After nine movies in the space of 17 years, Hugh Jackman is ready to pass down the adamantium claws.
Indeed, soon after Logan‘s theatrical release in March, which signaled Jackman’s final appearance as the titular X-Men member, the Aussie actor acknowledged that it’s only a matter of time before 20th Century Fox begins toying with the idea of a Wolverine reboot. That was before they were purchased by Disney, though, and ever since that happened – actually, even before it officially happened – fans have been calling for Jackman to return and give us one last performance as the clawed mutant.
Unfortunately, the actor’s just not into the idea, telling us earlier this week that, “I think unfortunately, the ship has sailed for me, but for someone else I would like to see Wolverine in there.” So, he’s clearly into the idea of the character appearing in the MCU then, and again, now that Disney’s purchased Fox, that will no doubt happen. But the question remains: who will play the X-Men leader when he re-appears on the big screen?
We probably won’t have an answer to that for a long, long time, but when asked if he had anyone in mind to take over the role a few years back, Jackman had this to say about his replacement:
“I haven’t really given it a lot of thought. I’ve been asked that question a lot, and I’m always like, ‘I don’t want to make it too easy on the studio to replace me.’ [Laughs]
I’ve still got one more to do, though I’m sure they’re already talking about it and there’s some actor out there who they’ve said, ‘Shh, keep it quiet, we want you next!’ He’s younger than me for sure, so I think Tom Hardy could be great.”
The Mad Max: Fury Road star is an undeniably great suggestion, but whether he’d want to take over the role of Wolverine is another matter altogether. If he’s interested though, it could work out. After all, he was once considered to play a young Wolvie in a Matthew Vaughn film, back when that was still a thing. But then again, there’s also the fact that in 2015, when Jackman named him as his potential replacement, Hardy hadn’t signed on to play Venom yet.
Granted, portraying two comic book characters is actually becoming more and more common in Hollywood these days, but his commitment to Sony’s Spider-Man universe is likely a big one and who knows if he’d even have time to get into bed with Disney. Even if their plans for putting the X-Men leader into the MCU won’t really kick into gear until at least 2020 – if not later.
Right now, all we can do is speculate, but no one can deny that Tom Hardy would make an absolutely killer Wolverine. When it comes to a character like this, there aren’t many actors you can cast that’d make fans happy, as Hugh Jackman gave such a definitive performance, but the Dunkirk star is probably one of a select few who audiences would be alright with. And you’ve gotta believe that Disney knows that.