The Boys are almost back in town on Amazon Prime Video, but star Karl Urban has recently been addressing fan casting that has pitched him to have a role in another comic book franchise, namely the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At the moment there is one upcoming Marvel role that is being speculated about constantly and that is Wolverine. With Hugh Jackman having hung up his claws as the X-Men character, fans have their own ideas of who they would like to see take of the role that has left some very big boots to fill. For some fans, Urban could be the one with the huge feet.
Hugh Jackman played the character of Wolverine for 17 years, from the first X-Men movie in 2000 through to Logan in 2017, a darker and more adult movie than the X-Men series that was meant to be a send-off for the beloved character. However, while Jackman’s Wolverine is gone, the MCU’s Wolverine, and the rest of the X-Men, is yet to make his screen debut, which was only made possible from Disney’s merger with 20th Century Fox.
While Patrick Stewart briefly reprised his role as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Jackman’s days as Wolverine are certainly behind him, and while names like Tom Hardy, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt have all been mentioned at one time or another, Karl Urban’s name has also found its way into the mix. He recently addressed this with The Guardian, saying:
“Oh really? It’s flattering, but you have to rationally think about it. I’m what, two years younger than Hugh Jackman? I mean, if I was a studio looking to cast someone as Wolverine, I’d pick someone I’ll get three films out of. You’re not going to get three films out of Karl Urban unless you want a 65-year-old Wolverine.”
Who Will Play Wolverine in The MCU?
The casting of Wolverine is probably, as Urban alluded to, going to involve a younger actor who can grow with the role over the next ten years, similar to how many of the original Marvel stars have done. It wouldn’t really pay to have an older Wolverine already in the MCU when the X-Men finally arrive, or it is going to limit the length of the time that actor could play the role. Although fan castings have occasionally been accurate, for Wolverine it seems more likely that the actual actor to take on the role will be someone who catches everyone off guard.
For now, there is no real idea when or how the X-Men will be introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but no one really expects to see them getting their own movie in the next couple of years. Kevin Feige and his team have recently been plotting out the next decade of Marvel storytelling, and although the X-Men will figure in that somewhere, it is going to be a long road before we get there. That could well be another reason why someone like Karl Urban would be really out of the picture to take on the role.