X2: X-Men United is the second film of the X-Men series. Fox hired David Hayter and Zak Penn to write their own scripts for the sequel which Singer would pick, with an aim to release the film in December 2002. The story was inspired by X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, though the character of Stryker was changed from a reverend to a colonel. Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris were hired to re-write the script in February 2002, writing around 26 drafts and 150 on set. Production began on June 17, 2002 in Vancouver and wrapped by November, with the release moved to May 1, 2003.