"Bobby’s a bigger part in this film," says Ashmore. "You get to see more of him using his powers and more of him interacting with the main cast. I don’t want to say he’s an official X-Man but he’s in the film a lot more than the first."

Another highly touted addition to the cast is Alan Cumming ("Spy Kids") as Nightcrawler, the blue-skinned, pointy-tailed, German mutant who made his first appearance in Giant Size X-Men #1. According to Cumming, although he didn’t know much about the X-Men or Nightcrawler before signing on for "X-Men 2," he’s definitely studied up for the part over the last three months of shooting.

"I read some comics," says the Scottish star. "It’s quite impressive, actually, because not only am I playing sort of a blue mutant with all these odd physical things, but also you know everyone in the world apart from me seems to have some idea about how this character should look or be. So there’s a bit of pressure. So, yeah, I read some comics and listened to some people. It’s kind of hard because halfway through the film, I realized that Mystique is my mother, which no one told me. So it’s an ongoing learning curve for me."

According to Singer, the new X-Men film, planned for release on May 2, 2003, will not have a mutant villain in the film—instead Brian Cox’s ("The Ring") Stryker character presents the human foe that so many comic fans have seen in the pages of the X-Men comic book.

"I sort of represent the human face of this film," says Cox, who originated the Hannibal Lecter character in Michael Mann’s "Manhunter." "I’m the only human that I know of in the film. As the experience of the film is going on, I’m not so sure if I’m a human. [Stryker’s] the guy who basically is the odd man out who is trying to rationalize what these people are about and exercise some control over them by various means, which I am not at liberty to talk about."

But just because Cox isn’t allowed to talk doesn’t mean other people aren’t. Ever since the original "X-Men" film opened, fans have had hypotheses on what Singer and crew would do next with the merry mutants. Originally, after the addition of Stryker to the sequel’s line-up, many fans immediately assumed that Singer was adapting Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson’s 1983 X-Men graphic novel, God Loves, Man Kills to the big screen. But according to the director, although he loves the work—and the title—he’s not using it as a template for "X-Men 2."

Reportedly, the sequel will revolve around Stryker, a military man who’s beginning a war against mutants—and his first offensive is at Xavier’s School for Gifted Students. Rumor has it this will be a much darker film than the first and expand the X-Men universe even further than the original, with Wolverine and Jean Grey sharing a kiss, Magneto breaking out of his plastic prison, Xavier using more of his immense mental powers and the younger mutants taking center stage for a good portion of the film.

Another big difference in "X-Men 2" is the amount of visual effects planned, according to Visual Effects Supervisor Mike Fink. Fink admits the film will have over twice the number of visual effects found in most films.

"We’re looking at having 800 visual effects in this film," says Fink. "Bryan [Singer] is interesting as a director. He needs and wants a huge contribution from the people who work with him. He has this core group of people around him that helps him see what he needs to see. And Bryan is brilliant when it comes to knowing what something should look like. Bryan’s really kind of organic. He lets things evolve. He doesn’t just stick to what’s on a storyboard or an idea that doesn’t work anymore."

The amazing amount of visual effects is one reason that, after "X-Men 2" wraps up filming in November, Singer and company will be taking the next five months to polish the film in post-production before it opens in May.

"How soon will it be done?" Singer questions himself. "If it’s up to me, I won’t give it to [Fox] until the last minute. I want to take a lot of time with it."