As you might know, the Fox network in the States is currently playing host to a special three-part preview of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, with three separate 60-second TV spots running every night from Sunday. Last night’s spot – Outcasts – ran on Family Guy, and today’s – Brothers – ran during House.
But it’s now online for the benefit of anyone who doesn’t live in the US. And it’s pretty darn good. Click here to see the second TV spot for X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Although there’s plenty of ground to cover in Wolverine’s first solo movie – namely, the whole Weapon X programme, his relationship with Silver Fox, and the thorny question of just how much screentime Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool is going to get – there’s little doubt that the core of the movie is the relationship between Wolverine and his half-brother, Sabretooth (played by spellcheck nemesis, Liev Schreiber).
And the Brothers spot focused entirely on that, quickly establishing the childhood bond between a young James Howlett and Victor Creed, as they go on the run following a terrible tragedy.
Quick cuts then follow the duo as they get caught up in a series of wars, including World War II and Vietnam, before their repeated refusal to die by firing squad alerts Col. William Stryker (Danny Huston), head of the Weapon X programme. From there, the two fall out after Wolverine – now called Logan – falls in love, and quits the Weapon X team. Sabretooth is then ordered to kill – or appear to kill – Wolverine’s lover, and it’s game on.
Although the best line between the two aired in yesterday’s segment – when Sabretooth asks how Logan plans on killing him (he has the same healing factor as Logan), Logan replies, ‘I thought I’d cut off your head, see if that will work’ – we’re highly encouraged by this TV spot, which showcases the bubbling, testosterone-heavy rivalry between Hugh Jackman and Schreiber.
The fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth in Bryan Singer’s X-Men was, it has to be said, a slight disappointment, so the prospect of seeing these two legendary foes go claw-to-claw over the course of an entire movie is pretty exciting – especially as Schreiber is a much, much better actor than Tyler Mane.
Of course, whatever happens, we’ll be intrigued to see if a slight continuity issue is addressed – in X-Men, Wolverine doesn’t recognise Sabretooth because he’s had his memories repressed, but Sabretooth should recognise Wolverine. Our solution? Bring in Jimmy Smits for the movie’s last line – ‘oh, and have the hairy one’s memory wiped’.
Anyhoo, we digress... the third and final TV spot will air tonight in the States, during American Idol. Tune in if you can.