The Wolverine Almost Featured Rogue

The Wolverine screenwriter Mark Bomback recently revealed that the film almost featured Rogue from the original X-Men trilogy.

In an interview with CreativeScreenwriting, Bomback expressed his love for Rogue, whom he called “tremendously empathetic but incapable of safe human contact,” when asked about other mutants considered for the sequel.

“I was trying to do something with Rogue in the script,” he said. “I even had a set of ideas that the old man possessed a version of Rogue’s power and that was going to be indicated by a white stripe in his hair.”

Bomback said he ended up trashing the script because it “became very goofy” and problematic. He said he regretted that there wasn’t a way to fit the character into the film.

“It’s no accident to me that in the first X-Men film the first two mutants that you really see who have a connection are Wolverine and Rogue,” he said. “There’s something special between them, so I was trying to bring Rogue into it, but it just didn’t get there.”

Rogue, who was played by Anna Paquin in the original X-Men trilogy, will be returning for Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Rumors have suggested that she will play a major part in the sequel, but that information has yet to be confirmed.

The Wolverine will feature at least one mutant from the original trilogy: Jean Grey. Although posters and trailers have since spoiled Jean’s return, Famke Janssen — who will be reprising the role — said it was difficult for her to keep the role quiet when the film was first announced.

“Of course they have an entire crew knowing about it and nobody’s supposed to leak it, and you hope that it doesn’t happen,” she said. “And they still have to fly you to Sydney and, you know, be on a plane with people and then land there. So it’s a lot of hurdles to go through, but we went through all of them.”

Janssen also hinted that Wolverine may still be struggling with the way X-Men: The Last Stand ended.

“I mean, the guilt he has to live with, the reconciliation, he has to deal with his past, and the fact that somehow this Jean Grey character then comes in, either in trying to guide him or challenge him, find a way to help him find a way through his past,” she said.

Are you disappointed Rogue won’t be in The Wolverine? Are you excited that Jean Grey will be in it?