Hugh Jackman’s had a hell of a run as Wolverine. With seven films under his belt, it’s fair to say he’s become the definitive version of the character to a lot of people. Since the next Wolverine will serve as Jackman’s final outing as the character, a lot of speculation has arisen as to what story will give the ol’ Canucklehead a parting salute.
According to Heroic Hollywood’s El Mayimbe on Popcorn Talk, the current story being courted is Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s Old Man Logan. The eight issue run is akin to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns: a possible final adventure for the titular hero. In that story, the supervillains have banded together and taken over the country. Logan lives a quiet farm life with a wife and kids, but due to financial woes, he agrees to accompany a blind Hawkeye on one last job (Unforgiven much, Millar?).
I remember enjoying the story well enough, but haven’t revisited it since it was published. The most obvious issue with utilizing it as source material is that there are numerous integral characters that aren’t owned by Fox. Besides Hawkeye, there’s the Hulk, Mysterio, Kingpin, and most memorably Red Skull (who has declared himself president and walks around wearing the deceased Captain America’s mask). I’m sure Fox can substitute characters in (the X-Men library is littered with characters), but that would immensely lessen their impact.
If this is the direction Fox is going, I’d much rather they use the “Logan in a far off future” idea as a springboard to an original story. Setting it in the future is a good way to avoid messing with whatever other continuity they are playing with in their other X-Men movies, and it even leaves the door open for the occasional cameo in other projects should Jackman feel so inclined (read: would like an easy paycheck). Plus, I don’t think people want Wolverine’s last outing to be blanketed in grimness, do they?
I’m happy that Jackman has had such a stellar run with the character (even if he’s been in more forgettable movies than good ones), and I hope that Fox, James Mangold, and everyone else involved can give the actor the sendoff he deserves.
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