"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is still months away from its May 1 opening. But Thursday at high noon (ET), MTV News will be bringing you the exclusive full — and last — trailer for the franchise spin-off starring Hugh Jackman as the metal-clawed, mutton-chopped mutant. With mere hours to kill until then, we examined what we've already learned about the movie and what we're still dying to know, and came up with five burning questions about "Wolverine."
The Darkness Factor
With the recent box-office success of gritty takes on heroes like Batman and Iron Man, studios can't even think about making a comic book movie that isn't drenched in twisted psychology and graphic realism. In fact, last January, Warner Bros. reportedly slammed on the brakes of many of their planned adaptations as they sought to toughen up their cinematic vision. Where does Fox's "Wolverine" fall in all this?
"We are dealing with a character who is probably one of the darker comic book characters ever created," Jackman told MTV News last spring. "The movie has a lot of fun elements, but there are layers of pain and darkness to this character. Tonally, I would put it more in the 'Batman Begins' sort of realm." Is Jackman spot-on or should we be worried about the recent, reportedly extensive re-shoots?
The Missing Mutants
Wolverine was the breakout character in the original "X-Men" trilogy, which explains why he — and not, say, Anna Paquin's pouty, much-derided Rogue — is getting his own origin story. Still, in the new film we'll also likely be without heavyweights Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, who brought gravitas and serious acting chops to even the campiest of storylines. Will new stars Liev Schreiber (Sabretooth) and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) be up to the replacement challenge?
The Breakout Character
As we reported in December, Fox had been trying for years to get Marvel fan favorites Deadpool and Gambit onto the big screen. Now that they're finally coming to a theater near you, who will be the next breakout character? Who will be next in line to get his own franchise spin-off? Will it be Deadpool, the mercenary with a knack for the comic one-liner? Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), who's been known to dispatch an enemy with one flick of a kinetically charged playing card? Or even Sabretooth, Wolverine's villainous rival?
The Star Question
A few weeks ago, Hugh Jackman broke into a Broadway musical medley at the Oscars, belting out lines from "The Sound of Music" in front of millions of viewers. Can we buy Jackman's transformation from awards-show host to deadly mutant butt-kicker? What's more, the guy is now in his 40s, yet the "Wolverine" story begins decades before the events of the original film, which premiered in 2000. You do the math — and check out some promo shots of the very-ripped Jackman — and decide if the aged actor can convincingly portray regenerative healer Wolverine.
The Future
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" will be the fourth big-screen outing for Jackman's hirsute superhero. And if all goes according to Fox's plan (i.e. big box-office dollars), we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future. But at what point do we finally get sick of this dude? Even the most beloved movie heroes (Superman, Rocky, the original Batman) suffered from a few too many sequels and the forced plots writers dreamed up to keep the franchises chugging along. Will this latest "X-Men" flick have Wolverine finally jumping the shark, or will it only pump us up for more?
Check out everything we've got on "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
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