(CBR) Wolverine, the number one cause of death for guys named “Sabretooth,” returned to the big screen this past weekend with Fox's “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” greeted by fans with an estimated $111 million opening. Hugh Jackman's seventh appearance as Marvel's adamantium-laced Canadian is as good a time as any to look back on the always popular X-Man's coolest and most action-packed movie moments — an ass-kicking legacy that dates back to 2000. From “X-Men” to “The Wolverine,” CBR has cherry-picked the essentials from Weapon X's career on the big-screen.
Movie: “X-Men” (2000)
The Scene: Duking it out with Sabretooth atop the Statue of Liberty While “wire-fu” was relatively in its infancy during the production of the first live-action “X-Men” movie, director Bryan Singer found a way to work around the limitations and arguably deliver the film's best set piece. Logan does all the things fans want him to do in a fight against his biggest rival — pop claws, say “bub,” repeat. It all culminates with Logan making one hell of a sacrificial play to save Rogue (Anna Paquin) and thwart Magneto's (Ian McKellen) evil weapon of spaghetti-like energy from turning New York City into a Petri dish. Nice work, bub.
Movie: “X2” (2003)
The Scene: Berserker Rage: 1, Stryker's Men: 0 As Wolverine tells one unlucky special forces guy invading the X-Mansion, “you picked the wrong house, bub.” B & E in Wolverine's world is punishable by claws through the chest — and face — as our antihero unleashes his trademark berserker rage, painting the walls of Xavier's home with PG-13 carnage. And if that's not enough for you, the bloody, climatic fight between Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) is six different types of a-mah-zing. https://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=M5MmtqYzrwcl98edWZG7eyeYfU73ONwK&pbid=79fab52488bf4a33ae0a73141928157f
Movie: “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006)
The Scene: Fastball special There's a lot of wrong running through Brett Ratner's “X-Men: The Last Stand,” but one of the few things the threequel gets right is the Danger Room sequence. At the top of the film, Wolverine and key X-Men are engaged in an explosion-y training exercise. Initially more concerned with his cigar than victory, the laconic loner eventually focuses-in, has Colossus (Daniel Cudmore) launch him into a fastball special and it's game over for one very large Sentinel – rather, its head.
Movie: “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009)
The Scene: Wolverine Fights all the Wars From the Civil War to Vietnam, fans get to see the practically immortal X-Man do what he does best in an impressive combat montage in an otherwise disappointing movie. There's very little to like in this film, but it's hard not to love this sequence.
Movie: “X-Men: First Class” (2011)
The Scene: Xavier and Magneto Walk into a Bar… Sure, no punches are thrown, but Wolverine verbally slays us with his perfectly timed and decidedly NSFW quip in response to young Charles (James McAvoy) and Erik (Michael Fassbender) paying the mutant a visit at a bar. If you interrupt Logan's brooding booze fest, then you get told to “go f!@# yourself.” It could be worse — he could have made them watch “X-Men: The Last Stand.”
Movie: “The Wolverine” (2013)
The Scene: Bullet Train Ride Director James Mangold and his team reach near-perfection with this inspired action sequence, which pits Wolverine against one very brave/stupid Yakuza atop a Japanese bullet train. Rocketing down the rails at 300 miles-per-hour, scored to nothing but roaring winds and the snikt of adamantium, this scene features Wolverine slashing his way into one of the series' most exciting action scenes. It's Wolverine's best mano-a-mano brawl since fighting Lady Deathstrike in “X2.”
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” is now in theaters.