Marvel Can’t Make The Same Wolverine Mistake Again
Wolverine’s arrival into the MCU as part of Deadpool & Wolverine has gone as great as everyone could have hoped. It gave Marvel fans some great clashes they had always been looking forward to, and the movie will likely soon be the most successful R-rated movie of all time, having just crossed $1 billion. However, with Wolverine looking poised to stick around for more movies, it does raise concerns that Marvel could fall into the same trap Fox did by letting him overshadow the rest of the X-Men.
Marvel Needs To Continue Branching Out
In the first few X-Men films, it made sense to give Wolverine more of the focus since he was one of the most well-known and popular members of the group. However, even by the second movie, characters like Nightcrawler had fans buzzing and wanting to see more of a focus on other heroes too. Unfortunately, over time the movies became less about the X-Men and more just Wolverine and friends, something Marvel cannot afford to do.
The problem really came to a head with 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Logan’s first live-action solo outing. Most fans would agree this is the worst live-action X-Men property to date, and yet it still spawned two more sequels. Fox was so convinced Wolverine was the money maker that they were beyond reluctant to pivot to one of the other popular Marvel characters they had the rights to at that time.
If Deadpool Can Recover, So Can Other Characters
Ironically, Origins played a major role in damaging both Gambit and Deadpool by introducing both characters in drastically different depictions than what fans had already grown to love. By being saddled with such a lackluster movie to bring them to the screen, it likely played a major role in why producers did not have confidence in their solo movies. However, Ryan Reynolds refusing to give up on his passion for Deadpool got Fox to give someone besides Wolverine a chance and allowed Deadpool to become the franchise that he now is for Marvel.
Fox Leaned A Little Too Hard On The Wolverine Crutch
Meanwhile the remainder of the X-Men struggled under Fox. As Hugh Jackman wanted to start moving on to other roles, suddenly he could no longer headline the new X-Men movies. This left Fox with a bunch of characters they had taught their audience were not as important. How could Cyclops be regarded as good enough to lead a movie when X-Men: The Last Stand unceremoniously killed him off screen? Wolverine had become a crutch for Fox, something Marvel hopefully realizes.
THE MCU Is Aware Some Characters Deserved More
Deadpool & Wolverine was not just about bringing Wolverine in for all the fun it would create, but it was also a movie of redemption for many other Marvel characters who had been short-changed. Wesley Snipes’ Blade, Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, and Channing Tatum’s Gambit all got to have moments to shine after having had the rug pulled out beneath them for their previous solo outings. And the movie ends with Deadpool asking the TVA to allow their characters to stick around, which seems like acknowledgement from Marvel that those heroes deserved more.
Jackman Is Going To Retire Eventually
Wolverine is undeniably a great character, and Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of him can be the foundation for some really strong movies from Marvel going forward. But the MCU is also desperately in need of new, young actors they can rely on moving into the future. Hugh Jackman is 55, so Marvel needs to make the most of his time to not steal the spotlight from other characters, but help give the rub to actors who could be part of the MCU for the next decade.
