Exclusive: Taylor Kitsch Plays Gambit Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 [url] You might remember that two years ago we were in a similar position to talk about Gambit in X-Men: The Last Stand - but at the time, of course, we reported confirmation that he wasn't in the film. This time around, we can exclusively report the exact opposite! Although we previously reported this news as a strong rumor, we have had confirmation from several of our sources now to say that this young actor will in fact play Gambit in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine! A fan favorite, the character has been clamored for since the beginning of the X-Men film series and is now set to finally make an appearance. While we can't speak to the size of his role, eagle-eyed fans may already be aware that New Orleans has been mentioned as a filming location for XMO: Wolverine, and this is home turf for the Cajun thief. Not to mention the character's shady dealings with Sabretooth, who is also expected to appear in the film (expected to be played by Liev Schrieber). We're expecting a cast list very soon, so we hope to be able to further confirm everyone's roles at that point. Not exactly sure who Gambit is? Stay tuned in the coming days for the launch of our in-depth character profiles which will tell you everything you need to know about him! More Casting: Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool? Monday, February 18th, 2008 [url] It seems that the casting information just won't stop coming at the moment! First, the possible news of Gambit being cast, and now a scoop from Ain't It Cool News claims that Deadpool is definately in the film, and will be played by Ryan Reynolds. It is no secret that Ryan has been interested in playing a comic book character, infact he has expressed a good deal of interest in starring in a Deadpool movie before. Seems like his dream may have come true! We are hearing that a full cast list is going to be released very shortly, and all of the confusion about just how accurate all of this casting information is will then be cleared! Taylor Kitsch as Gambit in Wolverine? Monday, February 18th, 2008 [url] Rumors have started to circulate online over the past couple of days that the long hoped inclusion of Gambit in an X-Men film may actually be closer than we had anticipated. We would like to stress however, that the size of the role should he be included may just be a small cameo of some sort. Chaos Bringer, a poster on the Superherohype.com messageboards is said to have heard through a friend that actor Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights,The Covenant) will be playing the role in the upcoming movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While we usually don't like to post rumors, we have since received word from several of our personal sources indicating that there is a strong chance that this information is infact true. Whilst we can't fully confirm or squash the rumor at this point, we aim to do so as soon as possible and bring you full confirmation. Silver Fox is Cast! The Blob in Wolverine? Saturday, February 16th, 2008 [url] IESB has exclusively learned that the role of Silver Fox has gone to Lynn Collins (Number 23). The actress beat out Maggie Q, Michelle Monaghan and a slew of other actresses for the starring role, and is said to be in New Zealand currently for shooting. In addition, Film School Rejects has received word from a production insider that The Blob, an oversized villainous mutant from the comics, will be making an appearance in the movie. He was included in earlier drafts of the script, but his involvement still hasn't been confirmed. Here is a snippet from the article: "Today, I received an email from a very reliable source inside the production that confirmed that not only will The Blob appear in the movie, but that test footage has already been shot with an actor in a rubber suit. As our source explains, the suit makes him look like he is 800 lbs., but the producers of the film wanted to make him even bigger, something like 1200 lbs. The key thing to note here is not only that The Blob will appear in the movie, but that it will be an actor in a suit rather than CGI. Of course the fact that this is test footage being shot means it isn’t final, but this confirms that some Blob-ness will be in the movie in some form or another." New Casting for X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Friday, February 15th, 2008 [url] Just when you thought you knew who was set to play whom in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, things seem to change! Bearing in mind that until a cast list is released and names are confirmed by 20th Century Fox itself, these names are all pretty much rumors - although we're pretty sure Hugh Jackman will definitely be in it! The latest names to make the rounds are Danny Huston (30 Days of Night) as a young Colonel Stryker - replacing Michael C. Hall in the rumor mill - and Australian actress Tahyna Tozzi as an unnamed featured role in the film, a possibility for the role of Silver Fox. Huston's name comes from Jo Blo, while Tozzi's is mentioned in smh.com.au (thanks to narrows101 for finding this). We'll have a full official cast list for you as soon as it becomes available, but in the meantime, you can add these names to the list of possibilities. Stay tuned for confirmation as soon as we can get it! Hi-Res Update! First Official Image of Wolverine Thursday, February 14th, 2008 [url] Update: 20th Century Fox has given us a HI-RES version of this awesome shot to share! You can get directly to the bigger version by clicking the thumbnail below. Out of interest, take note of the roof of the building behind Wolverine - and enjoy! USA Today presents an official and exclusive first look at an image from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which is currently filming in parts of New Zealand and Australia for a release in 2009. The image shows Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, showing off some seriously muscled arms and what appears to be a shorter haircut than he sported for the main X-Men films. The article also features some quotes from Hugh, who talks about what made him a fan and why he continues to want to play the character, as well as expectations about the franchise and mutant cameos. You can check out the awesome photo and the full article at the link above! Cast & Crew Sightings in New Zealand Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 [url] Users across the internet are posting to track the various places in which Hugh Jackman and co. are popping up to prepare for or film scenes for the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine in parts of Australia and New Zealand. A run-down of some of these sightings: Kay's Travel Blog saw the crew filming in New Zealand at sites used for forest scenes in Lord of the Rings. Stuff captures a shot of Hugh enjoying a fun Shotover Jet river ride and confirms, via production's publicist Victoria Buchan, that Hugh is in Queenstown to film. Posters at GP Forums have spotted production around town in Dunedin. ReelCollectibles shares a photo (near the very bottom of the page) of Hugh Jackman sporting the trademark facial hair; however, while some sites have reported that this photo shows Hugh in costume we would like to stress that this is unconfirmed and the shot (lacking the distinctly pointed Wolverine hair) might just be the actor posing with fans. Have you seen the Wolverine - or some of the crew trying to capture him on film - in your local neck of the woods? Send us your reports at news@thexverse.com! Previous Next Have we missed a news item? Got a scoop? Drop us an email! Please try to credit online sources where possible. X-Men, related characters and images are copyright © 20th Century Fox and Marvel. No infringement intended. All original material is copyright © The Xverse and is not for use on other sites.