Fans are starting to suspect that the Marvel Cinematic Universe might finally venture into the X-Men world and introduce some fan-favorite mutants to the series. It's exciting to think that such a prominent part of Marvel Comics is soon to be explored, but one specific character's name is being brought up time and time again. Fans are specifically wondering about them, because there are massive shoes to fill from the previous X-Men series and it's still unknown how the MCU will handle that. Despite them being a major X-Men character, the safest option for the MCU is probably to put them on the back burner for a little while, if not forever.
Wolverine is likely the most well-known character of the X-Men series, and his popularity with even casual fans has to be in part due to Fox's X-Men trilogy, and Wolverine's multiple spinoff movies. He was the main character of the original trilogy, with most of the focus being on him and his character development, and the first to get his own origin story. Though these films aren't looked back on incredibly fondly, their casting and performances, in general, have always been praised for being spot on. Especially Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Now that the X-Men are fair game to come to the MCU after Disney's acquiring of Fox, they could introduce Wolverine and some may think that it seems logical for them to do so. But if it's not going to be Hugh Jackman, and it really wouldn't make sense that it would be, it probably isn't in their best interest.
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Any actor that comes in to play Wolverine will instantly have their performance compared to Jackman's. It's absolutely a possibility that someone could come in and do just as well, or maybe even better, but it's incredibly unlikely. If the MCU chooses to introduce the X-Men with Wolverine first and that actor's performance isn't as good, it just sets them off on a really bad start and will instantly sour that part of the franchise. It's too much of a risk, and with how high the levels of scrutiny will be it would have to be executed completely perfectly, or else it'll be a pretty massive fail.
If the MCU really wants to include Wolverine in their franchise, the best approach would really be to introduce other X-Men characters first. Write them really well and give them character depth that fans of the other X-Men movies might not have seen yet. They've already done this to an extent, by focusing so much on Scarlet Witch. With the success of WandaVision, it's clear that MCU fans have very much invested in her and appreciate her character. She also now has one of the most extensive character growth of anyone in the MCU and before now, probably wouldn't have been super well known to anyone who only knew the X-Men through the Fox trilogy. Fans will get to know and love characters they aren't already familiar with, they just need to be given the proper amount of time and respectful treatment.
It's hard to imagine X-Men existing without there being Wolverine, because he's so iconic and often seen as a leader of the group. But it might be best for the MCU to not touch him at all, despite the Russo brothers already showing interest. There are so many X-Men characters that are really cool but haven't gotten the same treatment that Wolverine has and this could be their time to capitalize on that. Without there being really great performances for fans to compare newer versions to, there is just a bit more freedom and forgiveness. They could be a part of creating someone new, and catapulting a different character into being a fan favorite. The opportunity for that just isn't there with Wolverine anymore, and even though it may seem like a huge fan loss to not see him in the MCU it might just be for the best.
Bringing X-Men into the MCU is something fans have been anticipating and getting excited for, for a really long time. Now that the logistics make it possible, there's a lot of buzz about how they'll do it and especially how they'll handle Wolverine. Some hold out hope that Hugh Jackman will pick up the reins again, but with how beautifully his character arc ended in Logan that's probably something viewers shouldn't expect. It'll be a tricky situation to handle and no matter what, there will be some fans who are disappointed. The pressure is on, Disney knows that, and it's entirely likely that they might decide the risk of creating a new Wolverine people will love outweighs the reward of having a classic character included in their series. While it could be a controversial decision and some would surely be unhappy, it might in fact be the smartest one for them to make.
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