X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics fictional character Wolverine. It is the fourth installment of the X-Men film series, the first installment of the Wolverine trilogy within the series, and a spin-off/prequel to X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003). The film was directed by Gavin Hood, written by David Benioff and Skip Woods, and produced by Hugh Jackman, who stars as the titular character, alongside Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, and Ryan Reynolds. The film's plot details Wolverine's childhood as James Howlett, his time with Major William Stryker's Team X, the bonding of Wolverine's skeleton with the indestructible metal adamantium during the Weapon X program and his relationship with his half-brother Victor Creed.

The film was mostly shot in Australia and New Zealand, with Canada also serving as a location. Filming took place from January to May 2008. 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 over the film's direction, and an unfinished workprint being leaked on the internet a month before the film's debut.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released worldwide on May 1, 2009 by 20th Century Fox. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for Jackman's performance but criticism for its script. The film opened at the top of the North American box office and grossed $179 million in the United States and Canada and over $373 million worldwide. A second film, The Wolverine, was released in 2013 and a third film, Logan, was released in 2017. 

PLOT

In 1845, James Howlett, a boy livi
ng in the Northwest Territories, witnesses his father being killed by groundskeeper Thomas Logan. Anxiety activates the boy's mutation: Bone claws protrude from his knuckles, and he impales Thomas, who reveals that he is James' biological father before dying. James flees along with Thomas' other son, Victor Creed, who is James' half-brother and has a sharp claw-nails and healing factor mutation like James. They spend the next century as soldiers, fighting in the American Civil War, both World Wars and the Vietnam War in 1973. In Vietnam, the increasingly violent Victor attempts to rape a Vietnamese woman and kills a senior officer who tries to stop him. James returns to Victor, and ignorant of his brother's intent, rushes to defend him. The pair are sentenced to execution by firing squad, which they survive. Major William Stryker offers them membership in Team X, a group of mutants including marksman Agent Zero, katana-wielding mercenary Wade Wilson, teleporter John Wraith, super-strong and invulnerable Fred Dukes, and technopath Chris Bradley. They join the team for a few missions, with James using the alias Logan, but Victor and the group's lack of self-control and empathy causes Logan to leave.

Years later, Logan works as a logger in Canada, where he lives with his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox. Stryker and Zero approach Logan, reporting that Wade and Bradley have been killed; someone is targeting the team. Logan refuses to rejoin Stryker, but after finding Kayla's bloodied body in the woods, realizes that Victor is responsible. He finds Victor at a bar but loses the subsequent fight. 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. Stryker orders that Lo

gan's memory be erased so he can be used as Stryker's personal weapon, but Logan overhears and escapes to a nearby farm, where an elderly couple takes him in. Zero kills the couple the following morning and tries to kill Logan. Logan takes down Zero's helicopter and swears to kill both Stryker and Victor. He then blows up the helicopter, killing Zero.

Logan locates Wraith and Dukes at a boxing gym in Las Vegas. Dukes, who has ballooned in size due to a guilt-induced eating disorder, explains that Victor still works for Stryker, hunting down mutants for Stryker to experiment on at his new laboratory, located at a place called "The Island". Dukes also mentions Remy "Gambit" LeBeau, the only one who escaped from the island and therefore knows its location. Wraith and Logan find LeBeau in New Orleans, then both fight Victor, who kills Wraith 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 forced by Stryker into surveilling 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, claiming that test results revealed Victor would not survive the operation. Stryker activates Wade, now known as Weapon XI, a "mutant killer" with the powers of multiple mutants.

While Logan and Victor fight off Weapon XI, Kayla is mortally wounded leading the captive mutants to Professor Charles Xavier and safety. After Logan kills Weapon XI, Stryker arrives and shoots Logan in the head with adamantium bullets, rendering him unconscious. Before Stryker can shoot Kayla, she grabs him and uses her mutant power to persuade him to turn around and walk away until his feet bleed, then succumbs to her injuries. Logan regains consciousness but has lost his memory. He notices his dog tags read "Logan" on one side and "Wolverine" on the other. He pauses upon noticing Kayla's body, but does not recognize her.