If somebody had told you shortly after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 that a decade later, there would be a groundswell of online support behind the idea of Daniel Radcliffe being cast as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Wolverine, there’s a distinct possibility you may have laughed until your sides hurt.
And yet, it isn’t the craziest thing we’ve ever heard, with the actor going to prove himself as a hugely accomplished talent that’s more than capable of disappearing into a role to deliver a knockout performance. Of course, getting buff and strapping on the adamantium claws is an entirely different proposition from playing a farting corpse or Weird Al Yankovic, but that doesn’t mean Radcliffe couldn’t pull it off.
Having addressed the speculation as recently as last week, the 32 year-old was at it again during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, explaining why he thinks the Marvel fanbase has latched onto the idea.
“This is something that has, like come up every so often for the last few years. And every time it comes up. I’m like, ‘That’s not true. There’s nothing behind that.’ And everyone’s like, ‘Oh, he said it might be true.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t. I said the opposite of that.’ And then, like, every so often, I’ll get bored answering the question in a sensible way, so I’ll make a joke, and every time I make a joke, I’m like, ‘Why did you do that? That’s gonna set.’
So the other day, I was like, ‘Prove me wrong Marvel.’ And that ignited a whole thing. But yeah, I think it’s because Wolverine in the comics is fairly short, so I think it’s people going like, ‘Who’s a short actor? Him. He can maybe play him.’ That’s why yeah… Anything that implies the fleetingest similarity to Hugh Jackman is incredibly flattering. So, I’m happy with that.”
It sounds as though Radcliffe isn’t actively courting the attentions of Kevin Feige’s franchise, then, but stranger things in the world of comic book castings have definitely happened.
