Hugh Jackman Said to be Considering Wolverine Return

Fans of the Hugh Jackman turn as the Wolverine character have seen him appear on screen as the character a total of 9 times so far, and despite the fact that Logan was said to be his final swansong, this may not actually end up being the case, at least that's according to MCU regular, Sebastian Stan.

People will know Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, well recently he was on an Ace Comic Con panel with MCU co-stars Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie. During the Q&A, the topic of Disney's recent merger with 20th Century Fox came up and how this could affect the MCU going forward. Mr. Stan had something very interesting to say about the possibility of an X-Men / Avengers crossover, and how Mr. Jackman was considering a potential return as the character.

"Recently I happened to be sitting next to Hugh Jackman," Stan said. "I didn't know what other awkward thing I could talk about but to be like, 'Am I going to see you soon?' I don't know. But he said a couple of things to me and I'll just leave it at that. Otherwise, I feel like I'm going to get into trouble with somebody."

Although worrying that his words might get him into trouble, he just couldn't help but continue.

"I asked him because I kept thinking he said whether or not that was, Logan, was supposed to be the last Wolverine thing or whatever and he said to me, well I think he publicly said out there, which was like he's been thinking about it and it's been on his mind. So, I don't, he may be."

The potential for the other Marvel properties to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is something fans have been wanting since pretty much the beginning. Die hard comic book fans, myself included, have always found it a bit weird that these two massive elements of Marvel comics; The Avengers and the X-Men, weren't able to exist within the same film universe. While the separation has still certainly delivered us some amazing movies, the prospects for future movies, now that the merger is guaranteed, creates for some truly exciting possibilities.

Despite what Sebastian Stan says, it does seem unlikely that the 49 year-old Jackman would return to the big screen as Wolverine, even if he himself has said he would love for it to happen in an MCU movie. Commenting on this possibility recently, Jackman has said;

“It’s interesting because for the whole 17 years I kept thinking that would be so great, like I would love to see, particularly, Iron Man and the Hulk and Wolverine together. And every time I saw an Avengers movie I could just see Wolverine in the middle of all of them like punching them all on the head. But it was like, 'Oh well, that’s not gonna happen,' and it was interesting just when I first saw that headline — it was just the possibility of it and who knows what’s gonna happen, obviously — I was like, 'Hang on!' But I think, unfortunately, the ship has sailed for me, but for someone else, I would like to see Wolverine in there.”

There's no doubt that it would be incredible to see Wolverine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with his X-Men brethren, but it does seem like it's a bit too late in the game for Jackman to take up that role himself. So the question comes up that, if not him, then who?

Tom Hardy as Wolverine by Jimmy Vong

Well, top of the list for most fans seems to be the amazing Tom Hardy who seems to find it easy to slip into any role he's given no matter how unique or different from his last. He's able to do the brutal physicality when considering his roles in movies such as Bronson and The Revenant.

Let's be honest, Hardy would be absolutely perfect for the role. He's not afraid to get physical, he has that rough and tumble look about him, and he is able to offer some good physical and comic timing that could work in the more light-hearted MCU. This isn't to say that if Disney were open to continuing with the more R-Rated approach to heroes like Wolverine or Deadpool, that having hardy splatter blood everywhere with those Adamantium claws of his wouldn't be an incredible joy.

Kit Harrington Maybe?

Here's why Kit Harrington would probably be even more perfect for the role than Hardy; his age. At just 31 years of age, if Harrington were cast in the role on a long term contract, he could make it his own over the next 20 years if he wanted, just like Jackman did. We know he does moody, as that's his default personality as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, but we also know he can do physicality if needs be too.

The most important aspect of a character like Wolverine is he needs to come across almost as an uncaring asshole. But deep down, when you look past all the rage and murder, there's a guy who's so conflicted, who's been so tortured and mistreated, but he just wants to do right by the world and simply doesn't know how. Plus, just look at that body.

John Boyega. Yes, seriously.

Now, before you start with the whole "WOLVERINE ISN'T BLACK. HE'S WHITE AND CANADIAN, THERE AREN'T ANY BLACK CANADIANS!!!! AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!" allow me to explain. John Boyega is probably one of my favourite actors at the minute. At only 25 years old, he's ramping up quite the CV when it comes to successful movies in Hollywood. We all know him as Finn in the Star Wars movies, but Detroit, Attack the Block and Imperial Dreams, all demonstrate solid acting ability on behalf of the young actor.

And you know what, it wouldn't hurt to do something truly different in the MCU. For the most part, the characters have kept relatively loyal to the overall look of their comic book counterparts. While that's definitely a positive, there would certainly be no harm in the MCU going the way of its comic counterpart in maybe shaking things up a bit and attempting to carve out its own look and feel. A black Wolverine certainly wouldn't be too bad of a change, and sure, while it'll piss off a lot of perpetually angry people, it'd be refreshing to see Boyega in something a bit more physically demanding than he's currently used to.

So what do you think, fine readers? Would you like to see Jackman return as Wolverine in a crossover movie if the MCU ever did decide to unite the franchises? Or would you like to see them hit the refresh button on the casting?