Hugh Jackman should hand the Wolverine torch over to someone new
Many actors have roles that define their careers. So far, Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter is still his most recognisable work; Roger Moore will always be known as James Bond and Christopher Reeve just is Superman. Will Hugh Jackman always ben known as Wolverine?
Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in Days of Future Past
He certainly will be if talk of another film turns out to be true. Often maligned, Jackman’s career has been of the illustrious sort. He’s appeared in taut thrillers, elaborate musicals and epic battles. But his seminal career role is that of Wolverine, and subsequent turns in the X-Men movies that included the angry superhero.
Read our review for The Wolverine
The Australian has previously hinted that his next incarnation as Wolverine would be his last. "Great parts always outgrow the actors that play them,” he said. “If you forget that, it's at your own peril" (The Hollywood Reporter). And on the new X-Men movie: "They are working on it now, and it would have to be very compelling for me to do it again. I've been doing it for 10 years."
It’s easy to see why the studio want Jackman as Wolverine again: The Wolverine was a quiet box office success, grabbing $413m, which made it the second best X-Men film – in terms of financial performance – in the history of the franchise.
Wolverine in Days of Future Past
Jackman would be wise to heed his own words of caution. At 45, he could be entering the peak of his career, but another role as Wolverine could see his mediocre turn as the human mutant remembered forever.
Check out pictures from X-Men: Days of Future Past
Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. disagrees, and would love to see another Wolverine movie: “I think Mangold did a bang up job on his first superhero film,” he said. When I met him at Comic-Con San Diego, he said he tried to veer from the usual superhero formula – if hero doesn’t succeed, world is doomed – and instead make it a character-driven storyline.”
Jackman is due to appear again in X-Men: Days of Future Past; his character is charged with uniting superheroes from the present day and the past to stop a war before it begins. The trailer was released recently, featuring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence alongside Halle Berry, Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen.
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