A comment made by Hugh Jackman regarding his desire to see Wolverine portrayed by Tom Hardy has recently resurfaced in multiple headlines.
The ever-charming Aussie actor and part-time R.M. Williams ambassador originally pitched the nomination to MTV back in 2015, ahead of his 17-year tenure as the iconic X-Men coming to an end in James Mangold’s critically-acclaimed and brilliantly R-rated Logan. Having survived all the reboots, retcons, and recasts that occurred within the immediate property, the question as to who could ever replace him was quite a familiar one.
“I’ve been asked the question a lot and I’m always like, ‘I don’t want to make it too easy on the studio to replace me.’,” Jackman expressed.
“I’m sure they’re already talking about it, that some actor out there they’ve already said, ‘Shhh… keep it quiet but we want you next.'”
“He’s younger than me for sure… I think Tom Hardy would be great.”
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While the X-Men franchise’s screen rights have finally been returned to Marvel Studios after parent company Disney acquired 20th Century Fox in one fell swoop, the possibility of Tom Hardy taking up the mantle adamantium claws of Wolverine seems rather unlikely – despite how awesome the prospect may be and despite the wishes of Hugh Jackman – especially given the runaway success of Venom (which has now extended to a sequel starring Woody Harrelson, Venom: Let There Be Carnage). Although it wouldn’t exactly be the first time an actor on Marvel’s roster has double dipped in defiance of continuity.
Most notably, we’ve experienced Chris Evans as Johnny Storm / Human Torch in the original Fantastic Four films before defining an entire era of the MCU as Steve Rogers / Captain America. Michael B. Jordan also had a run as the very same character in the failed Fantastic Four reboot before setting a new standard for Marvel villains as Erik Stevens / Killmonger in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. Then there’s Gemma Chan, who first portrayed Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel and is now starring in Chloe Zhao’s highly-anticipated Eternals as Sersi, alongside the likes of Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie, and more.
For the time being, however, the fate of Wolverine is unclear at best. By last reports in March, according to The Illuminerdi, Marvel Studios and CEO Kevin Feige are still trying to figure out how to bring the properties previously handled by 20th Century Fox back into the fold. In other words, a clean reboot with a brand new cast is definitely on the cards for X-Men as well as the perennially fumbled Fantastic Four.
