Over the years we’ve had no less then five Batmen, three Supermen, and two Spider-Men – with more on the way. However, there’s only one Wolverine, and that’s Hugh Jackman. We’ve known for sometime that the Australian heartthrob will soon be ditching the sideburns and adamantium claws in order to walk away from the X-Men franchise, which only begs one question: who could replace him? According to the creative forces behind the franchise, nobody can.
Digital Spy reports that Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg both recently agreed that they couldn’t foresee anyone else donning Wolverine’s claws and replacing Jackman at any point in the near future:
I do think you would want to figure out how to tell more Wolverine stories. So either we would try to entice Hugh to come back and eat more chicken and work out for a few months, or we would have to figure out a creative way to move forward. Honestly, I can’t imagine anybody else playing the part, and there’s not too many characters I can say that for.
So it looks like the only way we will get more Wolverine oriented storylines is if Hugh Jackman decides he actually doesn’t want to retire and chooses to once again bulk up for the role. The actor has been the face of the X-Men franchise since the original movie hit theaters all the way back in 2000. He has made such a definitive mark on the role that anyone replacing him would have arguably the most unenviable job in the superhero genre. At this point it remains unclear how long the actor will remain in the role. He previously announced that he would step down after his next solo outing as Wolverine, but rumors indicate me may show up in some form or another during the events of X-Men: Apocalypse, and possibly even a Deadpool film.
Of course, one tactic for the franchise to move forward could be to retire Wolverine altogether. If no male actor can replace Jackman, and the producers still want a violent, clawed mutant to join the team, they could opt to bring in his clone: Laura Kinney a.k.a X-23. X-23 bears many similarities to Wolverine in terms of abilities and temperament, but is an entirely different character and could bring a female touch to the savagery of Wolverine. We’re not saying that’s how it’s going to play out, but it seems like the safest bet to replace Jackman’s Wolverine without bringing someone in who would have to imitate the traits of the original actor.
We will bring you more information concerning Jackman’s final outing as Wolverine, and all developments relating to the future of the X-Men franchise. X-Men: Apocalypse will hit theaters on May 27 of this year.
