Hugh Jackman might be the perfect Wolverine and one of the most iconic portrayals of a Marvel superhero in history, but fans have always lamented the fact that he never got to don the classic pointy-eared yellow and black (or sometimes brown) costume on the big screen. We kept hoping it would turn up, but 2017’s Logan went and killed off the character without him ever wearing it.
As part of a quarantine watch party of Logan, director James Mangold explained his thinking behind why it never happened on Twitter. In response to being asked if there was a sneaky behind-the-scenes pic he might be able to share of Jackman wearing the suit, the filmmaker clarified that the actor never once put it on.
“Sorry. He never put it on,” Mangold admitted, before explaining why. “We never even made a version of the outfit. Everything about his character as I understand it, would keep him from donning a self promoting “uniform”. I’m sure the next incarnation of the Wolverine will go there.”
Sorry. He never put it on. We never even made a version of the outfit. Everything about his character as I understand it, would keep him from donning a self promoting "uniform". I'm sure the next incarnation of the Wolverine will go there. https://t.co/FU7FrYQS6S
— Mangold (@mang0ld) May 28, 2020
You can’t fault Mangold’s reasoning. It might be comic-accurate, but the cinematic version of Wolverine is not the sort of guy to wear a colorful costume – he even mocks the X-Men’s black leather outfits in his first appearance. And, to be fair, Mangold actually came closer to giving us the uniform than any other X-Men filmmaker. As the quoted tweet above reminds us, there’s a deleted scene from The Wolverine where the hero is presented with it in a briefcase. Secondly, Logan shows the X-Men as having merchandise, so we see the classic Wolverine in comic book and action figure form.
And, like Mangold says, it’s fully expected that the next Wolverine will wear the suit instead. Now that Marvel Studios has the rights to the X-Men, it seems certain that they’ll give the fans what they want and have him suit up. After all, having a more authentic-looking Wolverine should help take the edge off replacing Hugh Jackman.