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CNN Saturday Morning News

What Was Left Out of 'X-Men 2'?

Aired May 03, 2003 - 07:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The sequel to "X-Men," titled "X- Men 2: X-Men United," has opened to a large crowd, not only, well, large crowds worldwide, really. You may recognize Wolverine and, of course, know Halle Berry as Storm. They're all back.
But Kendis Gibson takes a look at what did not make the movie.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENDIS GIBSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When comic book heroes make the leap to the big screen, some things just don't go with them. In "The X-Men" sequel, "X-2," the gang from the first film is all there, but some of the comic book's other beloved characters don't get to come along.

Beast, a blue, furry mutant, was cut from the sequel, producers apparently feeling other blue-skinned characters, such as villain Mystique and newcomer Night Crawler, were enough indigo people could handle makeup-wise.

Angel, a hero that would have required 15- to 20-foot wings, was also left out, as was the Danger Room, the X-Men's trademark mutant training ground. It was scrapped because the special effects required were too expensive.

Some things in the X universe get altered in the film translation. The X-Men's sleek plane, known as the Blackbird in the comic, is now the X-Jet. And in the comic, villain William Stryker is an Army guy turned mutant-hating evangelist. In the movie, he's just a mutant-hating military guy.

But some of the comic's lore remains the same. For example, its central theme, tolerance of diversity versus unreasonable hatred, is further explored in the movie. And the love triangle between Wolverine, Jingray (ph), and Cyclops is intact and even gets more intense.

And speaking of Wolverine, well, we finally get to see him go berserk. And as for Professor X, as is in the comic, he's still, yes, bald.

Kendis Gibson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Good. Some things never change. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 3, 2003 - 07:20   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The sequel to "X-Men," titled "X- Men 2: X-Men United," has opened to a large crowd, not only, well, large crowds worldwide, really. You may recognize Wolverine and, of course, know Halle Berry as Storm. They're all back.
But Kendis Gibson takes a look at what did not make the movie.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENDIS GIBSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When comic book heroes make the leap to the big screen, some things just don't go with them. In "The X-Men" sequel, "X-2," the gang from the first film is all there, but some of the comic book's other beloved characters don't get to come along.

Beast, a blue, furry mutant, was cut from the sequel, producers apparently feeling other blue-skinned characters, such as villain Mystique and newcomer Night Crawler, were enough indigo people could handle makeup-wise.

Angel, a hero that would have required 15- to 20-foot wings, was also left out, as was the Danger Room, the X-Men's trademark mutant training ground. It was scrapped because the special effects required were too expensive.

Some things in the X universe get altered in the film translation. The X-Men's sleek plane, known as the Blackbird in the comic, is now the X-Jet. And in the comic, villain William Stryker is an Army guy turned mutant-hating evangelist. In the movie, he's just a mutant-hating military guy.

But some of the comic's lore remains the same. For example, its central theme, tolerance of diversity versus unreasonable hatred, is further explored in the movie. And the love triangle between Wolverine, Jingray (ph), and Cyclops is intact and even gets more intense.

And speaking of Wolverine, well, we finally get to see him go berserk. And as for Professor X, as is in the comic, he's still, yes, bald.

Kendis Gibson, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Good. Some things never change. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com