Exclusive: X-Men 2 Set Visit

Far be it from us to miss out on an opportunity to take a first-hand look at one of next year's hottest properties. So, when the X-Men called us up and offered an audience, Empire's Chris Hewitt heeded the call and set out for the Vancouver set. "It's the first movie on steroids," says James Marsden, who plays monocular hero-type, Cyclops. "I've seen 90 minutes cut together already and it's better than the first one." High praise indeed and what we've come to expect of a film that, with all the introductions out of the way, gets right into the meat and bones of a mythology that has flourished as the world's biggest-selling comic for forty years. A welcome turn for fans of the series will be the second film's darker tone, which will probe further into the mysterious past of fan-fave mutant, Wolverine. "You see Wolverine's berserker rage," says Hugh Jackman. "There's a body count. And it gets pretty ugly." Those who saw the phenomenal trailer will have glimpsed a little romance in Wolverine's life this time around but it's still his penchant for bloody mayhem that's top of every fan's wish-list and X-Men 2 will not disappoint. In a Climactic fight with Kelly Hu's Yuriko Oyama (there's more to her than meets the eye) the fur truly flies and, according to producer, Tom De Santo, it's "the main reason why people will want to buy a ticket to see the movie again." For the full report from Empire's X-Men 2 set visit including insight's into Hugh Jackman's codpiece, Bryan Singer's take on the sequel and Alan Cumming's role as Nightcrawler ("it was a fucking nightmare from hell") make sure you pick up the January issue of Empire, on sale from Friday 29 November.