Bam Kapow Studios: Wolverine!

I saw X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE opening night with my girlfriend and some of our friends. Tim McLeod, one of my closest friends for 2o plus years was there and hated the movie even more than I did. So I talked with him in an attempt to identify things we thought could’ve been better. After said talk I wrote the following…

-Now I realize that FOX has sent precedents with the 3 previous X-Men movies that must be followed. I’m stuck with Hugh Jackman and we’ve already seen limited interaction between Wolverine and Sabertooth.

So even though I don’t want to include Deadpool, and I would’ve wanted a bloodier, truer representation of the characters, I’ll write with those factors in mind. What you’re about to read is a very rough overview. It’s just general ideas, with details to be hammered out by a director later. No real dialogue, just story, but the story will focus mostly on his relationship with Sabertooth, I see no reason to add another end villain. IE: Baraka Deadpool.

“H-he, wasn’t your father…uh…son.”

 
That line was the first, of many things I took issue with in the Wolverine movie. Aside from the horrible delivery, Wolverine and Sabertooth shouldn’t be brothers. So in my version, they aren’t. I still want to create a rich history between them, so they’ll be friends, that still accomplishes what we need.

The movie can start out the same. James and Victor run away and grow up together after James/Logan kills Victor’s drunken father. This time though, Mr. Creed didn’t kill James’ father, but was instead beating on Logan’s mother. Simple as that, no heartfelt moment of realization needed. Afterward Logan’s mom sees her child as a monster and casts him out, thus begins a lifetime of resentment against…well, everyone.

The coolest part of the actual movie was the opening credits when it showed Logan and Victor fighting though all the wars. I want to expand on this. X2 was the best of all the X-Movies, it was also 30 minutes longer than all the others. Singer took his time and developed a story, didn’t rush though it, so by his example my Wolverine will also be longer than the real one.

We’ll replace the opening credit montage with clips of them growing up together. Scavenging for food and traveling from Canada down though the US.

 
After the credits we’d spend a few minutes with each war. In these scenes we would see Logan and Victor get increasingly more violent. Also we see Victor get increasingly insane. (Liev Schreiber was easily the best actor in here, so he’d be featured more)  In the heat of battle we see how both Logan and Victor relentless and feral, merciless from years of drifting. Logan fights to control his undomesticated side, while Victor embraces it. 

 
With each war that passes they become more proficient killers. They acquire combat skills and training, and as time goes by it becomes apparent to Logan that Victor is thoroughly enjoying killing. It’s no longer about the pay and food, but the action instead. Though not as bad as Victor, we see Logan is an asshole too. While he may not enjoy the killing as much, he does enjoy starting bar fights.
 
Wolverine is not your nice guy, song and dance man. I’d have preferred a smaller, hairier man, but we’re stuck with Jackman, who is too tall and pretty for the part. But that’s Hollywood. So while we will still use Hugh, he will be much darker in here, a truer representation of the character we met in UNCANNY X-MEN back in the 1970s.

During WWII however, after a quick snippet where we see Logan and Victor mocking a young Steve Rogers in passing, they are sent to Japan by the CIA, on loan from the Canadian government. They are to kidnap Kenji Oyama, a Japanese scientist (and Lady Deathstrike’s Father) who would later be famous for creating the adamantium-to-bone bonding process. Victor returns home with Oyama where Logan is to meet him later, as Logan wants to spend some time in the Orient.

While in Japan, Logan meets Itsu and decides to stay in the Far East despite protests from Victor. While in Japan Logan trains with Itsu’s family in several forms of ninjutsu and threw mediation learns to better control his feral habits. Victor however, scorned that Logan ditched him, and with no one to keep him in check gets worse. His mental state deteriorates and he quickly blames Logan’s absence for his issues.

 
After some years in Japan and many refusals to rejoin his friend, Logan returns home one night to find his pregnant wife Itsu slain. No clues are left by the assassin’s bullet, shot from far enough away as to not leave the killer’s scent. Dishonored by the failure to protect his pregnant wife, Logan is disgraced. With nothing left for him in Japan, he heads back to Canada.

-    Now I realize that isn’t how things played out in the comics, but in attempting to stay within FOX’s cannon, I’m doing my best to not skip over some of my favorite Wovie history…

1950’S - Logan, now back in his native Canada is working as a lumberjack and keeping to himself, when he is approached by the US Government. Upon Victor Creed’s recommendation they recruit Logan for a spot on a new elite American Black Ops team simply called TEAM X. After much convincing he decides to join up and leave the solitude that has consumed him. He is teamed back up with Victor, as well as Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Kestrel (Will I Am), Silver Fox, and Maverick (not Agent Zero).  Logan for the first time since the death of Itsu expresses interest in another woman flirting with Silver Fox. Victor jokes that Logan’s codename should be Wolverine because of his ferocity and small size. Victor still views him as a little buddy type.

 
-    The whole movie would be shot with camera angles that make Victor look significantly larger than Logan, much like how they shot THE GREEN MILE.

Upon their very first mission Logan realizes just how unstable Victor has become when he unnecessarily slaughters a young lab tech at the complex they’ve infiltrated. Their mission there is basically a practice run, the mission goal itself is unimportant, but Victor still gets out of control.

Upon returning to base, the other members of TEAM X refuse to work with Victor any longer due to his unprofessionalism. When Logan doesn’t defend him he goes berserk. After exchanging banter, Victor expresses glee in the fact that he is reasonable for the death of Itsu, seeing it as the only way Logan would return home. This confession comes from feeling betrayed by Logan again. A fight ensues and Victor whoops the shit out of Logan and an unarmed Maverick. In a fury he also snaps the neck of Silver Fox. Deadpool, who refuses to intervene since his isn’t being paid to fight Victor (now codenamed Sabertooth) watches the fight while delivering sarcastic commentary from the sideline.

 
When Logan awakes Victor is long gone, believing that Logan is deceased. Deadpool, with the team broken is also gone. Logan is in the facility sick bay as his injuries are severe enough to need additional medical attention. Maverick is also severely wounded and Silver Fox is dead.

Logan quickly recovers and sets out to hunt for Victor. He finally finds Victor, on his own birthday. Logan again looses and Victor, holding him over a cliff edge, vows that he will find Logan every year on his birthday and beat him within an inch of his life to remind him of what Victor viewed as betrayal. Over the years he holds true to that promise several times.

-    Now there is a ton of history here. One of my favorite things is how Sabertooth would find Wolverine on his birthday every year, but it’s hard to fit it in with the movie mythology, so final edit might have to remove it…

1970 - Years later Logan receives a visit from William Stryker. In conjunction with the US military’s TEAM X project, the Canadian government is starting a program called Weapon X, he thinks Logan would be perfect for. Stryker convinces Logan that Weapon X can give him the tools he needs to defeat Victor. Logan adopts the Wolverine moniker suggested by Victor earlier as a way to throw it back in his face. Logan believes he will be made stronger in exchange for his participation in the program. The government however can’t allow a weapon that dangerous and expensive to make roam free, so they plan to alter his memories.

 
Once in the Weapon X program, Logan recognizes a face from years earlier. Kenji Oyama, the scientist he and Victor kidnapped, Oyama has since grown old. Experiments begin Stryker deletes Logan’s memories. Along with the memories, they delete much of the ninja meditation he’d used for years to keep his feral side in check. They lace his bones with adamantium and begin trying to reprogram him.

This works for only a short time before Victor, having learned of the program arrives. Victor’s scent sparks an instinctual reaction in Logan’s tattered brain. His healing factor has been attempting to repair the damage to his brain, but memories are fuzzy and out of order, if there at all. The adrenaline however triggers some muscle memory and his ninja training starts to come back.

 
Much stronger now than when they last fought, Logan gets the upper hand on Vic. Though they’re about even ability-wise now, Logan has surprise on his side. He is currently not under the restrictions of his meditation and Victor’s sanity has retreated further and further as his animal side has taken over in recent years. Logan’s savage feral nature also comes out and eventually he stabs Victor in the head with his claws.

 
Believing Vic dead, not remembering Vic’s healing powers, and still very much confused, Logan takes off, escaping the Weapon X facility. The scientists bring Victor inside where they start to prep the near dead psychopath for their treatments. He is to be the next project for them, but before they can fully wipe his memories he awakens and slaughters all the scientists, including Oyama.

-    Vic’s brain is fuzzy too after Wolverine stabbed him, so when he leaves, he does so not fully remembering why is was there. This explains why in the first X-Men movie there is only a vague familiarity between the characters. Also what this does, it sets up sequels where Lady Deathstrike can blame Logan for the murder of her father and also we can watch Logan travel the world trying to regain what he’s lost. Eventually ending up with the events of the first X-movie.

Ok, so let me know what you thought. Was it stupid all together? Somewhat entertaining? Better or worse than the real movie? What parts did you like/dislike?