Replacing Hugh Jackman as Wolverine

Recently it was announced that after Wolverine 3, Hugh Jackman will retire from playing the mutant Wolverine after playing him for over 15 years now. Welcome back to VGBM and today we are going to look at some of the possible replacements for the Wolverine role and how it will all fit for the future of the X-Men franchises.

1 - Manu Bennett

First on our list is Manu Bennett an Australian –New Zealand actor. Although his career started all the way back in 1993, he really achieved mainstream success with his portrayal of the Gallic warrior Crixus in Starz’ Spartacus series and Slade Wilson in CW’s Arrow. With these roles we can assume that the physical strain of a Wolverine role will be no trouble for the actor. He also has the build and can mask his Australian accent as he’s shown in 2006’s “The Marine” opposite Jon Cena. The only problem for me , I think, is his age ; at 45 we can hardly imagine him playing this role for over 5 to 10 years and with all that Hugh Jackman did since 2000 ‘s X-Men , this is a big step in competition for this actor.

Manu Bennett as Crixus in Spartacus Series

2 - Jensen Akles

Next is Jensen Akles, and already I find him a great fit for the role. As a science fiction and fantasy fan, I don’t think there’s been a show he starred in that he hasn’t automatically become a fan favorite in, may it be the genetically enhanced Alec in Dark Angel, Jason Teague in Smallville or most notably Dean Winchester in Supernatural. I admire the way that he can both play the tough guy and the protector at the same time something that Wolverine demonstrated around some other characters like Jubilee, Shadowcat. Like Wolverine, Jensen Akles characters always display that X-factor that distinguishes from any other characters. But unfortunately from my point of view Jensen Akles has too much of a excuse the term “Babyface” to play Wolverine and he will need to put a decent amount of muscle mass and facial hair to play the role but other than that he’s a decent choice.

As Dane Winchester in Supernatural 

3 - Tom Hardy

Next is for me the most obvious choice to play Wolverine, the English Actor Tom Hardy, and when you think about it in front of Tom Hardy everybody else is playing keep up. As an actor there’s nothing Tom Hardy cannot do, may it be drama or action. And with all that Hugh Jackman brought to the Wolverine role, Tom Hardy feels like the perfect choice. His performances in movies like Bronson, Warrior and the Dark Knight Rises show that not only he will sacrifice his body but bring a new dimension to a character we already know and love. But unfortunately with the war between DC and Marvel, and his recent casting in the Suicide Squad movie, will also derail his chance to play the mutant.

As Tomy Riordan in Warrior

4- Nobody

X-Men first class

Here is something that I know a lot of people may disagree on, an X-Men movie without Wolverine; well to me it can be option. We have to admit but logically anybody that will replace Hugh Jackman as Wolverine has pretty big shoes to fill. Successfully playing a fan favorite character for 15 years now is not easy. Especially when you look at it the X-men movie followed the same universe for the same amount of time. There were some failures like X-men 3 but they redeemed themselves with the newer version of old characters with Patrick Steward and Ian Mckellen giving way to James Mcavoy and Michael Fassenbender as Professor X and Magneto. But with Wolverine being Immortal and playing an integral part in all of their timeline should they change the actor or maybe should they give another fan favorite mutant a spot in the live action limelight. With fan favorite Gambit soon to make his live action appearance and the story focusing on the original team that Professor X started with Jean, Cyclops and Storm I think it’s time for non comic fans to focus on other heroes in the X-Men roster.

Channing Tatum is choosen to play Gambit

Being a big Wolverine fan and seeing how Hugh Jackman honorably portrayed him, it is sad to hear him stepping down from the role. Although I always like to see Wolverine, I think if they want to replace the actor they should think about rebooting the series in the Marvel Cinematic universe, for which I hope they can land Tom Hardy, but if they choose to continue with the current X-men movie Universe, I think it’s better to give Wolverine a break and let someone else do the heavy lifting.

Thanks again for reading

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