Bryan Singer was talking about X-Men 2 over at JoBlo with an interesting comparison of his upcoming film to Empire Strikes Back:

Listening to Singer talk X-MEN is like listening to a college professor discuss Milton. He has such a passionate interest and firm understanding of the source material, ten-cent words can't help but tumble from his mouth when describing his latest film. He even has the courage to compare, albeit humbly, to geek legend - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

"(I)n a little like the way Empire Strikes Back sort of took everything and explored people's frailties and weaknesses and also the potential weakness of the group in their attempt to try to overcome evil-doers. This film is like that kind of story. So you get to see everybody's weaker side, and then people hopefully try to overcome."