X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Remember that bad guy with less claws from the first movie? Turns out he's Wolverine's half-brother.

Little Victor Creed loves his half-brother James "Jimmy" Logan dearly, so much that he ran with him into the night when the sickly little boy sprouted claws of bone and killed his birth father on a cold Canadian night in 1845.

As they grew into men, the beast in Victor also awakens, and over the next one hundred years the brothers tore a bloody swathe through every major war of American Involvement. A century of bloodshed drove the already callous Victor mad, eventually resulting in their execution when Jimmy was forced to turn on him to protect a peasant woman from his savage lust during the Vietnam War.

Thanks to the Healing Factor that conveyed near Immortality, the execution merely "tickled" Jimmy and Victor, allowing Colonel William Stryker to exonerate them of their war crimes and recruit them into a squadron of mutant warriors that performed morally reprehensible tasks for the American Government. Jimmy left in disgust to start a new life after one massacre of innocents too many, with Victor enjoying his job too much to go with him. Victor's twisted mind took his beloved little brother Jimmy's departure as abandonment, and this he did not take too gracefully...

It had two sequels, The Wolverine (2013) and Logan (2017), both of which are considered better than this film.

Tropes used in X-Men Origins: Wolverine include:

Logan: C'mon, bub. For old times' sake!
Dukes: ...Did you just call me... BLOB??

    • Wolverine himself has a berserk button, which is when Kayla is in danger at any point.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Gambit and Sabretooth both save Wolverine at different points in the movie.
  • The Big Guy: Fred Dukes
  • Big Brother Instinct - For all his (many) flaws, Victor Creed really loves his little brother Jimmy.
  • Big No
  • Black Best Friend - John Wraith. (Best may be stretching it.)
  • Blood Knight: Victor enjoys being a warrior far too much to start a life of peace with James.
  • Body Horror: Weapon XI, specially his mouthless face with perpetually open eyes.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: At the end of the film Deadpool fishes his severed head out of the rubble, looks straight at the audience, puts a finger to his lips and says "Shhh.
  • Cain and Abel: Logan and Victor
  • Call Back: Col. Stryker says that Wade Wilson would be the perfect mercenary if it weren't for his mouth; towards the end of the movie, Wade has his mouth sewn shut.
  • The Cameo: An uncredited and digitally rejuvenated Patrick Stewart as Professor X.
  • Captain Ersatz - A kindly old couple on a farm who take in a super-powered individual? That sounds kinda familiar...
  • Comic Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Invoked a few times:
    • The name "Blob" is only mentioned once, as an insulting nickname that Freddie Dukes hates. Even then, it only comes up when Freddie mishears Logan calling him "Bub".
    • "Gambit" is only briefly mentioned as Remy LeBeau's nickname, which the prison guards gave him because he always beat them at poker.
    • "Deadpool" isn't spoken until the end of the movie, when it's used as a callsign for Weapon XI. Other than that, he's either "Wade" or "Weapon XI".
    • The name Sabertooth is never mentioned. Considering the continuity snarl of Sabertooth in the first movie (see below) and Creed's appearance in this one, one could come to the conclusion that they are different characters.
  • Compelling Voice: Kayla's power.
  • Conspicuous CG:
    • Wolverine's claws.
    • Professor X.
    • And who can forget the skin o' diamonds? It's seared into our memories like the painful scars of an innocent first learning that stove elements glow orange because they're really really hot.
    • The fire escape in the alleyway brawl was a particularly bad offender
  • Continuity Snarl: Let's count the ways...
    • Cyclops' eyes are shown to be heat-lasers instead of force-beams
    • Victor's appearance has changed completely and he apparently doesn't recognise Wolverine at all in the first films (although he seems very keen on keeping Wolverine's dog-tags so it's possible he was just keeping quiet about the whole thing.)
    • On top of that, Wolverine does remember Stryker in the first films, but for some reason not his own brother.
      • Wolverine didn't remember Victor because of the adamantium shells Stryker fired into his brain. For that matter, he didn't technically remember Stryker in X-Men United. He knew Stryker's scent and appearance were familiar but never could quite place them until near the end of the film. But that still leaves the question how the same vague memories weren't unearthed when he bumped into the brother who was his only friend for the better part of a century.
    • He gets his signature jacket off the old couple that help him... and has lost it again by the time his memories are wiped.
  • Contractual Immortality - It is a prequel, after all. For that matter, Foregone Conclusion and Doomed by Canon (or should it be "Blessed"?).
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: "Turn around, and walk until your feet bleed. And then keep walking."
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Wolverine handles Sabretooth with relative ease both of the times they fight after he gets the adamantium upgrade, and it's only through sheer luck that Sabretooth doesn't die in either fight. Logan himself gets his ass kicked by Sabretooth before the upgrade.
    • Deadpool was also beating the Snot out of Wolverine before Sabertooth intervened. He only wins with Sabertooth's help.
      • And even then it was a close call.
  • Dies Wide Open
  • The Dragon: Agent Zero at first, then Sabretooth and Weapon XI later on.
  • Dual-Wielding - Wade Wilson with his dual katana. Arguably, Logan, Victor, and Weapon XI count too...
  • Dumb Muscle - Blob
  • Empty Elevator: Very much averted - they're in the elevator, right in the firing line of two dozen mooks with automatic weapons... but it still doesn't matter.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: The generals allowed for Stryker to carry out his Weapon X project. However, one of them called Stryker out when telling him that he suspects that Stryker's motivations were basically out of Fantastic Racism. This gets him killed by Stryker.
  • False Reassurance - Wolverine nearly throttles Stryker at one stage when he thinks he's lying. Styker swears that he's telling the truth "on the life of my son!" Of course, as we saw in X2, Stryker doesn't value his son's life very highly.
  • Fan Nickname: Dudepeel for Weapon XI.
  • Flashback Nightmare: Implied in one scene with Wolverine, where he is screaming in bed and apparently accidentally injured Fox with his (regular) claws, where he explained that he had nightmares on every single war he fought in.
  • Full-Frontal Assault
  • Gainaxing: Blob, when Logan hits him. Ewwww.
    • And for those of you who didn't like that scene, we have Emma Frost's slow-motion bouncing near the end before the helicopter.
  • Guns Akimbo - Agent Zero at certain points.
  • The Gunslinger: Agent Zero
  • Healing Factor
  • Historical In-Joke: The real reason for the Three Mile Island leak.
  • Idiot Ball: Did Wraith really think he could beat Sabretooth bare-handed? The guy has a Healing Factor after all. Plus super-strength, enhanced reflexes and claws.
    • Kayla: She has touch persuasion, and never thought to use it on Stryker. Instead, she ran past him, where she was captured by Victor. She also trusted Stryker would free her sister after he blackmailed her, and only caught on to the fact he was using her at the end.
    • How Logan could really have failed to notice Kayla wasn't really dead values some mention. Did he not check at all? Why didn't he smell the blood wasn't hers? Or notice there weren't any actual wounds? And what on earth did he do with the body? Obviously he didn't try to bury it, and if he'd handed it over to anyone in authority, they would have noticed she wasn't dead. So what, did he just leave it there in the woods?
      • She was using her power on him. Who knows if anything that happened that day was real, or just implanted memories. Also, the police are generally pretty suspicious if you show up somewhere carrying your murdered wife.
  • If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him
  • Ill Little Boy: Little Jimmy Logan.
  • I'm Cold... So Cold...
  • Immortality
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Agent Zero. And Stryker, who manages to hit Wolverine from a somewhat questionable distance on his first try with a revolver.
  • Inertia Is a Cruel Mistress: How Victor kills Wraith.
  • Informed Attribute: Wade's talkativeness. He gets maybe half a dozen lines, then stands around in silence with the rest of the team. It's certainly implied that Victor's reaction comes after Wade's been talking his ear off for a while, though.
  • In Name Only: Deadpool. Wise cracking crackpot with a penchant for kicking ass? No, that won't do. Let's sew his mouth shut and give him All Your Powers Combined. While arguably a better explanation for his post-Weapon-X Ax Crazy than "terminal cancer overlaid on top of a Healing Factor", it also ruins any chance of Character Development fuel he might have in his own spin-off unless there are vast retcons involved.
    • Emma Frost. The only attributes that she has in common with her comics counterpart is that she's blonde, and can turn her skin into a diamond-like form. First Class would ignore her appearance in this story and present its own version of Emma as much closer to her comics counterpart. Then again, she's called "Emma" but the surname is never said.
    • Agent Zero. Not only do they use his New Weapon X callsign instead of his Weapon X one (Maverick), he somehow has Agent X's powers as well. Neither his powers as Maverick (kinetic energy absorption and redirection), nor his powers as Agent Zero (corrosive skin secretions designed to defeat Healing Factor abilities) make an actual appearance. Oh, and he's no longer East German. Perhaps they actually confused Agent Zero with Agent X?
    • Bolt. Or Bradley, for those who missed him because he's long-dead in the comics. He's not only not called by his callsign, he's also no longer the kid Maverick teaches in the use of his powers after retiring - he's now Maverick's comrade-in-arms. Who, instead of lightning-flinging powers, has electric-appliance-powering-and-controlling powers.
  • I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Stryker uses this on Kayla.
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: For all its faults, the film's opening montage of the many wars the US has been in did show Victor's decline from a soldier doing his job to a ruthless killer quite nicely without being really obvious about it.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Wade Wilson/Deadpool/Weapon XI.
    • Although as Weapon XI, the swords he uses are not katana.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Wolverine's "memories don't grow back", but his ability to speak, read, walk, recognize police cars, hide from police cars, etc, do.
    • In the comics it is explained that when Wolverine experiences particularly traumatic moments, his brain mentally 'heals' around the memories of that moment. Traumatic memories could include having to watch the woman you love die/betray you, watching all of your friends and family members get killed, undergoing an intensely painful medical procedure under no anesthesia or finding out your brother is now an Ax Crazy mad man.
  • Losing Your Head: Deadpool.
  • Love Makes You Crazy/Love Makes You Evil: Victor did not take James leaving him for a life of peace well... not in the least.
    • In reverse, James defending Victor during Vietnam, despite Victor shooting at civilians, attempting to rape a little girl and slaughtering their fellow soldiers for trying to stop him.
  • Mighty Lumberjack: Logan takes up lumberjacking in his Retired Badass phase.
  • Missing Trailer Scene: One of the earliest trailers includes a brief shot of a young Black girl with white hair, who's clearly mean to be a young Storm. She never appears in the movie at all.
  • My Hero Zero: Agent Zero.
  • Mythology Gag: In the comics, Deadpool's nickname was "The Merc with the Mouth". Here, he's the Merc with No Mouth.
    • Stryker's ultimate mutant weapon being called "Weapon XI", in reference to the revelation in the comics that "Weapon X" actually meant "Weapon Ten". Which means that if Weapon X1 is Deadpool (or Dudepeel), and Weapon X is Wolverine, who is Weapon I? Captain America.
  • Nice Hat: Gambit. It's a nice one, indeed.
  • No Problem With Licensed Games: The PS3/360 versions of the video game adaptation actually received better scores than the movie! The PlayStation 2 version, though, wasn't so fortunate...
  • Not What I Signed on For: Wolverine is not too enthusiastic about massacring a village full of civilians.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Victor saves James from Weapon XI, after which he says this practically verbatim.
  • Playing with Syringes
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: In the comics, Fred Dukes A.K.A Blob, is a mutant who's specific abilities seem to revolve around being morbidly obese. In the film however, Dukes is physically fit until he develops an eating disorder, but his super strength is what allows him to carry his own weight.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "I can feel your spine, Johnny Boy. Never knew you had one."
  • Present Day Past: The movie certainly doesn't look like it takes place 20-30 years before the main X-Men movies.
  • Psycho for Hire: Victor Creed.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Or in Gambit's case, Pimptastic purple silk.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni - Victor Creed and James Logan.
  • Retcon: Origins introduced a few to what was established in the first three films, the most substantial of them all being Sabertooth being Wolverine's brother, when Victor manifested no reaction to meeting Wolverine other than another enemy to kill in the first movie.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Pretty much the whole point of the movie.
  • Rule of Cool: The movie is generally considered at its best when it remembers that it's about Hugh Jackman running around stabbing people in the face.
  • The Runaway: In the beginning of the film, young James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine and Victor Creed ran away from home together after James stabs and kills Thomas Logan for murdering his father, then finds out that Thomas was his real father.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: Logan
  • Skyward Scream
  • Smug Snake: Stryker
  • The Stinger: After the credits there is a short clip. There are two clips (a different one depending on your screening) that all function as some sort of Sequel Hook. On the DVD Blu-Ray release, the Deadpool ending is included at the end of the credits, whilst the Japan ending is included as a deleted scene.
  • Stout Strength: Blob, post-eating disorder
  • Temporary Love Interest: Subverted in that her death was faked.
  • They Were Holding You Back - Why Victor killed the love interest.
  • Too Dumb to Live: So... are you saying they had those adamantium bullets the entire time their best marksman/sniper was out getting slaughtered by Wolverine in the field? Nice move, you military geniuses you.
  • Understatement:

Farmer: "Had a rough night?"
Wolverine: "You could say that."

  • Unflinching Walk
  • Unobtanium: Adamantium comes from meteors. Specifically, sacred African meteors, making it this continuity's answer to Vibranium. Thus completing the transformation begun in the Ultimate Avengers films.
  • Unwitting Pawn: The look on Wolverine's face when Blob told him that Stryker was performing experiments on mutants and when he realizes what led him to willingly get his brand spankin' new adamantium skeleton... priceless.
  • Vapor Trail: Wolvie ignites a spark with his claws. The fire travels up the trail of fuel leaking from Agent Zero's downed helicopter.
  • Who Wants to Live Forever?
  • Wolverine Publicity - The first X-Man so popular that he gets his own movie. Also features fan-favorites Deadpool and Gambit.
  • You Said You Would Let Them Go
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/X-Men_Origins:_Wolverine?oldid=2003435"