For almost two decades Hugh Jackman has been inseparable from his performance as Wolverine. As the era comes to a close, Hugh Jackman has taken a moment to say a special goodbye to all of the fans who made the character special. On his Twitter page, Jackman posted a video that collected fan art of the brand new movie and set it to some sad Johnny Cash music, because that's what you do these days.
The video uses Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" as its backing do numerous images created by artists using all sorts of different styles. It is a great collection of well-done art. Everything from the cartoonish to the realistic is represented here and they all look great. All the different work shows just how much the character, and the actor who has played him for 17 years, have influenced so many different people in many different ways.
When Logan was first announced as going into production, it was also announced that it would be Hugh Jackman's last time playing the character. Including his brief cameo in X-Men: First Class, Jackman had played the role eight previous times since the original X-Men movie in 2000. While that's a record that is likely to be broken before Robert Downey Jr. is done playing Iron Man, it is still one hell of a run.
Logan takes place at the far end of the X-Men timeline and while we know there are still going to be new films in the series going forward, it's unclear at this point what, if any, plans Fox has for Wolverine. We certainly don't expect a major recasting to happen in the short term, but we also don't expect a major reboot to happen anytime soon. As such, is it likely that Wolverine will be left out of the franchise for a long time to come? As one of the most popular X-Men that would seem unlikely. At the same time, bringing a new face to that role at any point when you're showing it to the same movie audience that watched Jackman is going to be tough.
For what it's worth, Hugh Jackman appears to have truly gone out on a high note. Logan is getting rave reviews pretty much across the board. It's a much more serious and dramatic take on superhero material then we have seen in before. It will almost certainly lead to imitators trying to use the formula on their own properties in the future. It is unlikely any will have the same success that Logan has achieved.
Have you said your final goodbyes to Hugh Jackman as the Wolverine? Logan is in theaters now. Bring tissues.
