Want to know why there was all that fanboy squealing during the X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer? Here are some clues...

Shot 1:

The trailer starts off on its strongest foot: Hugh Jackman is back, and he's once again channeling Logan's perfect mixture of inconsolable angst and unstoppable anger. And muttonchops.

Shot 2:

It also wouldn't be an origin story without baby Wolvie. Remember in the first X-Men movie when Jean Grey said, because of Logan's healing power, it was impossible to tell how old he is? Well, check out his dead daddy's frilly shirt—looks like the movie is taking a cue from the Origins comic series and placing Logan's birth somewhere in the early 19th century.

Shot 3:

Which would explain why he's able to fight (for the North, natch) in the Civil War. Before anyone can stammer, "But he's Canadian" you should inform them that many Canucks were pressed into service during our country's little spat. Then feel shame.

Shot 4:

Logan likes him some wars. Here he is storming the beach during World War II. Again, key takeaway elements: He is angry. And old.

Shot 5:

Here, Ol' Wolvie heads to the 'Nam to continue his quest to kill more people in the world than McDonald's. What about Korea and World War I, you ask? C'mon. Logan only shows up for the headlining wars.

Shot 6:

Being the best you are at what you do, apparently, can score you some high-quality women. This is the aptly-named Silver Fox (not to be confused with Anderson Cooper), with whom Logan shacks up. Aren't they a happy couple? Bet they're going to be together forever, huh?

Shot 7:

Oops. Hey, when you have a character whose defining trait is murderous anger, they couldn't exactly have him being all Little House on the Prairie, could they? But the trailer hints later there was definitely more to Miss Fox (if you're nasty) than meets the eye.

Shot 8:

Remember this guy? Well, the last time you saw him he was in X2: X-Men United where he was older and considerably more Brian Cox-y looking. This is William Stryker, the man responsible for putting adamantium in Wolverine's bones.

Shot 9:

Stryker, you see, is putting a team of superpowered badasses together as part of the "Weapon X" program (a shadowy government special-ops unit that does dirty deeds, dirt cheap). This is their yearbook photo.

Shot 10:

So who's in Weapon X? There's this guy—Deadpool. Known as "The Merc with a Mouth," he's a wise-cracking, sword-and-gun-toting assassin who shares Wolverine's ability to regenerate.



In the comics, he's horribly scarred and wears a Spider-man-like mask. Here, he's pretty boy Ryan Reynolds.

Shot 11:

There's also John Wraith, played by Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.I.Am. Wraith has the ability to teleport, kind of like Nightcrawler in X2 without the embarrassing German Catholicism. That, or the cool blue-skin. Can Will.I.Act? We'll see, but he's been pretending to be cool with Fergie for years, so he obviously has chops.

Shot 12:

The grinning dude on the right is Agent Zero, who was German in the comics but now much more noticably Asian (he's played by British-Korean actor Daniel Henney). Zero can absorb energy, and likes to two-fist his guns. Caught mid-montage is another glimpse of Silver Fox (Lynn Collins), looking much more action-ready in her Weapon X garb. See? Told you she was more than just a hottie.

Shot 13:

This guy is classic X-Men villain The Blob. He's almost unrecognizable, but underneath that cake batter is actor Kevin Durand, most recently seen in Lost.



Blob is pretty much a super-strong fattie who is nearly impossible to move once he plants his feet. Like, say, anyone on line in front of you at Wal-Mart.

Shot 14:

The money shot. Here we get to see what was only glimpsed in flashbacks in the first two X-Men movies. Wolverine gets into his spa bath and is injected with liquid metal…

Shot 15:

…He emerges confused, disoriented, angry, and much, much cooler.

Shot 16:

Defying the "character overload" rule of thumb, Wolverine is determined to cram in every character Brett Ratner couldn't even find an excuse to include in the overstuffed X-Men 3. Enter Gambit, played by the aptly-named Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights). A fan favorite, Gambit is a N'awlins pretty boy who can energize any object and turn it into an explosive. His prefered objects are playing cards. He fights Logan. Why? Unclear, but it might have something to do with fanfic passing as scripts these days.

Shot 17:

Contrary to what you might think, Stryker didn't give Wolverine his claws. He had them already, just not metal ones. The movie is digging deep into X-Men lore and showing how Logan originally had claws made of bone. Not as strong, but nearly as cool.

Shot 18:

How could we forget this guy? This is Victor Creed, Logan's main rival in Weapon X and, if the movie follows the comics, the man who—SPOILER WARNING—kills Silver Fox. Creed is also known as Sabretooth, but instead of the borderline retarded Chewbacca he was in the first X-Men movie, he's a cunning, malicious, and truly formidable baddie. Hence why he's played by Liev Schreiber and not a WWE meat locker.

Shot 19:

Does this kid look familiar? Remember this guy:



That's right. It's William Stryker's mind-fucking mutant son from X2 (the two-tone eyes are the giveaway). If he can even screw with Prof. X, imagine what he could do to Wolverine. Maybe he's behind Logan's inability to remember his past?

Shot 20:

Character overload? Meet baby Storm. Pointless? Probably. We prefer it when she's Halle Berry. No offense, kid.

Shot 21:

Lots o' fighting! Here, Wolvie faces off against another Weapon X team member, Omega Red. In the comics, he's a sci-fi-looking Russian with tentacles that shoot out of his hands.



If you look closely, you can see something jutting out of this guy's wrists that could be some version of Red's tentacles.

Shot 22:

Apparently, Stryker has a whole prison loaded with mutants that he experiments on, which gives the movie an excuse to cram in even more X-characters. This lady who can turn her skin into diamonds? That's Emma Frost, also known as The White Queen (not to be confused with Anderson Cooper).

Shot 23:

Oh, right—you might think this movie is non-stop character introductions, but there is, in fact, some action planned. Will X-Men Origins: Wolverine erase the bad memories of X-Men 3, and satiate our mutant movie lust? Only time will tell, but it definitely looks promising…