting "the love triangle, I suppose, hots up. And I've got somebody kicking me in the shins (Director Bryan Singer) right now, so I can't talk about it."

Jackman was asked about how, after being the first film's "breakout star," he would portray Wolverine in the sequel. His reply was "With the first film a lot of the storyline did in a way focus on Wolverine and Rogue, but it was more a plot choice because they're ideal mutants to take you into the mutant world and yet to keep as outsider (s). While he was onscreen a lot, you get well introduced to the character, who he was, and then he becomes essentially part of that world-saving plot we had."

Going further into detail Jackman added "In this film, his personal demons are really investigated. By the end of this movie, he's going to track down his part, which is very much what this movie is about. If he doesn't come to a complete resolution, it's pretty damned close. He's sort of, in a way, emotionally and with the return of nightmares and things like that, at a crisis point. It's more internal in a way. You get a more internal look at the character, and that's been really fun to play with."

Jackman concluded by saying "As we alluded to before, there's a few relationships that hot up a little, and I'm just loving playing the character again. I really love this character. And for all the characters in a movie such as this, if you want to call it an action movie and a comic book movie, all the characters seem to have a dimension beyond what you would expect."

Oscar winning Actress Halle Berry reprises her role as Storm in X-Men 2. When asked about if she had brought the Oscar for show and tell, Jackman coyly pointed under the table, bringing much mirthful laughter to the audience and panel. Asked about if the Oscar had changed her perception and approach, Berry said "They're (the cast) just getting sick of the Oscar. Can't you tell how sick of it they are? No, I didn't bring it, and no, nothing has changed. Honestly no, nothing at least as far as this production goes."

Berry did mention that "one of the good things about coming back to this (the sequel), with Oscar in hand, is that we were sort of like...when you start a movie you spend the first month getting to know everybody and just when you get to know everybody the experience is over, although this wasn't the case with the first X-Men, that was six months. But normally when you are just finding that groove and you're all starting to gel, then it's time to stop. We got a chance to reconvene and pick up where we left off. So that's been a really important part of the experience for me."

At the press conference, Berry was sporting her white/platinum Storm wig, but it was a shorter, more layered style then the first movie. I was compelled to ask if along with the hair change there what kind of character progression she had experienced. Berry replied "I think everybody's happy with the hair change. There was a really big, big discussion about the hair because I know Bryan (Singer) and Lauren Schuler-Donner, our producer, really wanted to get it right because they felt it was something that desperately needed to be changed from the first movie. So hopefully everybody will like it better."

Berry added "I think my character this time around you get to know a little better about who Storm is. She definitely is allowed to present a point of view this time that I didn't get to present last time. Sort of what her emotional life is like, you really get a taste of that this time. I think there is more evolution." As a side note, from comments made on the set by various people, it sounds like Storm's role will expand and like in the comic, she will be a focus as leader of the X-Men.

Berry was asked about filming this time in Vancouver versus Toronto, where the first film was done, and if it was easier because of the proximity to Los Angeles. Berry replied "It has for me, because out of the cast members, I think I'm always the one who is jetting out of here to catch that last flight ... that makes it easy because it's only a two hour flight. I feel a lot closer to home. I did feel really far away last time."

She also rejoined that "I also grew up going to Toronto a lot, living in Cleveland, so that was like no big whoop. This is a big whoop here, I just like it."

Famke Janssen, who portrays Jean Grey in the film, was also sporting a shorter, more layered hair cut, and try as I might, I couldn't find any red tint in it. When asked what was going on with Jean in the sequel, her reply was "She got a haircut (laughs). Very important. I'm sure you saw that in the trailer. It's basically kind of the things we touched upon in the first movie with the love triangle, and she has some issues with her powers that we kind of explore in the second one." I am wondering if this hints at a cameo from the Phoenix?

James Marsden returns as Cyclops in the sequel. He was asked about how it was to re-explore the character, and his response was "I think a lot of the first one was devoted to explaining to the audience, the cinema-goers, who the X-Men were, what they were capable of, and what their story was. A good percentage of the movie was exposition, explaining the characters."

"I think we've gotten that out of the way now. So we can see these characters kind of spring into action and not have to worry about if we're going to know who they are and what the situation is. Now that we've established that in the first film, I think we can have some fun" Marsden added.

Alan Cumming is one of the newcomers to the X-Men franchise, making his debut in the sequel as Nightcrawler. When asked if he had done any research, Cumming answered "I've read some comics. It's quite impressive, actually because not only am I playing sort of a blue mutant with all these odd physical things, but also everyone in the world apart from me seems to have some idea about how the character should look or read, so there's been a little pressure. So yeah, I read some comics and listened to some people. It's kind of hard because halfway through the film, I realized that Mystique is my mother. It's an ongoing learning curve."

Cumming was also asked how he gets prepared to be Nightcrawler. His reply was "Mentally it's very difficult. I have to get up very early and I have some lovely, lovely makeup people that do it. You just have to get into a zone where you don't mind grown (people) poking at your face for four hours and spraying you with stuff. Sometimes I watch films in the mirror, which is quite hard if they're subtitled (laughs)."

He also felt he had made the job harder in a way. "I have these tattoos and I rue the day that I was the one who actually said 'Yeah, let's go with the tattoos. They're really great.' They take a lot more time to get stuck on. I'm hoping that maybe if there's a sequel there will be some sort of mutant accident that's taken place and Nightcrawler will have no tattoos and be white. The technology in this film is quite incredible with the effects and I thought maybe the next time I could do the film as me and they could put the makeup on afterwards."

Cumming had some thoughts about contact lens after filming as well. His comment was "There's this thing with people who (wore) contact lenses in the first film. There's sort of a thing where you pay your dues. Halle and Rebecca don't wear contacts any more. I noticed afterwards that I am wearing contact lenses. It must be kind of rites of passage that you go through. Maybe next time I'll have no contact lenses."

When asked about filming the tail, Cumming had this revealing tidbit to share. "Sometimes I'm wearing it and sometimes I'm not, because sometimes it's done afterwards. There's tails of various consistencies of boinginess. If I don't have the full tail, I have this stub thing with dots on it for special effects people to do things with afterwards. And that's quite popular with the ladies (laughs) and gentleman as well. And myself."

Returning after a small role as Bobby Drake/Iceman in the first into an increased presence in X-Men 2 is Shawn Ashmore. Last season on Smallville, Ashmore had a breakthrough guest appearance as a fellow student and nemesis of Clark's. When asked about what is in store for Bobby in the sequel, Ashmore said "Obviously, I can't get into too much detail, but basically, Bobby gets brought into the fold a little bit. Obviously, he's still a student at the school, but I think mainly his role in the film is to kind of be brought in and join the group and kind of become a more important part of the whole adventure that happens."

Rounding out the panel was returning cast member Anna Paquin, who plays the character Rogue. Paquin was asked if she was able to "kick some ass" in this film and her reply was a bit tentative, as Director Bryan Singer was only a few seats away. She did reveal that "clearly my character has to go from being sort of frightened of everyone she encounters and has to evolve in some way. So, yeah, in a lot of ways I do get to do a lot more stuff then I did in the last movie, but I'm not really sure how much I can say about that without getting into trouble."

Paquin, who was sporting the trademark Rogue white stripe in her hair, really looked the part at the press conference. She was asked to explain the evolution of the character for this film, and she was less tentative the second time around. "I think what's nice and interesting about the second movie that Rogue is in is that she's left behind a lot of the shy, timid sort of shutting everyone else out because she's been accepted into a group where she is not an outsider or going to be treated differently or poorly because of her mutant abilities, and so she is allowed to grow more and just get to do more stuff and be more part of the action."

Paquin added an interesting point saying Rogue "doesn't need to be rescued. She's not the damsel in distress anymore, so it's kind of fun and there's a lot more actiony kind of stuff that I get to do-or stunts-which is fun. It's really great, actually, not having to be rescued for the whole movie."

After answering questions for an hour, the cast made their way out of the press area to resume filming. Some answers given were revealing, some less so, but we left feeling we had gleaned a few kernels of information, probably just enough to make the film even more mysterious.

X2

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X2
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I loved X2!

I enjoyed the first one, but what the first was lacking the second one picks up. Professor X displayed sone neat tricks while nightcrawler shows exacly what mutans can do if they wanted to.

Nightcrawlers opening scene and magnito's escape were awsome. They even let wolverine kill a few guys in this one also.

They did have a lot of characters to juggle, but they pulled it off nicely.

I don't want to spiol anything, but I think we will see Phoenix in the next one :)
What Is Real!? Coming 2005