It may be this X-Men’s final fight as HUGH JACKMAN returns to the big screen in the third solo feature starring the clawed loner in LOGAN! How will audience manage to get along without Wolverine?
All good things must come to an end, even an adamantium-laced mutant with a healing factor that’s kept him looking like Hugh Jackman for close to two decades (while the character itself is arguably about 150 years old)! After appearing as the mysterious Wolverine in 9 films, Jackman is readying for a big send off in Logan the third solo film centering on the most popular member on the X-Men’s roster.
Part of the Marvel Comics franchise, Wolverine was first introduced to readers in an arc that concluded in The Incredible Hulk #181 (Nov. 1974) in a classic brawl with the green Goliath. Soon Wolverine would return in a very big way when he revived the mutant line-up in Giant Size X-Men #1 which was released in 1975. Since then Wolverine has become a centrifugal part of that group’s changing dynamic, and played an important role in the live-action, 2000 X-Men feature.
Jackman was not the original actor cast in the role. The part had been awarded to Dougray Scott, but due to a scheduling conflict, he was unable to fulfill his commitment to the X-Men project and the “second favorite” Jackman was immediately called to set to join the team. The rest is literally as they say “history”! The role of the amnesiac wild man turned heroic adventurer turned Hugh Jackman into a star, and he’s played the part consistently for the last 17 years.
Even now as box-office records are being set Logan came in #1 in its opening weekend and grossed $85.3 million in its domestic debut. After calculating its $152.5 million from oversees ticket sales, the film took in $237.8 million worldwide, solidifying its audience, even though the superhero flick had earned a R-rating — a dubious distinction for a comic book adaptation, but not unrealistic after Deadpool made a killing in ticket sales as well.
Read the full article in this week’s Issue of Entertainment Weekly written by Kevin P. Sullivan @KPSull available on stands now and digital download.
In 2009 I interviewed Hugh Jackman and the rest of the cast including Ryan Reynolds about the first solo run for his mutant hero in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Check out the video here: