Marvel

Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Looks From Every X-Men Movie

This March will mark the end of a superhero movie era.Hugh Jackman has been playing James Howlett, […]

This March will mark the end of a superhero movie era.

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Hugh Jackman has been playing James Howlett, a.k.a. Logan, a.k.a. the Wolverine for 17 years. Jackman debuted in the role in X-Men in 2000 and will play the role one last time for 2017’s Logan.

While fans are looking forward to Logan, it’s a bittersweet pill. While the trailers for Logan make the film look excellent, fans will be sad to see Jackman leave the iconic role behind.

With that in mind, ComicBook.com is looking back at Jackman’s time playing Wolverine through the original X-Men trilogy, the prequel trilogy, and the Wolverine solo movie trilogy.

X-Men

Hugh Jackman made his debut as Wolverine in 2000’sย X-Men, directed by Bryan Singer.

The movie cast Wolverine as a drifter who only encountered the X-Men at all because his path happened to cross with that of Rogue (Anna Paquin), whom Magneto (Ian McKellen) and his Brotherhood of Mutants were after.

X-Menย hit theaters ahead of the superhero movie deluge, and its shows in some of its dialogue. Wolverine teases the X-Men about their codenames and later, when given his costume, asks Cyclops (James Marsden) if they actually go outside in them, to which Cyclops replies with an in-joke asking if Wolverine would prefer “yellow spandex.”

X-Men (2000)2000

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X2: X-Men United

Hugh Jackman returned to reprise his role as Wolverine in the 2003ย X-Menย sequel, which was unfortunately titledย X2: X-Men United.

Director Bryan Singer also returned for the sequel, and his attitude towards Wolverine’s look seemed to be not to fix what didn’t appear to be broken.The leatherย 

The leather outfits worn by the X-Men in the originalย X-Menย trilogy have little in common with the traditionally colorful X-Men costumes from the Marvel Comics universe, though they did inspire the comics to go with the leather look for a while.

X2: X-Men United2003

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X-Men: The Last Stand

Hugh Jackman stuck around to finish the originalย X-Men movie trilogy even though Bryan Singer left to makeย Superman Returns.

Singer was replaced in the director’s chair by Rush Hour director Brett Ratner. Ratner’sย X-Men: The Last Standย blended elements of several X-Men comic book stories, including “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and the “Gifted” story fromย Astonishing X-Men.

Wolverine’s look remained mostly unchanged again. The yellow piping and claw mark design around the side and shoulders of the suit, along with the “X” patternย on the chest, were as close as the original X-Men trilogy got to comic-accurate.

X-Men: The Last Stand2006

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine

With the originalย X-Men movie trilogy complete 20th Century Fox shifted its focus to movies focusing on individual X-Men characters.

The first out of the gate wasย X-Men Origins: Wolverine, once again starring Hugh Jackman.

As this Gavin Hood directed movie was a prequel to the originalย X-Men trilogy, Wolverine could drop the superhero look. Instead, he went incredibly casual in jeans and a tank top tee shirt for most of the promotional materials.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was nearly the death of the X-Men movies franchise. Its failure did squash plans for Magneto and Deadpool solo movies.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine2009

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X-Men: First Class

Hugh Jackman had an uncredited cameo as Wolverine in the first X-Men prequel movie,ย X-Men: First Class.

Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) approach Wolverine in a bar while out recruiting for the very first team of X-Men.

Wolverine replies to them with a short and vulgar response.

Not much to analyze here. Jackman was only in the one scene and, with no costume, he was mostly recognizable as Wolverine through his hair, beard, and cigar. However,ย X-Men: First Class breathed some much-needed new life into the X-Men movies franchise, which meant more opportunities for Jackman to portray Wolverine would follow.

X-Men: First Class2011

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The Wolverine

Hugh Jackman got a second chance to take Wolverine solo in 2013’sย The Wolverine.

The Wolverine was directed by James Mangoldย and was more inspired by the comic book stories of Wolverine’s adventures in Japan than by the X-Men’s super heroics.

Wolverine’s look was less super heroic as well. There’s no proper Wolverine costume in this movie. Instead, Wolverine look modern and sleek in a suit or a ferocious with a shirt off and ready to kick some butt.

While not a perfect movie,ย The Wolverine proved that there was still something worthwhile in Wolverine’s old, adamantium bones.

The Wolverine2013

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X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Hugh Jackman had the opportunity to reunite with the original X-Men trilogy cast and director Bryan Singer forย X-Men: Days of Future Past, a film that brought the original X-Men trilogy together with the prequel trilogy.

In the bleak, Sentinel-controlled future, Wolverine is starting to show his age. There’s gray in his hair, as there was in the “Days of Future Past” comic book story.

Wolverine’s costume is also much more practical and tactical by the, with the costume’s blue and yellow mesh serving as a reference to Wolverine’s costume colors from the Marvel Comics Universe.

X-Men: Days Of Future Past2014

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X-Men: Apocalypse

Hugh Jackman had another uncredited cameo inย X-Men: Apocalype, the follow-up toย X-Men: Days of Future Past, though a much larger cameo than his one line inย X-Men: First Class.

In the newly readjusted X-Men movies timeline, young Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) discover Wolverine trapped in a Weapon X facility.

By then, Weapon X had already coated Wolverine’s bones and claws in adamantium. The half-naked, half-covered in tech look Jackman sports is a reference to the “Weapon X” origin story from Marvel Comics, as is the violent slaughter he dishes out once he’s free.

Logan

And at last, we come toย Logan, which Hugh Jackman claims will be his final time playing Wolverine, thoughย Deadpoolย star Ryan Reynolds may try to change his mind.

Logan reunites Jackman withย The Wolverine director James Mangold for a kind of post-apocalyptic western based on the “Old Man Logan” Marvel Comics story.

The story also pairs Wolverine with his own clone, a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen).

Wolverine has a kind of Johnny Cash look and swagger to him inย Logan, or maybe that’s just the Johnny Cash in the first trailer rubbing off on us.