The first time you watch Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) brawl with Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) in 2003’s X-Men 2, you might find yourself mouthing the words “Oh my god” that Logan said at the beginning of the showdown. More than two decades later, the battle between the two adamantium-encased super-healers still ranks as one of the most brutal mutant brawls in any 20th Century Fox X-Men movie. Despite the restrictions imposed by the film’s PG-13 rating, the scene is packed with plenty of cringe-inducing moments, culminating in Lady Deathstrike’s gruesome death from an injection of liquefied adamantium. That she is forced to submit throughout the film to the hateful William Stryker (Brian Cox), who uses a mind-control serum to rob her of her free will, only adds to the character’s tragic nature.
With this in mind, it might have felt odd to see Hu reprising his X2 role in Deadpool & Wolverine. It would have been odd to see Wesley Snipes’ Blade in a Marvel action-comedy so far removed from the feel and tone of his previous work as the Daywalker, but it would have been even weirder if Hu had been one of the Marvel-Fox alumni who cameoed in the film. Apart from Tyler Mane’s return as Victor Creed, AKA Sabretooth, a somewhat nasty member of Magneto’s Brotherhood in 2000’s X-Men, who gets unceremoniously decapitated by Wolverine, bringing Hu back as a mutant whose free will was brutally denied and who was brutally murdered by Logan, it would not have achieved the melancholy fan-service effect Deadpool & Wolverine was aiming for.
Perhaps the film would have been better off having a different actor play Lady Deathstrike, and in the process giving an up-and-coming stuntman her moment to shine in a superhero blockbuster.
Jade Lai does Deadpool and Wolverine nails
While Who’s X2 co-star Aaron Stanford once again graced the big screen as John Allardyce, aka Pyro, in Deadpool & Wolverine, Lady Deathstrike is brought to life in the film by Jade Lai. The actor, who can be seen above behind Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), has been working as a stuntman for the past few years, having doubled for Supergirl in 2023’s The Flash, as well as working as a stuntman in films like Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo and The Meg 2, as well as TV shows Game of Thrones and Lioness (where he doubled for Zoe Saldana).
photograph Instagram To celebrate Deadpool & Wolverine surpassing $1 billion at the box office, Lai posted several behind-the-scenes photos (along with other cast and crew members) showing off the actual metal claws she wears in the film. She also gave a “special thanks” to the film’s second unit director and stunt coordinator George Cottle and the “incredible” hair and makeup team. She added:[Mornings] I will never forget it, it was so special and I loved every moment. I will cherish all the amazing times I had on set with such a talented team!”
Hu isn’t the only “X-Men” veteran not returning for “Deadpool & Wolverine,” but again, her exclusion makes perfect sense when you look at it from a fundamental perspective. A great movie would be made that truly examines Wolverine’s violent legacy in the Fox Marvel cinematic universe (including Hu’s murder of Lady Deathstrike and other casualties of mankind’s anti-mutant bigotry). In fact, that movie is already being made, and it’s called “Logan.” But for better or worse, that’s not what “Deadpool & Wolverine” had in mind when looking back at a bygone era of Marvel media.
Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters now.
