X2 is considered a movie ahead of its time. The director, Bryan Singer, paid attention to many details that other directors might have overlooked. X2 was an incredible movie where the first movie had tremendous effort from the director and cast, whereas for this movie, the efforts were somewhat less, but the output was good. Here, Nightcrawler appeared in full devout Catholic form, Pyro was seen with his shark lighter, and William Stryker returned from his experiments. There are some iconic moments in this movie, including the mansion attack scene. In this movie, Lady Deathstrike was also there, who wasn’t given many dialogues, but overall, it’s a solid X-Men movie. Welcome to the Road to Deadpool and Wolverine episode two where today we are going to discuss X2 released in 2003. If you have not yet read episode one, please click on the link to read it first.
X2 was released on May 1, 2003. It took Fox $110 million to make, and this film earned a worldwide gross of $407 million. It has an IMDb rating of 7.4 out of 10 and is certified fresh with an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes scores.
When an anti-mutant Colonel William Stryker kidnaps Professor X and attacks his school, the X-Men had to ally with their enemy Magneto to stop him, or he will annihilate all mutants. Howie Matt, known for his role as Neil Patrick Harris, auditioned for the role of Nightcrawler but lost to Alan Cumming, who was fluent in German and was also Bryan Singer’s first choice. Initially, during the casting phase, he was unavailable, but the project development stage went on so long that by the time filming started, Alan Cumming was ready to come on board. Before him, Ethan Embry had been given the role, but ultimately, Alan got it. Beast and Gambit were also considered for inclusion, but Bryan Singer chose Nightcrawler because he looked the most like an outsider.
Alan Cumming took 10 hours to get into Nightcrawler’s makeup, which he did not like at all. According to him, such long preparation wasn’t worth it as his appearance was minimal, which led him to decide not to return after one movie. During this movie, Hugh Jackman was also shooting Van Helsing, which is why the final scene where Cyclops, Professor X, and Wolverine are in Xavier Mansion was shot in Shepperton Studios in London. The producers had only one day to shoot this scene, which is why Wolverine’s hair looks slightly different here, as Hugh Jackman had grown his hair out for the role of Van Helsing, requiring him to wear a Wolverine wig. When the school was attacked, we saw Wolverine’s rage in a bigger circle, although this rage was toned down to get the right rating from sensors.
In the mansion attack scene, the ice scene between Wolverine and Stryker is real and weighed 3500 pounds. At 52 minutes into the movie, a cat is seen licking Wolverine’s claw; this scene was made possible by applying frozen iced tea to Wolverine’s claw. The first movie showed Professor Xavier’s wheelchair being bought by a lawyer who worked at the law firm where Patrick Stewart’s attorney also worked. When production started, the studio found out the chair was missing, so instead of selling it back, the lawyer rented it to the studio. Magneto, in the first movie, tells Professor Xavier, “Doesn’t it keep you up at night that one day they will pass a useless law and come for you and your children?” This same thing happens in this movie. Brian Singer named the 1982 comic “God Loves, Man Kills” as an influence for the script where William Stryker uses Cerebro to kidnap Professor X to kill all mutants. In the comic book story, Magneto saves Professor X from Dark Cerebro in the movie’s end, but this was revised so that Magneto tries to kill all humans, a change made by Brian Singer to avoid spoiling the movie’s ending.
All the exterior shots of Xavier Mansion were taken from the previous movie because the production didn’t have the budget for it, and the mansion used in the film also appears as Lex Luthor’s mansion in the Smallville TV series. If you check the real address of Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, you won’t see the mansion but some farm structures instead.
Lady Deathstrike, played by Kelly Hu, had her real fingernails glued on for the scene where adamantium is poured over her, which is CGI, using a highly detailed mannequin of Kelly Hu. Despite having a significant role, Kelly Hu has only one dialogue in the entire movie. Magneto’s helmet was subtly redesigned because Ian McKellen, who played Magneto, found the helmet in X-Men uncomfortable. On the other hand, the crew was given specific instructions that only glass and plastic should be used for Magneto’s prison cell. The crew could use anything, but the director’s commitment to this detail was very strong. Even Magneto’s shoes are white Crocs, a nod to the plastic prison homage to the 1991 movie The Silence of the Lambs, where Hannibal Lecter also escapes from jail in a similar manner. Brian Singer told Brian Cox, who played William Stryker, to perform as he did in the 1986 movie Manhunter, where he also played Hannibal Lecter.
In this movie, we see Pyro, who will also appear in Deadpool and Wolverine, played by the same actor. Pyro’s lighter has a shark design, a tribute by Bryan Singer to one of his favorite movies, Jaws. The original idea was for Storm to extinguish the fire with her rain, but this was too expensive for production, so they used Rogue instead, which turned out to be a very useful decision, giving Rogue a character-defining scene. In a scene, when Jean is in the Science Museum hearing people’s thoughts, one of them says “To the shelter,” a line spoken by Secret Service agents during Nightcrawler’s attack. This scene indicates that Jean’s psychic abilities were increasing. Among other lines, Jean hears Wolverine saying “No,” which he says when Iceman separates him and Stryker. Here, Jean also hears Rogue saying, “They are gonna kill him,” which she says to Pyro and Iceman.
The idea of Jean Grey’s death came up during production, where the setup for the next movie involved killing Jean in this movie, which is why throughout the movie, Jean Grey’s alter ego, Phoenix, is hinted at. Jean wears a Phoenix pendant in the museum, and when Jean and Storm go to the church to find Nightcrawler, a Phoenix is seen on Jean’s jacket. When Jean uses her powers, a fiery glow is seen in her eyes, and at the end of the movie, as the camera moves over the water, a large bird-shaped shadow can be seen, alluding to Jean Grey’s resurrection in Phoenix form.
The bathroom scene set, where Mystique injects the prison guard, is an unused set from the first X-Men movie, which was going to be used to show teenage Cyclops getting his powers and destroying a bathroom stall. This was not shown in the movie, but in the comics, Nightcrawler is the son of Mystique and Azazel. We met Azazel in X-Men First Class, which is why Nightcrawler has his mother’s skin and his father’s powers. Rebecca Romijn, who plays Mystique, appears in her normal appearance, but like the first movie, her makeup required contact lens rendering. Where the first movie took seven hours for makeup, this movie took only five hours.
The set for the president’s Oval Office was prepared in two months and is a very detailed set, essentially a perfect recreation. However, the corridors seen in the opening chase were slightly widened to accommodate the fight scenes. At 1 hour 45 minutes, according to health and safety instructions, there should not have been helicopter blades when Rebecca Romijn, who plays Mystique, and Ian McKellen, who plays Magneto, were seated in the helicopter. The moving blades were digitally added later, a precaution taken after the tragic deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two child actors during the filming of the 1983 movie The Twilight Zone. At 1 hour 2 minutes, we see Rogue’s powers. Rogue not only has the power to take human or mutant abilities but also their memories and feelings. When Rogue absorbs Pyro’s powers, her face becomes as menacing as Pyro’s while she is stopping the fire, destroying police cars.
That was the second episode of Road to Deadpool and Wolverine about X2. Be ready for X-Men The Last Stand.