Everyone’s been so excited about this year’s Iron Man, and the Avenger themed follow-ups that are coming, we’ve almost forgotten completely about the mutant side of Marvel’s super-hero universe. Next year will see the X-Men franchise continue with X-Men Origins: Wolverine hitting theaters. Fortunately, Empire Magazine hasn’t forgotten about the muties, and is giving Hugh Jackman the cover treatment for its January issue.

Along with gracing the cover with claws and mutton chops, Jackman gives some insight as to what fans can expect from the X-Men prequel: "There's a scene in the first X-Men movie, where Wolverine's introduced in a bar, fighting in a cage, and you felt that he did this every night of his life. If this movie is successful, you should feel that this guy can walk straight off the end of this film and into that bar.”

Jackman isn’t the only one talking for the cover article. The magazine also talks to some of the other cast members, including Danny Huston, who plays a younger version of William Stryker, the character played by Brian Cox in X-Men 2. His comments on the character, and his conflicted reaction to the existence of mutants, sounds right on par with the character we saw in the second X-Men flick. ” The thing about Stryker is that he feels like he's got this God-given right, that he's on a crusade. He both loves and hates mutants, because his son was a mutant and murdered his wife. So he understands what they're going through but despises their force, their potential danger. It's wonderfully complicated."

Just this little tidbit is enough to remind me why we liked the X-Men movies… at least the first two of the franchise (here’s hoping Wolverine will follow in the footsteps of Bryan Singer’s movies). For more information on this prequel, check out the January issue of Empire Magazine.