1. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

SUMMARY

For Steve Rogers, awakening after decades of suspended animation involves more than catching up on pop culture; it also means that this old school idealist must face a world of subtler threats and difficult moral complexities. That becomes clear when Director Nick Fury is killed by the mysterious assassin, the Winter Soldier, but not before warning Rogers that SHIELD has been subverted by its enemies. When Rogers acts on Fury's warning to trust no one there, he is branded as a traitor by the organization. Now a fugitive, Captain America must get to the bottom of this deadly mystery with the help of the Black Widow and his new friend, The Falcon. However, the battle will be costly for the Sentinel of Liberty, with Rogers finding enemies where he least expects them while learning that the Winter Soldier looks disturbingly familiar.

PLOT

Two years after the Battle of New York, Steve Rogers works in Washington D.C. for the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D.under Director Nick Fury, while adjusting to contemporary society. Rogers and Agent Natasha Romanoff are sent with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s counter-terrorism S.T.R.I.K.E. team, led by Agent Rumlow, to free hostages aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel fromGeorges Batroc and his mercenaries. Mid-mission, Rogers discovers Romanoff has another agenda: to extract data from the ship's computers for Fury. Rogers returns to the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, to confront Fury and is briefed about Project Insight: three Helicarriers linked to spy satellites, designed to preemptively eliminate threats. Unable to decrypt the data recovered by Romanoff, Fury becomes suspicious about Insight and asks senior S.H.I.E.L.D. officialAlexander Pierce to delay the project.

On his way to rendezvous with Maria Hill, Fury is ambushed by assailants led by a mysterious assassin called the Winter Soldier. Fury escapes to Rogers' apartment, and warns Rogers that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised. After handing Rogers aflash drive containing data from the ship, Fury is gunned down by the Winter Soldier. Fury dies in surgery, and Hill recovers the body. The next day, Pierce summons Rogers to the Triskelion. When Rogers withholds Fury's information, Pierce brands him a fugitive. Hunted by S.T.R.I.K.E., Rogers meets with Romanoff. Using data in the flash drive they discover a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker in New Jersey, where they activate a supercomputer containing the preserved consciousness ofArnim Zola. Zola reveals that ever since S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded after World War II, Hydra has secretly operated

within its ranks, sowing global chaos with the goal that humanity would willingly surrender its freedom in exchange for security. The pair narrowly escapes death when a S.H.I.E.L.D. missile destroys the bunker, and realise that Pierce is Hydra's leader within S.H.I.E.L.D.

Rogers and Romanoff enlist the help of former USAF pararescueman Sam Wilson, whom Rogers befriended, and acquire his powered "Falcon" wingpack. Deducing that S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell is a Hydra mole, they force him to divulge that Zola developed a data-mining algorithm that can identify individuals who might become future threats to Hydra's plans. The Insight Helicarriers will sweep the globe, using satellite-guided guns to eliminate these individuals. Rogers, Romanoff, and Wilson are ambushed by the Winter Soldier, who kills Sitwell. During the fight, Rogers recognizes the Winter Soldier as Bucky Barnes, his friend who was captured and experimented upon during WWII. Hill manages to extract the trio to a safehouse where Fury, who had faked his death, is waiting with plans to sabotage the Helicarriers by replacing their controller chips.

After the World Security Council members arrive for the Helicarriers' launch, Rogers broadcasts Hydra's plot to everyone at the Triskelion. Romanoff, disguised as one of the Council members, disarms Pierce. Fury arrives and forces Pierce to unlock S.H.I.E.L.D's database so that Romanoff can leak classified information, exposing Hydra to the public. Following a struggle, Fury shoots Pierce dead. Meanwhile, Rogers and Wilson storm two Helicarriers and replace the controller chips, but the Winter Soldier destroys Wilson's suit and fights Rogers on the third. Rogers fends him off and replaces the final chip, allowing Hill to take control and have the vessels destroy each other. Rogers refuses to fight the Winter Soldier in an attempt to reach his friend, but as the ship collides with the Triskelion, Rogers is thrown out into the Potomac River. The Winter Soldier rescues the unconscious Rogers before disappearing into the woods. With S.H.I.E.L.D. in disarray, Romanoff appears before a Senate subcommittee and Fury, under the cover of his apparent death, heads to Eastern Europe in pursuit of Hydra's remaining cells. Rogers and Wilson decide to find the Winter Soldier, while Rumlow, who was a double agent for Hydra, is hospitalized following the Triskelion's destruction.

In a mid-credits scene, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, at a Hydra lab, proclaims that the "age of miracles" has begun as scientists examine an energy-filled scepter and two prisoners: one with superhuman speed, the other with telekinetic powers. In a post-credits scene, the Winter Soldier visits a Bucky memorial at the Smithsonian Institution.

CHARACTER

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America:A World War II veteran who was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum, frozen in suspended animation, and is now struggling to adjust

to the modern world. Describing his character's adjustment to the modern world, Evans said, "It's not so much about his shock with [technology]... It's more about the societal differences. He's gone from the '40s to today; he comes from a world where people were a little more trusting, the threats not as deep. Now, it's harder to tell who's right and wrong. Actions you take to protect people from threats could compromise liberties and privacy. That's tough for Steve to swallow." Evans trained in parkour, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, karate, boxing, and gymnastics, as the Russo brothers believed that bringing Rogers into the modern day also meant that he had studied and mastered modern fighting styles and techniques. The filmmakers also looked to make the character'sshield, which has traditionally been used for defense, a more offensive weapon.

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow:A highly trained spy working for S.H.I.E.L.D., who partners with Rogers. Screenwriter Christopher Markus said that Black Widow was a "great contrast" to Captain America, describing her as "incredibly modern, not very reverent, and just very straightforward whereas Steve is, you know a man from the 40s. He's not a boy scout, but he is reserved and has a moral center, whereas her moral center moves." The Russos added, "She's a character who lies for a living. That's what she does. He's a character who tells the truth. Give them a problem and they'll have different ways of approaching it. She's pushing him to modernize, and he's pushing her to add a certain level of integrity to her life." When asked about Romanoff's relationship with Rogers, Johansson said, "By a series of unfortunate encounters, they will be in a situation in which their friendship becomes more intimate. They share many similarities because they live on the defensive without relying on anyone. Also, the two have been working for the government throughout their professional careers. With their friendship they begin to question what they want and what is their true identity."

Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier:Steve Rogers' best friend, who has re-emerged as an enhanced brainwashed assassin after being thought killed in action during World War II. About the character, Feige said, "Winter Soldier has been methodically, almost robotically, following orders for 70 years." Stan said despite his nine-picture deal with Marvel Studios including his appearance in The First Avenger, he was not sure about an imminent return for Bucky, and only heard the sequel was named after the Winter Soldier through a friend attending San Diego Comic-Con. The actor endured five months of physical training to prepare for the role and did historical research stating, "I dove into the whole Cold War thing. I looked at the KGB. I looked at all kinds of spy movies, and all kinds of documentaries about that time, and what it was about. I grabbed anything from that time period. Anything about

brainwashing." Stan also practiced daily with the knife used by the Winter Soldier. Regarding Bucky's transition into the Winter Soldier, Stan said, "You know, the truth of the situation is although he looks very different and there's different things about him, it still comes from the same person. I think you'll get to see that no matter what. I think part of my goal here was to make sure that you see an extension of that version but just a different color of that same version in a way. I think he's still the same guy; he's cut from the same cloth."

Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon:A pararescueman trained by the military in aerial combat using a specially designed wing pack. About the role, Mackie said "[Wilson is] a really smart guy who went through major military training and becomes a tactical leader." Remarking, "He's the first African-American superhero. It makes me feel all the work I've done has been paying off. I have a son, nephews and nieces, and I love the idea that they can dress up as the Falcon on Halloween. They now have someone they can idolize. That's a huge honor for me." Marvel, who cast Mackie because of his "energy and sense of fun," did not let him read a script before signing on. Mackie spent five months doing two-a-day workouts and eating an 11,000 calorie per day diet to get into shape for the role. Commenting on Rogers' relationship with Wilson, Evans said, "Meeting Mackie's character, he used to serve, now he works at the VA counseling guys who come home with PTSD — they connect on that level. I think they're both wounded warriors who don't bleed on other people. Cap has no one to bleed on. I think Mackie knows how to handle people like that. … Sometimes when things are bad, trusting a stranger is the way to go."

Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill:A high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who works closely with Nick Fury. Smulders said she performed some of her own stunts in the film, explaining, "I try to do my own stunts whenever I can. You're only allowed to do certain stunts. There is an amazing team of stunt people that do most of the work in this film. But, I studied a lot of tae kwon do. I also did a lot of training just with weapons because I'm not very comfortable around guns. I had to get comfortable because that's my character's thing... I like to get really physical so I feel empowered when I am on set and even though you don't see it on screen, maybe I am taking people out that you don't see off camera."

Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow:Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s counter-terrorism S.T.R.I.K.E. team. About the character, Grillo said, "He is a bad-ass guy. [He] pretty much beats the shit out of everyone in the movie and that's really it." Regarding Rumlow's alter ego, Grillo said, "Very early on the Russos said, 'Look, this is an origin film for this character. We're gonna discover who this is and this is a big movie with a lot of moving parts,

but we're gonna discover you in this film and, you know, here's the information about who Brock Rumlow turns into and blah, blah, blah.' And so we've had multiple discussions about what comes after that, that thing. So, you know, it's obvious Rumlow is covered in rubble and burned to crisp at the end, but you see he's still there. They don't do that for no reason."

Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter / Agent 13:A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned to guard Rogers without his knowledge. About the character, VanCamp said, "I play Agent 13 / Sharon Carter which everyone knows but we don't really touch on that in this film. We're just sort of introducing her. When we first see her we realize she's living next to Captain America... they sort of have a little thing going on and as we all know in the comic books they had a love affair off and on for years. They had a very complicated relationship. It's almost as if they are planting the seeds now. Sort of leaving room to go wherever they want to go with it." Regarding her casting, Joe Russo said, "We wanted someone that Cap would have an immediate interest in. It had to be a strong-willed person, and we felt that Emily's work on Revenge was a great test tube for what this character could be. She's obviously very credible with physicality, she holds the screen really well, and she even looks like the character from the books."

Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter:A retired officer with the Strategic Scientific Reserve and a co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., who is a former love interest of Steve Rogers. On receiving the script, Atwell realized the character "would be 96, and I would be up to the eyeballs inprosthetics." The visual effects team was not satisfied with the initial make-up used to make Atwell look older, and eventually resorted to aging her through CGI methods.

Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce:A senior leader within S.H.I.E.L.D. a member of the World Security Council and an old comrade of Nick Fury. Redford was cast in part as an homage to his roles in 1970s thrillers such as Three Days of the Condor, and for what the directors described as "an acting legend playing a villainous role" akin to Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West. As to what attracted him to the film, Redford said it interested him by being different from his usual work, and that he "wanted to experience this new form of filmmaking that's taken over where you have kind of cartoon characters brought to life through high technology."

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury:The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Regarding Fury's questionable code of ethics, Jackson said, "Almost everything that comes out of Nick Fury's mouth is a lie in some sense. He has to ask, is he even lying to himself, too? He has a very good idea of

what's going on but his paranoia keeps him from believing some of it." Jackson added, "You see Nick Fury the office guy, him going about the day-to-day work of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the politics as opposed to that other stuff. It's great to have him dealing with Captain America in terms of being able to speak to him soldier to soldier and try to explain to him how the world has changed in another way while he was frozen in time. Some of the people who used to be our enemies are now our allies – him trying to figure out, 'Well, how do we trust those guys?' or 'How do we trust the guys that you didn't trust who don't trust you?' And explaining to him that the black and white of good guys/bad guys has now turned into this gray area." McFeely said, "Fury represents an obstacle for Steve in some ways. They don't always agree on how S.H.I.E.L.D. ought to be used." The writers gave Fury a more prominent role in The Winter Soldier, since within a plot featuring S.H.I.E.L.D. being dismantled, Fury would "take the brunt of it". They also intended on having a character that had so far been depicted as a self-assured man in charge being depicted as vulnerable, to enhance the sense of danger of the Hydra conspiracy.

Additionally, Toby Jones, Maximiliano Hernández, and Garry Shandling reprise their roles from previous Marvel Studios films as Arnim Zola, Jasper Sitwell, and Senator Stern, respectively. Georges St-Pierre plays Georges Batroc, a mercenary and a master of the French form of kickboxing known as savate. Callan Mulvey plays Jack Rollins, a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s S.T.R.I.K.E. unit. Chin Han, Jenny Agutter (who previously appeared in The Avengers), Alan Dale, and Bernard White appear as members of the World Security Council, Comedic actors Danny Pudi and DC Pierson have small roles as a S.H.I.E.L.D. technician and an Apple Store employee, respectively. Gary Sinise narrates a Captain America-themed Smithsonian Institution exhibit, and Stan Lee cameos as a security guard there. Winter Soldier creator Ed Brubaker makes a cameo as a scientist working on the Winter Soldier. Co-director Joe Russo cameos as a doctor, and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely cameo as two S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogators. Thomas Kretschmann,Elizabeth Olsen, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson appear, uncredited, as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, the Scarlet Witch, andQuicksilver, respectively, in the mid-credits scene.

2. AVATAR

SUMMARY

"Avatar," a live action film with a new generation of special effects, takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads an epic battle to save a civilization. James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of "Titanic," first conceived the film years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, "Avatar" delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

The story's hero is Jake Sully, a former Marine confined to a wheelchair. Bitter and disillusioned, he's still a warrior at heart. All Jake ever wanted was something worth fighting for, and he finds it in the place he least expected: on a distant world. Jake has been recruited to join an expedition to the moon Pandora, which corporate interests are strip-mining for a mineral worth $20 billion per kilogram on Earth. To facilitate their work, the humans use a link system that projects a person's consciousness into a hybrid of humans and Pandora's indigenous humanoids, the Na'vi. This human-Na'vi hybrid – a fully living, breathing body that resembles the Na'vi but possesses the individual human's thoughts, feelings and personality – is known as an "avatar."

In his new avatar form, Jake can once again walk. His mission is to interact with and infiltrate the Na'vi with the hope of enlisting their help – or at least their acquiescence – in mining the ore. A beautiful Na'vi female, Neytiri, saves Jake's life, albeit reluctantly, because even in his avatar body, Jake represents to her the human encroachment on the Na'vi's unspoiled world.

As Jake's relationship with Neytiri deepens, along with his respect for the Na'vi, he faces the ultimate test as he leads an epic conflict that will decide nothing less than the fate of an entire world.

PLOT

When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery

that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.

CHARACTERS

Cpl. Jake Sully: The hero of Avatar, Jake Sully is a Marine who is confined to a wheelchair until he is in his Avatar body. His military background helps him connect with the Na'vi people, as they consider themselves warriors as well.

Dr. Grace Augustine: Head of the Avatar program, Dr. Grace Augustine is a mentor and friend to Jake Sully. She set up a school to teach the Na'vi English, as well as to try and have peaceful relations with the forest people.

Norm Spellman: Norm arrives on Pandora around the same time as Jake does, and even though he is supposed to be the contact between the humans and Na'vi, they do not accept him as they do with Jake.

Colonel Miles Quaritch: Colonel Quaritch is one of the movie's antagonists; he has little respect for the life of the Na'vi and is determined to follow his orders, no matter the cost.

Neytiri: Jake's romantic interest, as well as his teacher of all things Na'vi. She is the daughter of Eytucan, the Omaticaya clan leader. She is the first real Na'vi Jake meets.

Tsu'tey: He is the heir to Eytucan's throne, as well as Neytiri's betrothed.

3. X-MEN ORIGIN: WOLVERIN

SUMMARY

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics' fictional character Wolverine, distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the fourth installment in the X-Men film series. The film was directed by Gavin Hood, written by David Benioff and Skip Woods, and produced by and starring Hugh Jackman. It co-stars Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, Will.i.am and Ryan Reynolds. The film is a standalone prequelfocusing on the violent past of the mutant Wolverine and his relationship with his half-brother Victor Creed. The plot details Wolverine's childhood as James Howlett (Troye Sivan), his early encounters with Major William Stryker, his time with Team X, and the bonding of Wolverine's skeleton with the indestructible metal adamantium during the Weapon X program.

The film was mostly shot in Australia and New Zealand, with Canada also serving as a location. Production and post-production were troubled, with delays due to the weather and Jackman's other commitments, an incomplete screenplay that was still being written in Los Angeles while principal photography rolled in Australia, conflicts arising between director Hood and Fox's executives, and an unfinished workprint being leaked on the Internet one month before the film's debut.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released worldwide on May 1, 2009, opening at the top of the box office and grossing $179 million in the United States and Canada and over $373 million worldwide. Reviews were generally negative, with critics considering the film uninspired, criticizing its screenplay and poorly produced CGI but praising Jackman's performance. Jackman himself confessed to being unhappy with the final result of the film. Another Wolverine movie entitled The Wolverine was released in 2013.

PLOT

In 1845, James Howlett (Troye Sivan), a young boy living in Canada, sees his father killed by groundskeeper Thomas Logan. The trauma activates the boy's mutation: bone claws protrude from his hands, and he kills Thomas, who reveals that he is James's real father. James flees along with Thomas's son Victor Creed, who is thus James's half-brother. They spend the next century as soldiers, fighting in the American Civil War, both World Wars, and the Vietnam War. In Vietnam, Victor kills a senior officer. James defends Victor and the two are sentenced to execution by firing squad, which they survive. Major William Stryker approaches them in military custody, and offers them membership in Team X, a group of mutants including Agent

Zero, Wade Wilson, John Wraith, Fred Dukes, andChris Bradley. They join the team for a few years, but the group's disregard for human life causes James to leave.

Six years later, James, now using the alias Logan, works as a lumberjack in Canada, where he lives with his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox. Meanwhile, with Team X disbanded, Bradley has also taken up a different life at a carnival in Springfield, until Victor comes to visit him. Back in Canada, Stryker and Zero approach Logan at work. Stryker reports that Wade and Bradley have been killed, and he thinks someone is targeting the team's members. Logan refuses to rejoin Stryker, but after finding Kayla's bloodied body in the forest, Logan realizes Victor is responsible, and finds him at a local bar. Logan loses the subsequent fight. Afterward, Stryker explains that Victor has gone rogue, and offers Logan a way to become strong enough to get his revenge. Logan undergoes a painful operation to reinforce his skeleton with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal. Once the procedure is complete, Stryker attempts to betray Logan by ordering that his memory be erased. Logan overhears this and escapes to a nearby farm, where a kind elderly couple take him in. Zero kills them the following morning, and tries to kill Logan. But Logan brings down Zero's helicopter, killing him, and swears to kill both Stryker and Victor.

Logan locates John and Fred at a boxing club. Fred explains that Victor is still working for Stryker, hunting down mutants (among them teenager Scott Summers) for Stryker to experiment on at his new laboratory, located at a place called "The Island". Fred mentions Remy "Gambit" LeBeau, who escaped from the island and therefore knows its location. John and Logan find LeBeau in New Orleans, then both fight Victor, who kills John and extracts his DNA. Agreeing to help release mutants that Stryker has captured, Gambit takes Logan to Stryker's facility on Three Mile Island. Logan learns that Kayla is alive, having been coerced by Stryker into keeping tabs on him in exchange for her sister's safety. However, Stryker refuses to release her sister and denies Victor the adamantium bonding promised for his service, due to test results revealing Victor won't survive the operation. Stryker activates Wade, now known as Weapon XI, a "mutant killer" with the powers of multiple mutants: Logan's healing power, John's teleportation, Summers' optic blasts, and Wade's swordsman skills; Bradley's electropathy was used to enable Stryker to control him completely. Stryker refers to Weapon XI as the "Deadpool".

While Logan and Victor join forces to fight Deadpool, Kayla is wounded leading the Island's captive mutants to safety; the mutants are subsequently rescued by Professor Charles Xavier. Logan decapitates Deadpool, destroying one of the cooling towers in the process. Stryker arrives and shoots Logan in the head with adamantium bullets, rendering him unconscious. Before he can shoot Kayla, she grabs him and uses her mutant power to persuade him to turn around and walk away until his feet bleed. Logan regains consciousness but has lost his memory; he sees Kayla's body but does not recognize her, and leaves the island.

In a mid-credits scene, a weary Stryker is being detained for questioning by some MPs in connection to the death of his superior, General Munson (whom Stryker did in fact kill earlier after Munson's declaration of his intent to shut down the former's project).another scene shows deadpools body moving as his hand touches his head.

Two mutant brothers, Logan and Victor, born 200 years ago, suffer childhood trauma and have only each other to depend on. Basically, they're fighters and killers, living from war to war through U.S. history. In modern times, a U.S. colonel, Stryker, recruits them and other mutants as commandos. Logan quits and becomes a logger, falling in love with a local teacher. When Logan refuses to rejoin Stryker's crew, the colonel sends the murderous Victor. Logan now wants revenge.

CHARACTER

Hugh Jackman as James Howlett / Logan / Wolverine:The mutant and future X-Men member. Jackman, who played Wolverine in the previous films, has also become producer of the film via his companySeed Productions, and earned $25 million for the film. Jackman underwent a high intensity weight training regimen to improve his physique for the role. He altered the program to shock his body into change and also performed cardiovascular workouts. Jackman noted no digital touches were applied to his physique in a shot of him rising from the tank within which Wolverine has his bones infused with adamantium.

Troye Sivan as Young James:Casting directors cast Sivan as the young Wolverine after seeing him sing at the Channel Seven Perth Telethon, and he was accepted after sending in an audition tape. Kodi Smit-McPhee was originally cast in the role, when filming was originally beginning in December 2007, but he opted out to film The Road.

Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed:Logan's half-brother and fellow soldier, who would later become his nemesis Sabretooth. Jackman and Hood compared Wolverine and Sabretooth's relationship to the Borg–McEnroe rivalry in the world of tennis: they are enemies but they can't live without each other. Sabretooth represents the pure animal and embodies the darker side of Wolverine's character, the aspect Wolverine hates about himself. These characters are two sides to the same coin. Tyler Mane, who played him in X-Men, had hoped to reprise the role. Jackman worked with Schreiber before, in the 2001 romantic comedy Kate & Leopold and described him as having a competitive streak necessary to portray Sabretooth. They egged each other on on set to perform more and more stunts. Schreiber put on 40 lb (18 kg) of muscle for the part, and described Sabretooth as the most monstrous role he ever played. As a child, he loved the Wolverine comics because of their unique "urban sensibility". Schreiber had studied to be a fight choreographer and wanted to be a dancer like Jackman, so he enjoyed working out their fight scenes.

Michael James Olsen as Young Victor

Danny Huston as William Stryker:

Huston was originally in negotiations for the part, while Brian Cox, who played the character in X2, wanted to reprise the role. He believed computer-generated imagery, similar to the program applied to Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellenin the opening flashback of X-Men: The Last Stand, would allow him to appear as the younger Stryker. Huston liked the complex Stryker, who "both loves and hates mutants because his son was a mutant and drove his wife to suicide. So he understands what they're going through, but despises their destructive force." He compared the character to aracehorse breeder, who rears his mutant experiments like children but abandons them when something goes wrong. His son is shown to be frozen at the Weapon X facility and the reason Stryker starts the Weapon XI program.

william as John Wraith:A teleporting mutant. It is will.i.am's major live-action film debut. Although he initially did not get on with the casting director, he got the role because he wanted to play a mutant with the same power as Nightcrawler. He enrolled in boot camp to get into shape for the part. When filming a fight, he scarred his knuckles after accidentally punching and breaking the camera.

Lynn Collins as Kayla Silverfox:Wolverine's native-American (Blackfoot/Niitsítapi) love interest and pawn of Stryker. She has the powers of tactile telepathy/hypnosis. However, Victor is resistant/immune to telepathy. Describing her role, Collins said "I had to play off all the guys and their testosterone-heavy abilities. But I learned that the female powers of persuasion easily trump fangs and knives and guns." Michelle Monaghan turned down the role because of scheduling conflicts, despite her enthusiasm to work with Jackman.

Kevin Durand as Fred J. Dukes / The Blob:A mutant with a nearly indestructible layer of skin. In the film's early sequences, he is a formidable fighting man, but years later, due to a poor diet, has gained an enormous amount of weight. A fan of the X-Men movies, Durand contacted the producers for a role as soon as news of a new film came out. The suit went through six months of modifications, and had a tubing system inside to cool Durand down with ice water.

Dominic Monaghan as Chris Bradley:A mutant who can manipulate electricity and electronic objects. It was originally reported that Monaghan was going to play Barnell Bohusk / Beak.

Taylor Kitsch as Remy LeBeau / Gambit:A Cajun thief who has the ability to convert the potential energy of any object he touches into kinetic energy, forcing it to explode. The size of the object determines the magnitude of the resulting explosion. He is also skilled in the use of a staff, and happens to be very agile. Due to the nature of his power, he displays supernatural durability, being able to take Wolverine's elbow to his face and return to fight moments later. When asked about his thoughts on the character, Kitsch had said, "I knew of him, but I didn't know the

following he had. I'm sure I'm still going to be exposed to that. I love the character, I love the powers, and I love what they did with him. I didn't know that much, but in my experience, it was a blessing to go in and create my take on him. I'm excited for it, to say the least."

Daniel Henney as Agent Zero:A member of the Weapon X program and an expert tracker with lethal sniper skills. An X-Men fan, Henney liked the role of a villain because "there are no restrictions playing it, allowing you freely to express it, so you can act how you want to". He described the film as more realistic and cruder than the X-Men trilogy.

Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson:A wisecracking mercenary with lethal swordsmanship skill and athleticism, who later becomes Deadpool. Reynolds had been interested in playing the character in his own film since 2003. Originally, Reynolds was only going to cameo as Wilson but the role grew after he was cast. Reynolds did sword-training for the character, and also worked out to get his physique comparable to Jackman's.

Scott Adkins as Weapon XI / Deadpool:Weapon XI is a genetically altered mutant killer. He has powers taken from other mutants killed or kidnapped in the film, as well as retractable blades in his arms. Ryan Reynolds portrays Weapon XI for close-ups, standing shots, and simple stunts while Scott Adkins is used for the more complicated and dangerous stunt work.

Tim Pocock as Scott Summers:A mutant capable of emitting powerful beams of energy from his eyes, who later becomes Cyclops, leader of the X-Men. He is shown as a Weapon X captive as he is caught by Victor Creed. Pocock is a debuting screen actor who previously worked with Opera Australia, who decided to play the character as "his own" instead of following James Marsden's performance in the X-Men trilogy, feeling that "he's a very different human being at that point in time. He's a teenager. What teenager is the same when they're 30 years old?" Pocock also described Wolverine as being Cyclops' "big transition moment", with the character going from a troubled teenager to a leader throughout the course of the film.

Max Cullen and Julia Blake as Travis Hudson and Heather Hudson:

An elderly couple who take care of Wolverine after his adamantium bonding. The Hudsons are heavily adapted from the comics' James MacDonald and Heather Hudson.

Tahyna Tozzi as Kayla's Sister / Emma:A mutant with the power to turn her skin into diamond, who in the film is Silverfox's sister. X2 writer Dan Harris said that Sigourney Weaver would have played Emma Frost in X-Men: The Last Stand if Bryan Singer had stayed on to direct. The film depiction of Emma does not exhibit the character's traditional telepathic abilities.

Wolverine's parents also appeared in the film; Aaron Jeffery portrayed Thomas Logan while Alice Parkinson portrayed Elizabeth Howlett. Peter O'Brien appeared as John Howlett, James' alleged father. The film includes numerous cameo appearances of younger versions of characters from the previous films, including Jason Stryker (William Stryker's lobotomized telepathic son whom he keeps in cryogenic suspension). There was a cameo for a young Storm, which can be seen in the trailer, but it was removed from the released film. A digitally rejuvenated Patrick Stewart also makes an uncredited cameo as a younger Charles Xavier who had not yet lost the use of his legs.

Asher Keddie played Dr. Carol Frost. Poker player Daniel Negreanu has a cameo. Phil Hellmuth wanted to join him but was unable because he committed to an event in Toronto. X-Men co-creator Stan Lee said he would cameo, but Lee ended up not appearing in the film as he could not attend filming in Australia