<P> In 1869 , 4 years after the end of the Civil war , U.S. Army Captain James West ( Will Smith ) and U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon ( Kevin Kline ) hunt for Confederate General `` Bloodbath '' McGrath ( Ted Levine ) , who is wanted for mass murder , throughout the Southern United States . This is due to McGrath ordering a massacre in a settlement called New Liberty , where many of the freed slaves were murdered , including West 's biological parents . The search leads to a brothel where the two try ( unsuccessfully ) to arrest him . It leads to a huge brawl and a cart of nitroglycerin crashing into the building , starting a fire . Both West and Gordon -- Gordon dressed as a woman -- escape . Later , in Washington , D.C. , West and Gordon meet at the White House with President Ulysses S. Grant ( Kevin Kline ) , who tells them about the disappearance of America 's key scientists and a treasonous plot by General `` Bloodbath '' McGrath . Grant charges the two with finding the scientists before he inaugurates the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory , Utah . </P>
<P> In 1869 , 4 years after the end of the Civil war , U.S. Army Captain James West ( Will Smith ) and U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon ( Kevin Kline ) hunt for Confederate General `` Bloodbath '' McGrath ( Ted Levine ) , who is wanted for mass murder , throughout the Southern United States . This is due to McGrath ordering a massacre in a settlement called New Liberty , where many of the freed slaves were murdered , including West 's biological parents . The search leads to a brothel where the two try ( unsuccessfully ) to arrest him . It leads to a huge brawl and a cart of nitroglycerin crashing into the building , starting a fire . Both West and Gordon -- Gordon dressed as a woman -- escape . Later , in Washington , D.C. , West and Gordon meet at the White House with President Ulysses S. Grant ( Kevin Kline ) , who tells them about the disappearance of America 's key scientists and a treasonous plot by General `` Bloodbath '' McGrath . Grant charges the two with finding the scientists before he inaugurates the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory , Utah . </P>
who plays the bad guy in wild wild west
who plays the bad guy in wild wild west
Confederate General `` Bloodbath '' McGrath
Confederate General `` Bloodbath '' McGrath