Universal Studios acquired the adaptation rights from Millar in 2004, and while the eventual script drifted from the comic book supervillain mythos in the original miniseries, Millar was content to see most of the comic's darker content was retained. Production began in April 2007, with filming in the Czech Republic, Budapest, and the story's main setting, Chicago. Wanted was released in June 2008 to both critical and commercial success, with box office earnings of $341 million worldwide and reviews praising the fast pacing and stylized action scenes. A sequel was planned the same year as the film's release, but ultimately stalled in the development phase.
Plot
Wesley Gibson works at a dead-end desk job with an overbearing boss, takes medication for panic attacks, and has a live-in girlfriend who cheats on him with his work friend Barry. One evening, Wesley is told by a woman named Fox that his recently murdered father was an assassin, and the killer, named Cross, is now hunting him. When Cross and Fox engage in a shoot-out, Wesley panics and runs, followed by Cross. Fox flips Wesley into her car and then executes a spectacular escape.Wesley awakens in a factory surrounded by Fox and other assassins. The group's leader, Sloan, forces Wesley at gunpoint to shoot the wings off of several flies, which he does, much to Wesley's shock. Sloan explains that Wesley's panic attacks are actually a rare ability that allows him to distribute massive amounts of adrenaline to his brain,slowing his perception of his surroundings and granting him superhuman strength and speed. He reveals that Wesley's father, as well as Cross, were members of the Fraternity, a society of assassins that maintains balance in the world. Sloan wants to train him so that he may help kill Cross.
Wesley, panicking at this, leaves the building and awakens the next morning in his apartment. He discovers that his bank account now contains several million dollars. Filled with new confidence, he insults his boss in front of the whole office and hits Barry in the face with a keyboard. Fox, waiting for Wesley, takes him to the Fraternity headquarters, a repurposed cotton mill.
Wesley trains under Fox's leadership, learning endurance, knife fighting and hand to hand combat. He also learns to control and use his abilities for firearm marksmanship, including curving bullets around targets. Frustrated by his lack of progress and the brutality of the training, Wesley insists he is ready, but Sloan disagrees. Wesley refocuses on his training and starts to excel. Sloan then shows him the Loom of Fate, which has served for 1,000 years in giving coded names of Fraternity targets through errors in the fabric. The Loom identifies those who will create evil and chaos in the future, with Sloan responsible for interpreting the code.
After several successful missions, including dumping his girlfriend with the help of Fox, Wesley has an unexpected shootout with Cross, wherein he accidentally kills the Exterminator, a Fraternity member he had befriended. Cross shoots Wesley in the shoulder. Sloan grants Wesley's wish to avenge his father and sends him after Cross—but then secretly gives Fox a mission to kill Wesley, saying that his name has come up in the Loom.
Analyzing the bullet from his shoulder, Wesley realises that Cross used a traceable bullet(as his previous kills were all untraceable).Wesley traces it to a man named Pekwarsky. Wesley and Fox capture Pekwarsky, who arranges a meeting with Cross. When Wesley faces Cross alone on a moving train, Fox crashes a car into the train, causing a derailment. After Cross saves Wesley from falling, Wesley fatally shoots him. Before dying, Cross reveals that he is Wesley's real father. Fox confirms this, and explains that Wesley was recruited because he was the only person Cross would not kill. Fox points her gun at Wesley, but he shoots the window below, falling into the river.
Wesley is retrieved by Pekwarsky, who takes him to Cross' apartment – which is located just opposite Wesley's – and explains that Sloan started manufacturing targets for profit after discovering that he was targeted by the Loom. Cross discovered the truth, went rogue, and started killing Fraternity members to keep them away from his son. Pekwarsky departs, stating that Cross wished Wesley a life free of violence. Wesley, however, decides to kill Sloan after discovering his father's secret room, containing schematics to the Fraternity base.
Wesley attacks the base using explosive rats (a tactic he learned from the Exterminator), killing surviving Fraternity assassins,including The Repairman and the Butcher (who he kills in a knife fight) in a massive shootout. Entering Sloan's office, he is surrounded by Fox, Gunsmith and the remaining assassins. Wesley discloses Sloan's deception, to which Sloan reveals that the names of those present had legitimately come up in the Loom, and that he had acted to protect them. He gives the members a choice: kill themselves, per the code, or kill Wesley and use their skills to control the world. As the others choose the latter, Fox curves a bullet around the room, choosing to follow the code and kill everyone, including herself, but not before throwing her gun to Wesley. Sloan escapes in the mayhem.
Wesley, penniless again due to his bank account being wiped out by Sloan, returns to his desk job. Sloan appears to kill Wesley, but is shocked when the person turns around and is revealed to be a decoy. Wesley kills Sloan with a shot from miles away, the same way his father did. Wesley states that he is taking back control of his life before turning to the audience and asking "What the fuck have you done lately?"
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