Though the mere thought of recasting Wolverine was written off as sacrilegious back in March when Logan sunk its claws into the global box office, now that the dust has settled from Hugh Jackman’s swan song, X-Men fans are beginning to wonder what the future holds for the ferocious Weapon X.
One thing’s for sure: true to his initial promise, Hugh Jackman has closed the book on his own personal X-Men saga, and you can’t say the Aussie actor didn’t go out on a high note. As a matter of fact, 20th Century Fox is said to be mounting a sizeable Oscar push for Logan, which would place James Mangold’s noir in the company of 2017’s other superhero success story, Wonder Woman.
Exactly how much traction those campaigns will get is subject to debate, but the fact remains that the studio now finds themselves in a predicament, that being having to find a way to move forward without their biggest star. Even before Jackman hung up the claws for the final time, many considered his version of the character to be irreplaceable, and any attempt to do so would only tarnish a 17-year legacy. But in a time when moviegoers are currently enjoying the sixth Spider-Man film in almost 15 years (Spider-Man: Homecoming), recasting Hugh Jackman seems inevitable.
Of course, it’s still far too early for any sort of concrete news on the situation to emerge, and we imagine Fox hasn’t even begun seriously thinking about who could play Wolvie next. Still, that hasn’t stopped a number of actors from throwing their hat into the ring and the latest to do so is Scott Eastwood, who comic book movie fans will be familiar with from his role in Suicide Squad.
Speaking with ComicBook.com at NYCC this week, the outlet asked him which hero he’d love to play, and he replied with the following:Â “Weapon X. I mean, Logan! You gotta give it to Wolverine! Wolverine, all day.” Given that many fans have put Eastwood on their wish list for who could bring the character to life next, it’s nice to hear that the actor’s into the idea, too.
Still, it’s going to be very tough recasting Hugh Jackman. After all, no matter how bad some of the X-Men films got over 17 years (and there were some truly awful ones, thanks to Bryan Singer, Gavin Hood, and Brett Ratner), he never let us down. Not one single time. He brought his A game with him on every occasion and made sure that Wolvie remained the best part of the average films.
With the above in mind, can you really think of anyone else you’d want in his role? Replacing him will feel like the ultimate betrayal. It would be like cheating on Gal Gadot with Sean Spicer, and then having to look her in the eye again. When they say time heals all wounds, we wonder if it’ll heal the heartache of knowing that Hugh isn’t the Ol’ Canucklehead anymore. Right now, we don’t think we’ll ever get over it.
Still, there’s nothing to worry about just yet as we really don’t know what Fox plans to do with the character. Besides, the next few years certainly look bright for the X-Men Universe. We’ve got New Mutants, Deadpool 2 and X-Men: Dark Phoenix to look forward to, not to mention any other unannounced projects that are still brewing in development. Big things are in store for the franchise, make no mistake about it, but no matter which new and exciting directions the studio heads in from here, I think we can all say that Jackman‘s absence will most definitely be felt.
