CATWOMAN: HUNTED Star Kelly Hu Talks Possible MCU Return As Deathstrike And X2 Nearly 20 Years On (Exclusive)

Catwoman: Hunted star Kelly Hu talks to us about possibly returning as Lady Deathstrike in the Doctor Strange sequel, the legacy of her role in X2, and working with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. Check it out!

By JoshWilding - Jan 21, 2022 02:01 PM EST

Filed Under: X-Men

In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel Studios brought back a lot of familiar villains from the past. Now, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness looks set to feature cameos from heaps of characters we've seen on screen before, but could Kelly Hu's Lady Deathstrike be among them?

She's one of the most iconic villains from the X-Men movies, so when we had the actress on the phone to discuss her Catwoman: Hunted role as Cheshire, we had to ask about a possible return.

In this excerpt from our interview (you can read the full thing on Tuesday or click here now to check it out), Hu also weighs in on X2's legacy as it nears its 20th anniversary, shares her reaction to fans still wanting to talk about the role, and what it was like working with Hugh Jackman on their massive fight scene. She also comments on how her take on Deathstrike influenced the comics.

If you weren't already on board with more of her take on this character, something tells us you soon will be. It's clearly a role Kelly looks back on fondly, and we'll be keeping a close eye on the Doctor Strange sequel. After all, we still don't know who might show up there...

Since we last spoke, Spider-Man: No Way Home has come out and opened the door for characters from the past to return; has that changed how you feel about a possible Lady Deathstrike return, especially with a movie like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on the horizon?

Yeah, it would be awesome to bring Lady Deathstrike back and actually have some dialogue this time [Laughs]. It would be a lot more fun with dialogue.

Are you surprised nearly two decades on that Deathstrike is a role people like me and the fans still want to discuss with you or did you suspect then that she would be someone with real staying power in this superhero genre?

Of course, when you play these kinds of roles, you never know what the future holds. I knew that a lot of people were very excited about Lady Deathstrike. I have to admit, I was not a comic book fan, so I didn’t understand the impact of what it was to be able to play this role. I know from my friends, as I have a lot of comic book nerd friends, and they were so ecstatic about me getting this. I knew it was kind of a big deal. I loved being able to help recreate her as well. I got to be so involved in her new look. Lady Deathstrike in the film is very different to Lady Deathstrike in the comic books. It was fun to see, afterwards, how the comic book Deathstrike started looking more like the one I had helped create in the film. So, yeah, I feel honoured that I get to have a little bit of creation as well in this comic book world through Lady Deathstrike, so it’s super fun to know you’ve had a little imprint on a character that is so beloved.

It’s got to feel pretty good as well to have been part of that fight scene which, even now, is still remembered as an all-time great battle between you and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine?

That is so awesome. I love that. It really was so awesome to be able to work with Hugh. He’s such a brilliant, awesome, lovely human being. I cannot say enough good things about him. He’s just the perfect man. Seriously [Laughs]. He’s just so kind, so sweet, and such a gentleman all the time.

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44 Comments

1 2

marvel72 - 1/21/2022, 2:09 PM

You never know,anyone can and some will show up.

grif - 1/21/2022, 2:16 PM

they [frick]ed her so hard in that movie. what a waste.

marvel72 - 1/21/2022, 2:29 PM

@Waddles - Grif has been a member of this site for a very long time,I've been a member since 2009,Grif was here before me,proper old school.

marvel72 - 1/21/2022, 2:38 PM

@Waddles - Were you? I was visiting before I signed up,I think it was around the time of Spider-Man 3 and X-Men:Last Stand.

marvel72 - 1/21/2022, 2:54 PM

@Waddles - I use to be Deadpool72 then I changed my name to Marvel72 because I wasn't just a fan of Deadpool but lots of Marvel characters.

Fogs - 1/21/2022, 2:58 PM

@marvel72 - Same here! 2009 team.

Tasmaniac - 1/21/2022, 3:05 PM

@Waddles - I still miss TeaBag 😢

marvel72 - 1/21/2022, 3:35 PM

@Fogs - Yes my good man.

marvel72 - 1/21/2022, 3:47 PM

@Tasmaniac - Do you remember Leee777 and Intruder?

The Marvel Vs DC Vs Fox War was legendary

Marvel Vs DC comics was pretty hot as well.

Tasmaniac - 1/21/2022, 4:10 PM

@marvel72 - Ah, the good old days 😊 I do indeed remember Intruder. They were some very funny, very loose units, those guys. Good times!

Fogs - 1/21/2022, 4:25 PM

@Waddles @Tasmaniac

Tho were the days hahaha

Tea was the best.

I also miss Gusto, that old frick.

Intruder was terible and awesome hahaha

I was Aklash back then.

Fogs - 1/21/2022, 4:26 PM

**those

MasterMix - 1/22/2022, 1:28 AM

@grif - She was my crush when I was a kid.

TheWalkingCuban - 1/21/2022, 2:19 PM

Cartoon deathstryke had plenty to say

But this one had an awesome death, CLANG

TheWalkingCuban - 1/21/2022, 2:29 PM

@Waddles - unless you count that gurgling sound

Tasmaniac - 1/21/2022, 3:10 PM

@TheWalkingCuban - In honour of said TeaBag…. I’d love to hear Kelly Hu making a gurgling sound 🤤

Doomsday8888 - 1/21/2022, 2:19 PM

Her death in X2 was so sad.

DOPE fighting sequence, X2 truly is kino.

FinnishDude - 1/21/2022, 2:23 PM

Why hasn't there ever been similar outrage of them making her silent henchwoman, without actual personality like there have been with some other characters? At least Taskmaster was alive and free from the mind-control at the end, so there's a chance she can come back with her comic personality, while Deathstrike was dead at the end of X2.

EZBeast - 1/21/2022, 2:32 PM

@FinnishDude - because they didn't butcher the character nearly as badly as they did with taskmaster. Also willing to bet very few people even remember her character and guaranteed task master is a far more popular and known character to fans.

dracula - 1/21/2022, 2:34 PM

@FinnishDude - probably because the bar was so low at the time. Not like the rest of the x men werent simplified as well. Basically did the same to sabertooth

x-2 is what introduced me to the character

dracula - 1/21/2022, 2:31 PM

best fight in the x men movies

dracula - 1/21/2022, 2:38 PM

@Waddles - Yeah, some of the best action of the genre. Really probably on par with Spiderman 2 as a film.

ignoring the guy's terrible shit, man would have been nice to see singer's version of the phoenix saga

dracula - 1/21/2022, 3:04 PM

@Waddles - yeah heard of some of that, was suppose to involve mutant trafficking and was going to involve the hellfire club, with sigorny weaver considered for emma frost

would have been so much better

Tasmaniac - 1/21/2022, 3:17 PM

@Waddles - Oh God yeah. I was actually fuming walking out of the cinema after TLS. Such a wasteful disappointment after the first 2 movies. It literally tainted my view of every single X-Men movie that came after it. I couldn’t help but go in expecting them to be shit. For the same reason I’m glad TDKR was the last Nolan Batman movie. But let’s not go into that… 😓

Winston19 - 1/21/2022, 2:42 PM

I really wanted them to show deathstrike to be Wolverine’s love interest at one point and her revenge for her father a reason to kill him. Also the cyborg aspect to her was cool.

The1st - 1/21/2022, 2:43 PM

Watching X2 it's clear they never knew quite where to go with the character, just someone else with adamantium to fight Wolverine. With the MCU increasingly getting fleshed out and expanded, this is a character that has a lot of potential.

Fogs - 1/21/2022, 3:00 PM

@The1st - Yes.

TheHumanSpider2 - 1/21/2022, 5:56 PM

@The1st - *Taskmaster flashbacks*

...sure

IronMan616 - 1/21/2022, 2:54 PM

She was awesome in X2. Wished she would've returned.

Kurban - 1/21/2022, 3:11 PM

Maybe if she's actually a character this time and not just proto-X-23 like in the film.

h8red - 1/21/2022, 3:55 PM

@marvel72 - what’s up, good gentleman. Been here since 2007(Iron Man trailer). Not a big poster, but most of you all have given me years of entertainment. Tip of the hat to everyone.

1 2

CATWOMAN: HUNTED Star Kelly Hu Talks Possible MCU Return As Deathstrike And X2 Nearly 20 Years On (Exclusive)

Catwoman: Hunted star Kelly Hu talks to us about possibly returning as Lady Deathstrike in the Doctor Strange sequel, the legacy of her role in X2, and working with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. Check it out!

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