Keanu Reeves Regrets Not Playing The Most Beloved Marvel Superhero
Keanu Reeves wishes he could have played Marvel's Wolverine.
Keanu Reeves just admitted that he would have loved to play Wolverine in a Marvel movie. Reeves’ comment came during the actor’s recent Reddit AMA to promote John Wick 4. A Redditor asked Keanu if there were any roles he regretted turning down to which the Bill and Ted star replied, “…No…but I did always want to play Wolverine.”
At 6’1″, Keanu Reeves is almost a foot too tall to portray the 5’3″, 300 lb Wolverine accurately but would otherwise be a good match for the berzerker canuck. Of course, current Wolverine Hugh Jackman is 6’3″, meaning that when it comes to portraying James Howlett on screen, size doesn’t matter. However, height is probably the least of Keanu’s reasons for not actively pursuing the role.
It’s no secret that Marvel is planning on introducing the X-Men into the MCU proper. Cameos like Patrick Stewart showing up as Professor Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have served to wet fans’ appetite for the merry mutants before they make their official debut. Likewise, Hugh Jackman’s return as Logan for Deadpool 3 may be nothing more than a fun extended cameo. Does that mean Keanu Reeves has a chance at becoming the next Wolverine?
Not necessarily. It’s long been rumored that Marvel wants to go with someone relatively young to be the new Wolverine. Taron Egerton was linked to the role for a while, but FandomWire reports that’s no longer the case.
One of the reasons Egerton gave for why he’s no longer pursuing the role was age. “I’m too old for it now.” Egerton said in regard to “that whole Wolverine thing.” If Taron Egerton at 33 is considered “too old” to play Wolverine, then the 58-year-old Keanu Reeves is practically ancient by Kevin Feige’s standards.
Another reason the Matrix star might have for avoiding his dream role is loyalty to DC. The actor recently provided the voice of Batman in last year’s DC League of Super-Pets. In addition, Keanu Reeves has been very vocal about wanting to make a sequel to 2005’s Constantine.
Pursuing the role of Wolverine could potentially cause Reeves to fall from DC’s good graces, destroying any chance of Constantine 2. It could also affect his involvement in any future League of Super-Pets sequels. There’s also the fact that Keanu Reeves made his own Wolverine of sorts.
One of Reeves’ upcoming projects is BRZRKR, a movie based on a comic of the same name that Reeves co-wrote. The title character is an immortal warrior that fights his way through the ages. Sounds a lot like a similar character who’s practically immortal and has a habit of flying into a “berserker rage.”
On the other hand, we do live in the age of the cinematic multiverse as well as the age of fan-casting sometimes becoming a reality. It wouldn’t be the craziest thing if Keanu Reeves showed up as a Wolverine variant at some point during the next phase of the MCU. The actor will just have to trade in his trademark “Whoa” for Logan’s famous “Bub.”
