For years, Wolverine and the Marvel Cinematic Universe were mutually exclusive – Hugh Jackman’s enraged mutant operated under the shadow of Fox, while Kevin Feige and Co. nurtured the MCU into one of the biggest film franchises in Hollywood history.
But on December 14th, everything changed. Bringing an end to weeks of heated speculation and alleged false starts, Disney and 21st Century Fox reached a $52 billion deal that will, in time, redraw the superhero genre as we know it.
Characters like Deadpool and Fantastic Four, who were originally offloaded by Marvel in the ’90s, are headed home, while the Mouse House also gained control of Alien, Predator and a number of other big-name franchises. And don’t even get us started on the TV front.
What does this all mean for Wolverine? Well, the character will surely be recast, but who will take the role next is the million dollar question. We likely won’t have the answer to that for some time, either, but while we wait to hear which direction Marvel decides to head in, a couple of talented fans have put forth some new designs of what they imagine the mutant leader will look once he makes his MCU debut – and you can check them out in the gallery down below (along with a design for Magneto, too).
As you can see, these are two totally different takes on the character, but they both bring in the classic yellow color scheme. It’s far more prominent in Pastrana’s work, of course, but each costume is clearly taking inspiration from the comics and they’re a damn sight more faithful than any of those boring black jumpsuits Jackman wore in the role for nearly two decades.
Of course, when Wolverine eventually appears in the much more comics-literate Marvel Cinematic Universe, he might actually get to don the yellow spandex. Or at least, a variation of it, as the franchise has never shied away from comic book costumes (at least, unless you’re Iron Fist). Until then, though, awesome fan art like what we have here will continue to whet our appetite as we patiently wait for any further updates on what lies ahead for the character.
If I were a betting man, I’d predict that next year’s (currently untitled) Avengers 4 will likely tease the future arrival of mutants in the MCU, with a surprise cameo by Wolvie being the perfect way to stoke fan hype. No matter what Marvel Studios does, though, Hugh Jackman’s take on the character is likely to cast a very long shadow over any future on-screen Wolverine appearances, and we imagine that this new version of the iconic hero will have a tough time living up to what we’ve seen over the past 17 years.
Still, we’re excited to learn what direction Marvel takes both him and the X-Men as a whole in and as more news surfaces, we’ll be sure to keep you right up to date.