It is confirmed that Marvel Studios is thinking about a new actor to play Wolverine, as longtime X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner offers an update, which also included mention of New Mutants, Gambit and more.
Regarding Wolverine, Lauren Shuler Donner attended the recent Television Critics Association press tour where IGN was on hand and offers Donner also confirmed that Marvel has started thinking about looking for a new Wolverine:
“Yes, because Hugh, just the physicality of it all, just to bulk up, this man worked so hard to bulk up… his natural state, they used to call him ‘worm’ when he was a kid, his natural state is a very skinny guy. And once you reach a certain age, the body just won’t go anymore, and I think he was wise to say, ‘I’m at that point, I can’t do it.’ That doesn’t mean he can’t come back as older Wolverine – you never know. Future Wolverine, you never know. I don’t know what Kevin’s thinking, honestly. I don’t even think Kevin knows yet, I think Kevin’s still dealing with this wealth of characters and trying to make sense of it all.”
December of 2017 also saw it reported that Marvel Studios was excited to recast Wolverine and excited to bring the character into the MCU fold. At the same time, it was also said that additional movies such as New Mutants and Gambit might not happen and also that the X-Men actors and characters would get rebooted because Disney wouldn’t want to pay the actors their huge and expensive contracts (Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique or Michael Fassbender as Magneto).
Disney CEO Bob Iger has also confirmed the X-Men will come under Kevin Feige at Marvel Studios.
“I think it only makes sense,” Iger said. I want to be careful here because of what’s been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn’t be two Marvels.”
There haven’t been any names rumored for the new Wolverine as of yet, as the Disney-Fox deal is expected to close within the next few months, but names mentioned by fans include Scott Eastwood and even Keanu Reeves. Any favorites? I always liked Tom Hardy as a potential Wolverine, but Hardy is now playing the anti-hero Venom in Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff universe.
