27 Feb – The anticipation is fast building for the Hugh Jackman starrer "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". Since its announcement, online news sites have been bombarded with a number of reveals – mainly its ever-expanding cast line-up and appearances of some of the most memorable Marvel comics' characters. In this spin-off to the "X-Men" franchise, Jackman reprises his role as the adamantium-clawed mutant Wolverine. The movie will follow Wolverine's origins and introduce other mutants not yet seen in the previous "X-Men" trilogy. The production company has always wanted to add the card-throwing character of Gambit into the fray, but has never found a way to grant him enough screen time among the myriad of other characters that have appeared in the films. Since then, a long list of other characters has been revealed for a debut in "Wolverine". Early on, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston and Lynn Collins were cast as Victor Creed/Sabretooth, Col. William Stryker and Kayla Silver Fox respectively. In a surprising announcement, Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am will make his acting debut as Wraith in the movie. Others have joined the high-profile line-up including Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Danny Huston as Stryker and Taylor Kitsch as the anticipated Gambit. Just recently, TV's "Lost" star Dominic Monaghan was signed up to play Beak, a character from Wolverine's past, and Daniel Henney is on board as Agent Zero. Shooting is now underway in Australia, New Zealand and New Orleans, under the direction of Gavin Hood. Twentieth Century Fox Malaysia has just set the tentative local release date for "Wolverine" at 30 April 2009, just a day shy of its US general release. Related articles: "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" forum thread