Having played Wolverine for close to two decades and firmly established the adamantium-infused mutant as one of the most iconic characters in 21st Century cinema, following in Hugh Jackman’s footsteps would be a near-impossible task for any actor, so much so that Marvel Studios would be much better off leaving him out of their upcoming reboot entirely.
Only Robert Downey Jr.’s decade-long run as Tony Stark can come close to being mentioned in the same breath as Jackman’s Logan when it comes to the perfect marriage of actor and character in the comic book genre, and if Wolverine ends up playing a major role in the MCU’s X-Men as has been widely rumored, then whoever grows out the sideburns will inevitably find their every movement compared to Jackman’s no matter how good of a performance they turn in.
While the ideal scenario would be to rope the Australian star back in for a fan service cameo, he seems to have put Wolverine in his rear-view mirror for good, even if he laments the fact that he never got the opportunity to share the screen with the Avengers. One of the names most frequently linked with being his replacement is Taron Egerton, and some new fan art from Bobby Art imagines the 30 year-old Kingsman star sporting a more comic book-accurate version of the costume.
Egerton hasn’t been shy in admitting he’d love to join the MCU, and he’s definitely talented enough to do justice to Wolverine, but it just seems far too soon to recast a character that’s been so integral to the continued success of the entire genre. One thing is for sure though, and that’s that when Logan does make his grand re-entrance, the smart money would be on Marvel finally giving the fans what they’ve always wanted and suiting him up in his classic comic book duds.