Jeff Katz, a comic book writer and former executive at Fox, came back from the set of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and says: "I think it delivers."
The movie, opening May 1, 2009, will feature some characters familiar to comic fans but new to theater screens in Gambit and Deadpool (who just might get his own spin-off if Wolverine does well), and will feature a much darker Wolverine than he was portrayed in the previous X-Men movies.
Ultimately though, there's one main reason why Katz was so impressed: "I'm of the belief that you can boil down these characters to a couple of key words, phrases or images that sum up the tone and tenor of what they should be. And to me and [Hugh] Jackman, our mantra for 'Wolverine' has really been one term: 'bad-ass.' As long as 'Wolverine' is consistently bad-ass, people are generally going to go with you. That's what they want from that character." Indeed.
Jackman initiated the "bad-ass" talking point at Comic-Con this summer.
The X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer premieres exclusively in theaters December 12 before The Day the Earth Stood Still.