Ironically, Hugh Jackman wasn’t the first choice to portray Wolverine, his career defining role. As most fans know, he came in late as a replacement for Dougray Scott (who had a scheduling conflict with Mission: Impossible 2), and the rest is history. While Jackman has had a long and storied career that’s seen him earn numerous accolades, he remains synonymous with Wolverine — in part because he keeps coming back for more mutant mayhem. After seemingly retiring from the X-Men franchise with the critically acclaimed Logan, Jackman returned to play a Wolverine variant in the record-breaking Deadpool & Wolverine. The actor’s future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t been officially confirmed as of yet, but it’s becoming increasingly likely he’ll don the claws again.
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Unsurprisingly, fans have long speculated that Jackman will be featured in Avengers: Secret Wars in some capacity. The film, which ends the Multiverse Saga, has heavily been rumored to include cameos from a variety of Marvel heroes, including different versions of Spider-Man and possibly Ghost Rider. Secret Wars‘ story allows for heroes from various realities to be pulled in to the fight against Doctor Doom. What’s slightly more shocking is that there are rumors suggesting Marvel Studios is going to keep Jackman around beyond Secret Wars, as the next era of the MCU begins. If that pans out, a big issue the MCU is facing will become that much worse.
Marvel Needs to Figure Out Its X-Men Problem
Ever since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox (gaining the film rights to X-Men and the Fantastic Four in the process), fans have eagerly been waiting for the mutants to make their proper MCU debut. That’s still a few years away, but it’s looking more and more likely the X-Men will be a primary focus in the MCU’s next saga after Avengers: Secret Wars. Kevin Feige reportedly has a 10-year plan in mind for the characters, leading some to believe that the franchise’s next overarching narrative will be called the Mutant Saga. After some recent box office disappointments, Marvel could be inclined to focus more on premier characters for feature films, and X-Men certainly fits under that umbrella.
Casting a new X-Men team is a massive hurdle Marvel needs to clear, and that won’t be an easy task. The ensemble that was assembled for the original Fox film series remains iconic and beloved — in part because Marvel keeps bringing those actors back for new projects. Patrick Stewart portrayed a Charles Xavier variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and numerous X-Men trilogy actors are returning for Avengers: Doomsday (and presumably Secret Wars after that). While it will be fun to see the likes of Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, and more back in their classic roles, their participation will serve as a reminder of why they are still fan favorites, making it even harder for Marvel to replace them when the time comes.
Ideally, Marvel would have already moved on from the Fox-era X-Men cast by now, perhaps using the multiverse conceit to introduce new variants that could play a larger role in the MCU moving forward (similar to what The Fantastic Four: First Steps did). Instead, Marvel keeps delaying the inevitable, and at least a handful of the original cast will be fresh in viewers’ minds by the time the Multiverse Saga ends (there remains the possibility other former X-Men stars, like Famke Janssen, could appear). This conceivably could put the X-Men reboot at a bit of a disadvantage since instead of feeling like the long-awaited return of one of Marvel’s definitive superhero teams, it may not seem as special since X-Men characters will have just appeared in the MCU.
To be fair, casting has long been a strong suit of Marvel’s, and there’s little reason to believe Feige and Co. won’t knock it out of the park when finding the next generation of mutant. Reportedly, the search is already on for younger, relatively unknown actors to headline the project (partially in an effort to keep production costs down), and it’ll undoubtedly be an extensive process. But even if Marvel nails every pick, it’ll be tough for the studio to fully turn the page if Jackman is still around.
Marvel’s X-Men Reboot Should Be a Fresh Start
Feige has said that Avengers: Secret Wars will serve as a “reset” for the MCU. It’s not going to be an all-out reboot (rumors suggest Marvel is just going to a “quick scrub” of aspects people would rather forget), but it sounds like the idea is to give the franchise a fresh start after the unevenness of the Multiverse Saga, creating a new entry point for fans to jump in and start following the shared universe. Wiping the slate clean is conceivably the best way to go about that, but based on the rumors, Marvel is having a hard time letting the past die.
As great as Jackman has been as Wolverine, he’s had his time as the character, and he deserves to go out on the high note that was Deadpool & Wolverine. It was a massive risk to bring Jackman back after he received the perfect send off in Logan, but Deadpool & Wolverine worked, and it will be very difficult to replicate that success. Deadpool & Wolverine was a special event, and it’s better to keep Jackman’s return as a memorable one-time thing. It would be a shame if there started to be diminishing returns creatively, which would only hurt the MCU as it attempts to get back on track after what’s been a rocky few years.
There is a case to be made that Jackman’s Wolverine could play a mentor role in the X-Men reboot, but it’s time to give someone younger a shot at bringing the iconic mutant to life — someone who can help carry a franchise for years to come like Jackman did. It’s hard to see anyone else as the character, but there have been multiple actors who have played James Bond, Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man. There’s no reason why someone else can’t do a great job portraying Wolverine. As funny as it is to think about, Jackman can’t really keep doing this until he’s 90, so it’s better to move on now.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
