It's been quite a ride, and Singer recently talked at length about the X-sequel and the franchise. Following is an edited transcription from an interview with Singer last month, just before X2 opened.

QUESTION: Did you go right from filming the first one into development on X2?
BRYAN SINGER: No, there was a period of rest but the ideas for the story germinated during the making of the first film. It carried slowly into the script development stage and eventually the prep and shoot. Gradual, so there was some time between them.

QUESTION: In the new movie, you don't spend a lot of time re-introducing the characters.
SINGER: I call it the Lost Horizon concept. You make a film, as they did with Lost Horizon. They made it three hours long, they took an hour to establish all the characters aboard a plane. The plane crashes and they go on an adventure. Then when they looked at the picture they said, "This is a really long picture." So then they cut the first hour off. But because they had that first hour for the characters to develop and for their relationship to evolve, when they finally crashed and discovered the lost city and whatnot, you really felt that you knew the characters.

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I think this film, X2, is designed to stand on its own as a film, as a separate entity. It's kind of like the movie I could've, would've, should've made the first time, but could not have made without having made the first. I think now that those characters are so defined, even when they move into X2, you know where they're coming from. The universe is somewhat established. You see them use their powers very early on.

I think this film, X2, is designed to stand on its own as a film, as a separate entity. It's kind of like the movie I could've, would've, should've made the first time, but could not have made without having made the first.

I think now that those characters are so defined, even when they move into X2, you know where they're coming from. The universe is somewhat established. You see them use their powers very early on.

There's a few things I put in there, like in Lord of the Rings, he opens the picture with the dream, with McKellen falling and fighting the dragon, and likewise there's certain things, certain gifts, for the audience so they can catch up to speed, but ultimately it seemed like there was no point to it. The characters were already moving forward and I didn't want to move backward and waste that kind of time.

QUESTION: There's a scene where Wolverine is covered in blood and lots of stabbing. Was this movie ever in danger of getting an R rating? SINGER: Yeah, originally we got an R rating and there were just a few minor things of intensity that were trimmed. Very little. I was really pleased. There's very little blood in the movie. There's some intensity in it but it's not a gory picture by any means and it's somewhat heroic and no one is...like in the first picture we had Rogue get stabbed right through the chest by Wolverine, but we solved those problems in the story and it's kind of fun and the audience realizes that there's not a terrifying threat and it's not a massacre. It's heroes having to defeat villains.

QUESTION: Was there more pressure on you doing the sequel then there was on the first one?
SINGER: No. Not really. I think some of the pressure was alleviated by the fact that fans, the core audience who've supported the X-Men universe for 40 years really embraced the first picture. There was more time and money this time around and I had a better sense of what I was doing because I'd already established these characters and I'd already cut my teeth in the genre. So I felt a little less pressure and actually a little more freedom.

QUESTION: How do you want to go with the franchise? Will we ever see the Sentinels?
SINGER: It's possible. I couldn't say specifically. The war is always getting larger in their universe and their conflict as more mutants are born every day.

QUESTION: I like the way you opened up the story. I found myself rooting for characters. Is that something you were going for?

SINGER: Absolutely. One of the fun parts of an ensemble picture, especially there are so many characters, where the lines of good and evil are blurring constantly, there's a lot more room for unpredictability and surprise.

You're following one character on a journey and you find it disrupted by another character and then another character introduces another mystery and then that's solved, just as more characters are introduced and unholy alliances are formed, but not quite. Ever since I made Usual Suspects I've enjoyed the challenge of ensemble pictures and so this time with X2 it's like, "OK, we've got all these characters, bring on a couple more."

I enjoy that challenge: balancing.
QUESTION: The franchise could go on forever. How will you say goodbye to this franchise?
SINGER: I think when the time comes for me to say goodbye it will not be that hard at all, but until that time I enjoy myself.

QUESTION: Are you going to do another one?
SINGER: I'm not sure. I don't know. I have ideas and things have been established in this film that would lend themselves to future pictures but at the same time, circumstances have to be appropriate. I'd probably like to do something in between. I don't know if it's back to my roots of smaller films or go and make another kind of event picture. I'm not sure yet. I'm developing things.

QUESTION: This could be your Star Wars?
SINGER: That's a good analogy.

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