4. You Picked The Wrong House Bub
When your hero’s main weapon is a pair of indestructible claws, it’s kind of hard to show him at his top form when you’re restrained by the bloodless PG-13 rating. But if we’ve ever come close to see Wolverine in full-on berserker mode, it’s this action sequence in X2: X-Men United when a group of government black hats invade the X-Mansion on a search and capture mission. Thinking that they’ll find a bunch of kids, the army men are greeted by a man who’s the best at what he does, and what he does is fight.
This was one of the scenes that Bryan Singer brought to San Diego Comic Con in 2002 to show fans what he was working on for the sequel, and it was an immediate hit for obvious reasons. If the first X-Men coasted on the coolness of seeing Wolverine brought to life on the big screen, this first fight scene for Logan in X2 showed why the character remains one of the most popular heroes in modern comics. Wolverine’s a ferocious fighter, a veritable juggernaut of carnage once unleashed, and you almost feel sorry for the bad guys when you see those claws come out. Almost.
3. The Cage Match
A more perfect introduction for the X-Men’s lone wolf you can’t really imagine. As the runaway Rogue (Anna Paquin) arrives at a truck stop in the middle of nowhere Alberta, she sees a cage match between a man we soon learn is Wolverine and an unwitting tough guy almost unaware of just what he’s gotten himself into. One gets the feeling that Logan’s been through more would-be bruisers than he cares to admit, especially considering the rather nonchalant way he acts in the cage, chomping on one his trademark cigars until his opponent starts pummeling him, and then it takes three punches and he’s done.
Later, the defeated he-man tries to get his money back, and in this scene we see Wolverine unleash his claws for the first time, and in the process we see Logan desperately trying to hold back his feral nature and not give in to the desire to tear through the bar patrons. Within five minutes, Hugh Jackman instantly nails the character and conveys to the audience why Wolverine is not someone you want to reckon with. Jackman may have come onto the X-Men set as an unknown, but he left a star.