X-Fever: Bits and Bites

Who's Who
MSNBC has set up a sub-site on all things X, or at least all things related to the X-Men movies. They have profiles up for all the main characters from all three films, highlighting facts both from the movies and from the comics (such as first appearance). Think you know the X-Men already? Then test your knowledge with the quiz they've set up.

Go check out the site.

Calling Professor X
Speaking of X-Men quizzes, this guy could probably ace it -- Ron Richards, a self-proclaimed X-Men fanboy and co-star of the iFanboy podcast, talks about the film and the love he's had for the characters since 1989:

"I've been reading X-Men for 17 years," the native New Yorker said in a recent phone interview. "I actually got hooked on the X-Men not through X-Men, but through one of their family of books, Excalibur. Excalibur No. 19 was my first X-Men comic book, and that issue actually featured the X-Men as a team. It was kind of a gateway drug."

1989? Man, do I feel old ...

X-Women
The New York Post has a series of Q&A's, conducted by Hollywood.com, with the X-Women up, including Famke Janssen and Rebecca Romijn:

Hollywood.com: This is not a kindler, gentler Jean Grey--quite the opposite. What was the challenge for you, playing Jean’s transformation into Phoenix?

Famke Janssen: Oh, she was very caring, sweet, kind person, and all of a sudden there was clarity. If you look back at [parts] one and two, there were little hints of what was to come. In the second one remember the scene that we did where we are in the museum and all of a sudden all of these screens start going off? There were hints of the powers that she had within her and the moments that she lost control over those powers and what potentially could happen. In this film it’s not that at some point she goes all the way to the bad side, but it’s a struggle within. The way I wanted to play it, and make sure that hopefully it came across that way, is that it was the struggle between Jean Grey and Phoenix. Which one was going to win?

This is a follow-up to another article by the Post, titled "Ladies who punch".

Double danger
In an article in the UK Sun, Hugh Jackman talks about his brother-in-law, Rich, performing some of Wolverine's stunts:

“My brother-in-law Rich has been my double in a few movies now," he said.

“I think you can tell when a double is used so I try to do as many stunts as possible.

“However if there’s a scene where my character smashes into a tree at 80mph and falls to the ground, that’s Rich!

That's what family is for ...right?