Marvel Can’t Beat Logan — The MCU’s Wolverine Needs To Be Different

Instead of trying to surpass Logan with their own solo Wolverine movie, Marvel should take an entirely different approach to the character — and the X-Men as a whole — than what Fox did with its own franchise. For years, fans have wondered what Marvel would do with the mutants if they had access to them. Now, thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox, that question can finally be answered; however, with the amount of time that has passed, it seems unlikely that Jackman will reprise the role for the MCU. As a result, Marvel’s best option is recast the character — but not right away.

In 2019, Disney finalized a deal that put the X-Men and the Fantastic Four — two of Marvel’s most important properties since the 1960s — back under the same roof as the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and more. The only major characters that Marvel currently lacks complete ownership of is Spider-Man, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Hulk. Thanks to this deal, Marvel can start including the Human Torch, the Thing, Wolverine, Magneto, and all the others in their movies. Marvel won’t be making a Fantastic Four or X-Men movie in Phase 4, but they’re likely to be included in their plans for Phase 5. A Fantastic Four film was mentioned at SDCC 2019, and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is reportedly excited over the prospect of using Marvel’s Merry Mutants.

It’s possible that instead of starting off with an X-Men movie, Marvel may introduce some of the characters individually. For example, Magneto could be set up in WandaVision, Storm could be a guest character in Black Panther 2, and Wolverine could get a cameo in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Due to Wolverine’s popularity and the level of attention Hugh Jackman’s portrayal garnered over the years, there’s a great deal of interest in how the MCU will make use of the character. Similar to what Fox did with him, Marvel could make Wolverine a major player in Phase 5 and beyond — or it could go in a totally different direction, partially because of Logan’s success.

Marvel Can’t Beat Logan As A Wolverine Solo Movie

When Logan hit theaters in 2017, the film received critical acclaim across the board. It brought in $619 million at the worldwide box office, which was especially good for an R-rated movie. One of the reasons it did so well was the fact that it was such an unconventional superhero movie, one that stood apart from all other movies in the X-Men franchise. It told a moving story about an aging Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) struggling to protect a young female clone of himself from a group of villains who seek to use her for their own gains. Logan brought interesting new layers to both Wolverine and Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) by putting them in vulnerable positions that showed new, darker sides of their characters. The specific story that was told in Logan and the approach it took with Wolverine and Professor X likely wouldn’t have worked without its R-rating. The level of violence included in the movie helped create its incredibly dark, noir feel.

It’s hard to imagine a solo Wolverine movie set in the MCU ever beating Logan. Logan was able to do things with Wolverine that Marvel simply can’t in the MCU; all Marvel movies so far have been PG-13, and there’s no reason to believe that Disney will change that formula. Because Logan isn’t in any way like the usual, popcorn superhero blockbuster, Logan is tonally different to any film that Marvel has made. Even though Marvel tends to experiment with different genres and tones, they’ll never go as far as Fox did with Logan.

Marvel Needs To Hold Off On Introducing Wolverine To The MCU

When Marvel does decide to introduce Wolverine, whether it be in his own movie, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, or an X-Men film, there’s no way that Marvel can avoid the Hugh Jackman comparisons. After all, Jackman played the character for over 15 years. Due to the length of time that he was associated with Wolverine and his memorable portrayals of the iconic X-Men hero, he’s commonly regarded as the definitive Wolverine. That’s an impossible standard for Marvel to beat, so casting a Wolverine capable of living up to expectations won’t be an easy task. Instead of creating their own version of the character right away, Marvel should wait to reveal Wolverine and allow for anticipation to build. This is the best way of tackling the problem, especially since Marvel doesn’t need Wolverine to have a successful X-Men franchise.

Marvel Needs To Make The Other X-Men As Important As Wolverine

In Marvel Comics, dozens of heroes have been counted as members of the X-Men. It has no shortage of high-profile characters worthy of being in the movies. Some got their fair share of screen time in Fox’s X-Men franchise, like Storm, Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique, while others were severely underutilized, such is the case with Angel, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler. Part of the reason for this was that Fox made Wolverine the centerpiece of the X-Men franchise for far too long. The first X-Men trilogy felt less like a movie about a team of superheroes and more like a movie about Wolverine, with the rest of the X-Men being relegated to supporting roles.

This mistake is one Marvel has avoided making in the MCU. While Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man was easily the most popular character in the Infinity Saga, Marvel never allowed itself to forget about the importance of Captain America (Chris Evans) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and the others. When Marvel could have made Iron Man 4, it instead turned its focus to other characters, which proved to a good move. That’s why Marvel was able to build so many different, profitable franchises. Marvel should stick with this approach when making plans for the X-Men. Wolverine doesn’t need to be any more important to the MCU than Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Beast, Angel, Iceman, or Rogue. Marvel may find out that Wolverine isn’t the only X-Man who can hold his own movie. Some of these characters may be deserving of this treatment as well. What Marvel should do is introduce some of these characters first in an effort to set up the X-Men, and then bring them all together for a team-up. Wolverine could be a part of that, or perhaps even better, he should be saved for a sequel that brings in a new class of X-Men. Unlike what was done in Fox’s franchise, each X-Men member Marvel uses should feel fully-developed and important in their own way to the larger MCU.