After a lot of consideration and consternation from filmmakers, Berry donned a specific wig to play Storm in 2000's X-Men. And while it's doubtful anyone will ever think of Berry as anything but gorgeous, her hair still just wasn't quite right. Even before the film was released, Internet criticism heated up over Storm's hair.

So more consideration and consternation were given for X2. And this time Berry will sport a shorter hairstyle as the weather-manipulating mutant.

"I think everybody's happy with the hair change," Berry says. "There was a big, big discussion about the hair because I know Bryan (Singer, director) and Lauren Shuler Donner, our producer, really wanted to get it right. Because they felt it was something that desperately needed to be changed from the first movie. So, hopefully, everybody will like it better."

Berry also hopes fans will like Storm's character better, too.

"This time around you get to know a little bit better about who Storm is," Berry says. "She definitely is allowed to present a point of view this time that I didn't get to present last time. Sort of what her emotional life is like, you really get a taste of that this time. I think there's some evolution."

A lot has happened to Berry since the first X-Men, including winning an Academy Award last year for A Monster's Ball, a successful role in the latest James Bond movie and recently being attached as the lead in the new Catwoman movie. But Berry says she enjoyed being back on familiar turf with the X-Men.

"One of the good things about coming back to this - with Oscar in hand or not - is that we were sort of like . you know, when you start a movie you spend the first month getting to know everybody and just when you get to know everybody, the experience is usually over," Berry says. "Although that wasn't the case with the first X-Men; that was six months.

"But normally, just as you're finding that groove and you're all starting to gel, then it's time to stop. We got a chance to reconvene and pick up where we left off. So that's been a really important part of the experience for me."

While X-Men was filmed in Toronto, X2 was shot on the West Coast, which Berry liked better because of proximity to home in California.

"Out of the cast members, I think, I'm always the one who is jetting out of here to catch that last flight," she says. "As soon as I'm done, I'm on a plane and I'm back in L.A. That makes it really easy because it's only a two-hour flight. I feel a lot closer to home. I did feel really far away last time.

"And I've actually enjoyed this city a bit more. Maybe it's the smallness of it, the quaintness of it, the charm of it. It's a lot different than Toronto. I've actually gone out and done more things and really enjoyed it and explored it.

"I also grew going to Toronto a lot, living in Cleveland. So that was like no big whoop. This is a big whoop here. I just like it."

Berry signed up for two X-Men films, so this might or might not be her last go-round on Storm, as looks ahead to Catwoman and perhaps a Jinx film spinning off of her James Bonds character.

"But I like the character," Berry says of Storm. "She's a good role model."

X2 is theaters on May 2.

Rob Allstetter, Deputy Sports Editor for The Detroit News, has been a comics journalist for the past decade, having written for numerous publications. He currently publishes The Comics Continuum. He can be reached at: RobAlls@aol.com