Gavin Hood on Wolverine Not Being a Definitive Character

Gavin Hood on Wolverine Not Being a Definitive Character

The director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine feels he couldn't find a definitive interpretation of Wolverine from the comic books.

By Whispers68 - Oct 11, 2009 08:10 AM EST
Source: blogs.coventrytelegraph.net

During the production of X-Men Origins: wolverine, director Gavin Hood received a lot of backlash from fans on whether or not he'll create a correct interpretation of the characters involved in the film, mainly Wolverine as well as Gambit. He said:

"At the beginning, you read all the fan site and everyone is saying 'Man, I hope this guy screws up Gambit, because Gambit had red eyes and I hope he knows that Gambit has red eyes.' Another thing is those guys who love Wolverine in yellow spandex. The point is, what I realized when I read those comics, and I DID take it seriously, was that I couldn't find the definitive Logan."

This is understandable because over the years, the writers and artists involved with the Wolverine comic books have displayed their interpretation of the character so the same should go for the creative team in Hollywood when it comes time to create a film about the character...without going too far off the edge that is.



Hood said:

"We stayed true to his claws and his healing factor and his internal conflict. This is our interpretation, our take on Wolverine for now. And if, in five years time, someone else comes along and makes the version of him in a yellow spandex suit and it works, good for them. We're just trying to offer our version."

When the film leaked online several weeks before its theatrical premiere, it was devastating issue for hood.

"I felt like s**t. It was a huge shock. We make movies and put our work out and some people like it and some people don't. But we want to be done. You want to finish your work before you face the firing squad. So it was a huge shock. I felt very vulnerable."

Whispers68: I believe he has a point because as fans we would like the transition from comic book-to-film, to possess a severely smooth adaptation; certain things don't necessarily have to carry over because on paper its one thing but as a theatrical release...it simply doesn't fit. At times, we do have to give Hollywood a little room to be creative in trying to adapt some of our beloved comic books because not everything can transfer smoothly into our world without coming off as ridiculous. But some directors and members of the creative team can go off the deep end and simply massacre everything we know and love. Generally speaking, Hood has a point with this Wolverine matter.
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Bamf7
Bamf7 - 10/11/2009, 9:36 AM
He's not saying anything we all don't already know. But it sounds like he's trying to come up with excuses for making a move that SHOULD have been so much better.
ThisFan
ThisFan - 10/11/2009, 9:57 AM
Just goes to show how great fox is at picking directors
Imran
Imran - 10/11/2009, 10:07 AM
Wolverine is and will always be just ONE of the X-Men.. As cool as he may be lol :-P
CaptainAmerica
CaptainAmerica - 10/11/2009, 10:45 AM
[frick] zack snyder.
Whispers68
Whispers68 - 10/11/2009, 10:52 AM
I'm probably the biggest advocate for how "X-Men: Origins: Wolverine" was lower than expectations...I still haven't been able to have a second view of the film and chances are I never will. But most individuals I've heard when it comes to a dismay about Wolverine's interpretation on film over the years has mainly been his lack of dawning the spandex outfit and the placement of his adamantium claws. The claws are understandable but the spandex outfit to me is perhaps something that won't transition properly on film.
DegenX
DegenX - 10/11/2009, 10:53 AM
"We stayed true to his claws and his healing factor and his internal conflict. This is our interpretation, our take on Wolverine for now. And if, in five years time, someone else comes along and makes the version of him in a yellow spandex suit and it works, good for them. We're just trying to offer our version."

Once again Hollywood fails and doesn't stick to the source material. Then they wonder why the movie fails at the box office and then we get 50 million reboots. 1 word FAIL.
StrangerX
StrangerX - 10/11/2009, 10:57 AM
It has always been my view that costumes give the hero a purpose and a larger than life personality. Like police officer’s firefighters, or soldiers, the professional attire of a person has always been what gives that person character, and defines how they stand out from the normal everyday citizens. The situation, no matter how fantastic or vibrant the story may be is no different for comic book heroes in movies. Each character is still defined by his/her costume and powers. Wolverine is not different. So far we have seen wolverine in various x-men films and his own spin-off, but still we have only seen him in his infant stage. Wolverine’s true persona is built within the mask and costume. It’s the costume that gives him the ability to let loose and leave his personal feelings aside and get the job done. After all he is the best at what he does. I think directors like Gavin Hood and writers for the X-men have honestly missed this factor. Instead of taking in the account character’s like Spider-man are succesfull so much mainly because it’s his costume that gives the character power, and purpose. Peter Parker could never wall crawl around if it wasn’t for his spidey outfit. Why should this be any different for Wolverine.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 10/11/2009, 11:04 AM
Great article. Wolverine needed to be a better movie anyway, without even brining in the liberties they took with the source material, but I do see his point. The costume thing for that particular movie is moot though, after all, he didn't wear it until he joined the X Men anyway so why would he wear it in his origin movie?
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 10/11/2009, 11:12 AM
Yeah but those teams didn't make an appearance in the movie! Now whether they should have or not is obviously a totally different debate, but for the movie they made, a costume was not necessary.
Whispers68
Whispers68 - 10/11/2009, 11:13 AM
The costume we know from the comic book can be represented eventually but not in the same spandex sorta material. With the material used for the "Spiderman" film possesseing the appeal of a harder, more sturdy and not so spandex-like...I wouldn't have a problem if this were the case for wolverine's costume. I actually would love to eventually see the costume brought to life but definitely not in a simply spandex form. what was done to the Batman costume is a great example because a lot of people complained when they first heard of "Batman Begins" interpretation of the costume but it turned out awesome, as did the one in "The Dark Knight."
ASSASSIN666
ASSASSIN666 - 10/11/2009, 11:21 AM
F**k the damn costume issue, my point has been for years is that that both Marvel and D.C must have the right to approve the script for any movie based on their characters period. If this simple idea was used we wouldn't get stuck with half assed movies, and all these f**king reboots. What the f**k is so difficult to get this done, it's common sense which in hollywood isn't a spoken language. Wolverine should have been Marvel's Dark Knight and could have been, God knows there's a wealth of material to choose from.
Whispers68
Whispers68 - 10/11/2009, 11:31 AM
@ multipurposeponi

I knew from what took place in the original X-Men series, what I heard during pre-production and after the first official trailer that this film would be NO TDK. Not that it couldn't have been but I expected nothing more than an hour-and-a-half of disappointment. We don't have to accept the crappiness they release in Hollywood but we also shouldn't expect too much creativity to take place when it comes to source material.
SHHH
SHHH - 10/11/2009, 11:48 AM
in other words he did not know what he was doing
Whispers68
Whispers68 - 10/11/2009, 11:53 AM
@ multipurpose

Dude, the first time i saw the trailer, i can't recall what movie it was...but it nearly ruined the film because i sat there in silence for maybe five minutes as everyone asked what was wrong. the entire editing was just horrid. I didn't understand why the story allowed so many frailties to occur that didn't exist in the comic book.

It was truly a tragedy to see everything you've read over the years, video-games played from your childhood and other items transition in such a way onto film. So I'm there with you...I know what having memories shattered feels like. "Dragonball Evolution," "Batman & Robin," "Elektra," "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li." I can continue this horrific list but you get the point
Kyos
Kyos - 10/11/2009, 12:04 PM
I don't think there is any excuse for the mess the Wolverine movie was, except maybe that the studio made an R rating impossible.

Of course there is too much scource material to adapt all of it into one script. But then please decide carefully what you want to keep and what you want to leave out and don't just take some vital parts and add random shit to it.

And if you are forced by some higher power to be creative and do something new, please use this freedom to try to make a good movie that makes any sense. I can't imagine it's that hard to avoid things in the script that make the characters look like they're a bunch of [frick]ing idiots.

And if what you're supposed to be doing happens to be a mindless action flick at least make sure you are capable of producing decent special effects. Please...!?

And it's not like they only had the comics to show them what this movie should have been, X-Men 2 even provided them with an exact blueprint of Wolverine's origin in the freakin' movie universe.

"We stayed true to his claws and his healing factor and his internal conflict." His claws looked like shit and to both claws and healing factor I can only say: NO BLOOD! And his internal conflict, yeah, well...


I'm sorry for Hugh, Liev and to some extent Gavin, but this movie seriously pissed me off...
ASSASSIN666
ASSASSIN666 - 10/11/2009, 12:11 PM
Multi- Damn straight!!!
kyle
kyle - 10/11/2009, 12:17 PM
i haven't seen this movie yet. people say this is one of the worst marvel movies since ang lee's hulk. neil blocamp shud of made this film, but we got a greater movie... district 9
StrangerX
StrangerX - 10/11/2009, 12:27 PM
I'm sure now the studeios have realized that sometimes more doesn't mean better. You don't have to add all these different types of characters. You don't need to have a childish feel to keep it PG 13. Also get someone actually interested in the project instead of someone just makig the movie for buck.
ASSASSIN666
ASSASSIN666 - 10/11/2009, 12:32 PM
Kyle- If you leave your expectations at the door and watch Wolverine it's a solid movie. If you're expecting the wolverine from the comic or the animated series, or Wolverine and the X-Men animated series you'll be let down. I will always love Jackman's Logan and will watch every thing he ever does as Logan. That being said, it's sad when a cartoon gets it right and a big budget movie doesn't, only my opinion.
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/11/2009, 12:35 PM
WHISPERS @ I'm with you and agree on what you said,

SN'ORIGINS truly was a TRAGEDY!!!

They bent that movie over so many times i lost count! : D

Theres a reason it got voted worst movie of 2009 by everyone here at CBM!!!

Anyway [frick] HOOD! : D

Hopefully we'll get a REAL WOLVERINE in 2!!!



Set2Fallfirst
Set2Fallfirst - 10/11/2009, 12:39 PM
@Multi For fox news making a movie is equivalent to a 2 yr old trying to get a capri straw in the pouch its so Effing difficult it you gotta stab it just right then u get mad and step all over it cuz u cant figure it out.(fox lacks depth perception)

@ lee. I want a new director in wolverine 2 I wanna see someone who loves wolverine grew up with wolverine take care of it and nurture it OR at least have a director with a nerdy son stand over him every step of the way making sure that its right hahah
Set2Fallfirst
Set2Fallfirst - 10/11/2009, 12:42 PM
Side note i think marvel being bought out by disney is A MILLION TIMES BETTER than fox buying a huge chunk of marvel properties hell they could make xmen like kingdom hearts and itd still be better than anything fox puts out wanna know why cuz any way u slice it disney and marvel give u SUBSTANCE, PLOT, DEVELOPMENT, FEELING they have a CONNECTION with their characters....fing A .......
Set2Fallfirst
Set2Fallfirst - 10/11/2009, 12:49 PM
O iforgot

Yea i went there
Whispers68
Whispers68 - 10/11/2009, 1:31 PM
@assassin666

"That being said, it's sad when a cartoon gets it right and a big budget movie doesn't, only my opinion."

You couldn't have said this any better. "Wolverine and the X-Men" to me was an awesome cartoon series recently released. Why is it that the representation is so much more related to the comic book but when they create a theatrical film release, they say the things can't be done? I can understand getting an exact replica of Logan (height, weight, good acting ability, etc) but Logan is as ruthless as they come and yet he seems to be watered done more and more. TDK wasn't Rated R, but the film was such an adult oriented joyride, it possessed the elements of a Rated R flick. Bruce Wayne is by far not as ruthless as Wolverine, why did he in comparison seem PG compared to "The Dark Knight?" why couldn't the film be more represented on par with what was envisioned in other mediums.
ASSASSIN666
ASSASSIN666 - 10/11/2009, 1:46 PM
Whispers68- Wolverine has always been my favorite since he first came out against the Hulk. I've come to the realization that in 2009 Wolverine has become an icon to fans both young, and adult. I have no choice to accept it, it's not like he's a real person that I can yell sell out to. Bottom line is at the very least they could have shown some damn blood on his claws when he kills someone, or film a f**king directors cut that's unrated for the grown ups. The last Die Hard movie came out as PG-13 and suffered for it, but when released on video there was an unrated cut of the film. I have nothing against kids, but not every movie from Marvel should be geared towards them especially Wolverine.
Whispers68
Whispers68 - 10/11/2009, 1:50 PM
@ multipurpose

kudos to your thoughts of how the film should've been handled, but i can bet the studios would say to you

Opening act: it makes more sense to build a relationship earlier on with Sabretooth, therefore solidifying their extensive and long relationship. When we revisit them later on, you already have an understanding as to why the relationship is how its represented presently. To bring in Silver Fox so earlier on in the film is not the direction we were looking for. Is Logan and Creed brothers? Of course not but can't we define them as brothers in the film? Makes sense to us

Second Act: Japan is a scene represented too early on in the film series so the idea had to be scratched. Captain America's character hasn't been released theatrically and would have a clash with the ongoing casting for his future release.

Third Act: The program makes more sense with Logan coming willingly in accepting the adamantium because it would show how upset and determined he was in capturing Victor. If we were to have him follow the path featured in comic books where he was forced against his will, that would have us in a position where we would actually care about the source material...why would we want to be known as such?

So pretty much, everything makes sense if we view films without any of our senses. Sucks but I've come to realize if ten films are released each year that involve comic books, the ratio leaves it where only two are "good."
Whispers68
Whispers68 - 10/11/2009, 1:55 PM
@ assassin666

That's very true and I've always asked this myself. Why are films always supposed to cater to the younger generation when in actuality, the original source hasn't been one to be as such? I understand we should bring a much wider audience for the sake of box office dollars but we can also cater a bit more to the older crowd for the sake of art. For example, there are animated cartoons being released where the jokes being told simply go over the head of the younger audience because the only ones who seem to laugh are the adults in the theater. The cartoons are becoming more adult oriented when it comes to humor...why is that real adult oriented material seems to become less and less "adult" oriented?

So I'm with you 100% on this matter all the way.
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 10/11/2009, 1:55 PM
It wasnt a terrible movie but I think that there could be a much better Wolverine movie regardless of the costume (which sadly just wouldnt work on the big screen in all honesty)

Its fair enough that they need to take liberties with the character as not everything in a comic book would work in a movie but some of the stuff in Origins was ridiculous (Magic Bullet!?!) - they should have actually taken more from the original Weapn X storyline than trying so hard to tie the movie in with the crappy X-1 and X-2!
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