FILM · 2003 · USA

X2

Directed by

Bryan Singer

Runtime

133 min

Studio

The Donners' Company, Bad Hat Harry Productions, 20th Century Fox

164 archived facts · 8 topics · 1 source · Last reviewed Sep 2026

Professor Charles Xavier and his team of genetically gifted superheroes face a rising tide of anti-mutant sentiment led by Col. William Stryker. Storm, Wolverine and Jean Grey must join Magneto and Mystique to unhinge Stryker's scheme to exterminate all mutants.

Summary: TMDB

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X2: 8 Facts About the Characters and Cast

1. #008

   Neil Patrick Harris auditioned for the role of Nightcrawler but lost out to fluent German speaker Alan Cumming.

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2. #049

   Alan Cumming was Bryan Singer's first choice for the role of Nightcrawler, but he was unavailable during the initial casting. The project spent long enough in development that Cumming was able to join by the time this film was ready to shoot. Before Cumming came aboard, Ethan Embry was said to have won the role.

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3. #052

   Hugh Jackman was given a nutritionist to help him get in shape for the role of Wolverine, and he gained twenty kilos.

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4. #073

   Hugh Jackman worked with the same trainer who trained Angelina Jolie for the lead role in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).

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5. #080

   Aaron Stanford was cast as Pyro because of the strength of his performance in the film Tadpole (2002).

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6. #086

   Shaquille O'Neal very much wanted to appear in this film and actively campaigned for a role.

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7. #093

   Magneto is imprisoned in a plastic cell designed by Stryker (Brian Cox) and later escapes from it. This is a homage to The Silence of the Lambs (1991), in which Sir Anthony Hopkins played the psychopathic Hannibal Lecter and a similar escape takes place. Bryan Singer cast Brian Cox as Stryker based on his performance as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter (1986).

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8. #108

   Brian Cox (William Stryker) and Michael Reid MacKay (Jason Stryker) played father and son. In reality, Cox is only seven years older than MacKay.

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