8. Slaying Jean
At the end of X-Men: The Last Stand, Wolverine is faced with the toughest decision any hero can be presented: whether to kill someone you love in order to save many others. Jean Gray has turned bad, killing everyone and anyone around her. Her powers are far greater than any other mutant at this point, and there’s no way to stop her when she’s attacking. Wolverine braves her TK powers in order to walk towards her in an attempt to calm her down. Despite almost everything he’s wearing being ripped off in the process, he does indeed get her to relax momentarily, but instead of using that time to take her back and try to contain her powers for good, he contains them in the most permanent way. Watching him stab someone he loves makes this one of the franchise’s most emotional scenes, while still being as badass as we expect from Wolverine.
7. Fastball Special
It’s a little known fact, but Hugh Jackman’s 6 foot 2 inch frame is a foot taller than Wolverine’s supposed to be. To the actor’s credit though, he can make even the most ardent X-fan forget that, but logistically that’s probably the reason why it took us three movies to see one of Wolverine’s signature moves, the Fastball Special. Basically, the maneuver involves one the X-Men throwing Wolverine at a target with his claws extended, so it usually falls to one of the super-strong members of the team like Colossus or Beast to do the tossing.
As the latest X-Men recruits fail to cut it in a “Danger Room” simulation, Wolverine orders Colossus to “toss” him, and two seconds later, a giant robot head slams down in front of the rest of the team. Mission: accomplished. Most fans will tell you that X-Men: The Last Stand was a disappointing cinematic experience, but the use of the “Fastball Special” against what turned out to be a mutant-hunting Sentinel was one of the few Easter eggs fans could actually take joy in.