Not just satisfied with creating the multi-billion dollar Marvel Cinematic Universe (which will apparently continue until the heat death of planet Earth), Kevin Feige has another feather to his cap: he had a major hand in crafting Wolverine’s hairdo in the original X-Men back in 2000.
The news came in an interview with Vanity Fair, in which Feige recounts his history in the movie biz. His experience with the mutants is from working as an assistant to producer Lauren Shuler Donner. Due to being “a walking encyclopaedia of Marvel,” he managed to get an assistant producer credit, with his knowledge of the source material informing the film.
One day, he happened to walk in on Hugh Jackman getting his hair done for the role, and kept insisting that the sides of his hair should be higher and higher to match the comic character’s unique look. Taller and taller the hair went, until the stylist and Feige concluded that while Jackman looked “ridiculous,” he certainly did have “big ass hair.”
But this was precisely the look that Singer went for, and Wolverine’s key role in X-Men went a long way to making that film popular, which went on to kick off the superhero movie renaissance that we’re still in the middle of. Silly as this story might be, it reveals a key part of Feige’s adaptation philosophy.
“I never liked the idea that people weren’t attempting things because of the potential for them to look silly,” he said. “Anything in a comic book has the potential to look silly. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to make it look cool.”
Adapting the comics “as they are” rather than removing them from their origins is a key reason why the MCU has worked as well as it has, managing to be a place where a talking raccoon and a Norse God can rub shoulders quite naturally.
So, well done Kevin – you helped nail Wolverine’s look.
