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.
who plays the bad guy in wild wild west
Confederate General "Bloodbath '' McGrath