Wolverine in Other Media - Films

Films

Many actors were considered for playing the part of Wolverine in a film adaptation of X-Men. At one point in the 1990s, Glenn Danzig was approached to play Wolverine in ad hoc committee X-Men film, because he bore a slight resemblance to the character, as well as being the same height as Wolverine, and very muscular. However, he had to decline, because the shooting for the film would have forced him to put a halt to touring with his band for nine months.

Bryan Singer, the director of the first two X-Men movies, spoke to a number of actors about the role. He says Russell Crowe was too exhausted after playing a similar role in Gladiator; that the role didn't appeal to Edward Norton (Norton was also considered for fellow Marvel villain the Green Goblin in Spider-Man which he didn't play and would later be cast as fellow Marvel hero Hulk for the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk); Fox themselves ruled out Mel Gibson as being too expensive. In 1999, SFX magazine spoke to Keanu Reeves, who told the publication he didn't feel he was right for the role.

Eventually, Dougray Scott was cast as Wolverine, but shooting on Mission: Impossible II overran. Hugh Jackman became his replacement, and went on to play Wolverine in all the X-Men films: X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand. When it was first announced, it was considered a highly controversial move, as Hugh Jackman was not only known solely for his musical theater career, but the fact that he was simply too tall for the role (Jackman being 6'3", the comic-book version of Wolverine being approximately 5'3"). Despite these divergences though, Jackman's actual performance was incredibly well-received, becoming one of highlights of the series and launching his career into super-stardom. He played this role again for a prequel film revealing more on Wolverine's origins titled X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He also has a brief cameo in X-Men: First Class.