Ryan Reynolds dropped a major bombshell on the comic book fan community in 2022 by casually announcing the return of Hugh Jackman in the role of Logan aka Wolverine in the upcoming Deadpool 3. After years of declaring he was done with the role, Jackman will be returning as everyone’s favorite clawed mutant who was last seen in 2017’s Logan.
Not much is known yet regarding details of Wolverine’s involvement in Deadpool’s newest film, but that has not stopped fans from daydreaming. One major demand from fans is that Jackman’s Logan should finally don his iconic yellow and black costume from the comics. Let us take a look at why Deadpool 3 is the perfect movie to give us a comic-accurate Wolverine.
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A Relic of a Different Era
20th Century Fox
Hugh Jackman first starred as Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men. That was a wholly different time for superheroes. Comic book movies were looked down upon as kitcshy, B-movie fare. Often those who tried to make a serious adaptation of superhero comics tended to try to distance the film from its comic roots as much as possible.
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It was this same sensibility that made the creators of the live-action X-Men movie take the group of superheroes out of their colorful, comic-accurate costumes and put them in uniformly black suits that looked like something out of The Matrix. In fact, the movie makes a joke at one point about Wolverine wearing “yellow spandex,” poking fun at the character’s beloved costume from the comics.
A Changing View of Superhero Movies
Warner Bros. Pictures
The 2000s wrought a marked change in the way audiences and critics viewed superhero movies. The critical and commercial success of the X-Men and Spider-Man franchise, Iron Man, and The Dark Knight was a gamechanger for the genre. Audiences were learning to embrace superhero culture, and comic-accurate costumes were starting to be seen as “cool” instead of corny.
Even the X-Men started appearing in costumes closer to the comics. But apparently Wolverine did not get the memo. Hugh Jackman continued to wear regular clothes as the character right up until his last appearance in the role in Logan. It is a testament to the actor’s ability to embody the character so completely that he remains the perfect Wolverine in the minds of audiences despite never having worn the superhero suit.
Deadpool Signals a New Era of Marvel Movies
If the original X-Men was a gamechanger for the superhero movie genre in the 2000s, so was the first Deadpool movie when it released in the 2010s. After years of lobbying by Ryan Reynolds and a couple of misfires, the Merc’ with the Mouth made his live-action solo debut in a movie that gleefully embraced every crazy thing abut the character from the comics, from his fourth-wall breaking jokes to a superhero suit that looks like it was ripped straight from the comics.
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The success of the Deadpool franchise was the final proof that audiences are ready for comic book movies that are not ashamed of being comic book movies. No longer is the genre considered B-movie fare, and no longer do actors have to feel embarrassed to wear superhero costumes. What better way to celebrate this new era of comic book movie sensibility than by giving Hugh Jackman the opportunity to finally portray Wolverine the way he is meant to look in the comics?
Hugh Jackman is Ready for the Challenge
The biggest obstacle to getting a comic-accurate Wolverine costume in a movie is that the character as played by Hugh Jackman is the last person who would try to draw attention to himself with a flashy costume, particularly while on a mission. This was the very reason that Logan director James Mangold gave for not putting the character in his superhero costume in the movie.
But this obstacle disappears once Wolverine is standing next to live-action Deadpool. The latter character’s franchise has done a great job of taking comic-accurate costumes and putting them in the live-action world in a grounded and convincing manner. And Hugh Jackman seems all onboard with the idea. So much so that the actor shared a picture of a black-and-yellow Wolverine costume on social media which hinted that he would indeed be wearing something similar on the big screen.
Bringing Wolverine Full Circle
20th Television
Deadpool 3 is probably going to be the last time Hugh Jackman will ever play Wolverine. Even if the actor wished to continue with the role, he is in his mid-fifties at the moment, and playing the superhero in his sixties would be unfeasible. This is likely going to be the last time fans get to watch Logan draw out his claws and snarl at his enemies (which might or might not include Deadpool) on the big screen. It would be a fitting sendoff to the character for him to do so in his classic comics costume in full glory, celebrating the new golden era for superhero movies that Jackman’s Wolverine had such a big hand in ushering in.
