Singer Confirms Weapon X Version of Wolverine for "X-Men: Apocalypse"

CBR

By Anthony Couto

Published May 12, 2016

The "X-Men: Apocalypse" director teases a berserker Weapon X Wolverine we've yet to see on screen.

Director Bryan Singer has now confirmed that "X-Men: Apocalypse" will debut the Weapon X incarnation of Wolverine, which comics fans know as the most animalistic, "berserker rage"-filled version of the 'ol Canucklehead.

Singer revealed to HeyUGuys, "What's really nice about his cameo is that he's the Wolverine you've never seen before. He's truly Weapon X. Not just the guy coming out of the tank, but the weapon."

The Weapon X version of Wolverine debuted in Marvel Comics Presents #79 -- written and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith -- as an enraged, mindless version of the character while he was under experimentation at the Weapon X facility. Told as a slasher film, the story touched on Wolverine's origin long before it was fleshed-out in the comics.

Writer-producer Simon Kinberg elaborated on the evolution of Wolverine in the film, saying, "There were a lot of different versions. I didn't feel pressured to put Wolverine in this movie because I feel like there's so many great characters in the X-Men Universe that we probably could have made a movie without Wolverine and it still would have been an engaging film. We talked about a lot of different versions. There was a version where he got introduced in the middle of the movie and became this sort of drill sergeant for the kids, but that felt like it stepped on Raven's role of becoming the leader to the kids. There were two or three different incarnations that we tried, but none of them felt quite right. As we were constructing the movie, we always imagined that they were abducted and taken [to Alkali Lake] and that Weapon X would be there and you'd see something that you've never really seen in these movies before which is the full on, out of control, animalistic, stripped down Wolverine."

Kinberg also commented on Wolverine's encounter with the young Jean Grey in the film, noting, "That suddenly became very interesting to us and this notion that there could be this moment between him and Jean which could be really rich as well."

Directed by Bryan Singer and starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Rose Byrne, Alexandra Shipp, Sophie Turner, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, Tye Sheridan and more, "X-Men: Apocalypse" hits theaters stateside on May 27.