Brian Cox Confirmed As Stryker

According to the press release we were sent by 20th Century Fox, Brian Cox is in the movie and is playing Stryker.

The Fox release also mentions that Bruce Davison, who played Senator Kelly in the first movie, is among the returning cast members. Davison's name hasn't been mentioned before.

And here's something that may indicate some thought has been given about expanding the franchise: the press release makes a point of mentioning "X-Men 2 will showcase the talents of young actors who play mutant children, each possessing unique powers, known as the X-Kids." Listed on the roster of these "X-Kids" are Shawn Ashmore ("Iceman") and Aaron Stanford ("Pyro").

"The carp's, gaffers, and special effects guys that I did get a chance to talk to, explained that they really aren't sparing any expense for the film," reports Tenacious D. "There is gonna be some crazy shit that has never been done, if what they say is true. The Fox suits, finally realizing with X1's release and success, and the huge bank that Spidey's done (approaching $400 million!), that they should not underestimate the audiences love for these characters."

And there's going to be a lot more fighting in X2. "Storyboards of the fight scenes for this movie are simply amazing," said the D. "Forget the smash and bash of the Wolvie Vs. Sabretooth battle from X1. Lots of fast, intense, martial arts style battles here, and a lot more focus on the powers of the mutants, while still maintaining a truly great story. X-Men 2 looks like its shaping up to be everything you could want in a sequel."

Another scoopers report:

"I've seen Brian in person and he looks the part, scary shit.

"I'm working on X2 for a while and have access to a lot of the goodies. I've also been making my way onto some of the sound stages as I hear the sets look awesome. There's been stuff on the walls for a while now, but seeing the real thing nearly knocked me out. Here's what I've seen:

"Magneto's prison is a lot bigger and looks like a lot is going to take place there as there's a whole new big room attached to it at the end of the plastic tunnel."

"The Danger Room is huge, the size of a stadium and very high wall, yet is totally believable that this would be under Xavier's school. It's high tech and has these metal looking walls and glass. It's going to have every kind of weapon shooting at Wolverine and it's going to spin and morph.

"A full reconstruction of the White House and some stuntmen (same stunts as on Minority Report) are practicing in it for the Nightcrawler scenes. The oval office is where the battle ends but it looks like they're going to use every single room in the west wing and it will be like the real thing when it's finished.

"The X-Men's jet is being built inside and out and I've seen the minature for it and it's very sweet on the eyes.

"There's another huge stage where all of Stryker's headquarters are being built. The drawings look like it might be the biggest of the scenes, huge tunnels, labs and Weapon X!

"From what I see and the people I've met, the crew is young and very with it. These guys know what they are doing"

Here is a third scoopers report:

Stryker was one of the key men involved with the Weapon X program -- and he knows where Logan/Wolverine really came from.

The Legacy Virus is now completely removed from the current draft of the screenplay, replaced by something better. Something that has its origins with Magneto and Professor X and is just as deadly to mutants as the Legacy Virus ever was.

Who is Mutant 143? Proteus knows. And so does Stryker.

Important sets: Xavier's school, Cerebro, Danger Room, X-Jet, Alkali Base, White House, Magneto's Plastic Prison.

Nightcrawler's background with a circus remains intact. So does his strong religious faith.

Colossus has a part equal to that of, say, Iceman in the first film.

And there's a part for Toad...but so far, no confirmation of the return of Ray Park.