May (Web-only) 2003

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The first blockbuster action movie of the year, X2: X-Men United, opened this weekend, bringing with it cheers, millions of dollars at the box office, and an unexpected controversy.

Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Rogue (Anna Paquin), Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) , and the meddlesome bad guy Magneto (Ian McKellen) are back on the big screen, continuing the saga of supernaturally talented mutants who are persecuted by a society they're trying to protect. This time, the kind-hearted heroes find themselves in trouble when the elusive Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) attacks the President of the United States. A brilliant bigot named William Stryker (Bryan Cox) takes advantage of the incident, convincing the President to support military action against the mutants. But even the President does not suspect Stryker's genocidal intentions.

Stryker is causing trouble for more than mutants. He has offended a portion of X2's audience as well. A U.K. news site reports that the Muslim civil rights group Project Islamic H.O.P.E. "and a coalition of Islamic organizations are demanding an apology from X2 director Bryan Singer and are also demanding that anti-Islamic propaganda be deleted from the future release of the DVD version of the film."

Anti-Islamic content? When Stryker is shown signing a document that will further his wicked agenda, the camera catches a glimpse of his ring, which bears the Arabic symbol for "Allah."

The fuss over this inflammatory detail is not hindering the film's success with audiences or critics. According to imdb.com, X2 earned an estimated $85.6 million in its first weekend, an opening just shy of the totals achieved by recent hits Spider-Man and the Harry Potter movies. ...