Hugh Jackman will have played Wolverine for over two decades once he makes his return as the character for Deadpool 3.
In that time, audiences have never seen Jackman sport Wolverine’s classic yellow spandex suit from the comics. But Jackman once believed this was a good thing.
Hugh Jackman once saw it as a blessing he didn’t have to wear Wolverine’s yellow spandex
Jackman has been the one and only Wolverine since his debut in the 2000 film X-Men. His performance as the character has gotten almost universal praise from both fans and critics. This wasn’t an easy feat, as there are a few notable differences between Jackman’s Wolverine portrayal and his comic book counterpart.
In the comics and the 1997 X-Men animated series, for instance, Wolverine was known for wearing his classic yellow spandex. At one point, the costume might have been seen as almost as iconic as Spider-Man’s outfit. But Jackman and the rest of his X-Men castmates would end up wearing black leather costumes in the original X-Men trilogy.
Beyond the trilogy of the 2000s, however, Jackman was never seen wearing Wolverine’s classic comic wardrobe. Originally, Jackman thought this was a good thing.
“One of the blessings is that I don’t have to wear Spandex,” Jackman once said according to FemaleFirst. “I think it’s safe to say that me and yellow tights don’t get on!”
Later on, however, Jackman seemed more receptive to wearing Wolverine’s yellow tights. He even came close to doing so in one of the latter films, but plans didn’t pan out.
“There were a couple of things I couldn’t work out how to do. Fans always say, ‘When are we gonna see you in the blue and yellow spandex? We’ve gotta see that shot,’” Jackman once told Collider. “We tried a little bit in The Wolverine, it didn’t happen—on that plane at the end he opens up a box and there’s the suit, I think that ended up getting cut.”
Hugh Jackman once shared the two scenes he wanted to include in his last run as Wolverine
The 2017 film Logan was once believed by many to be Jackman’s last time as Wolverine. So there were a couple of scenes Jackman wanted to include in Logan to create a sort of full-circle moment for his character. The two scenes Jackman mentioned revolved around the character Sabretooth, who was played by Liev Schreiber in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
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Sabretooth and Wolverine were brothers in the Fox studios X-Men films. Because of this, Jackman felt it would’ve been appropriate if his Wolverine had one last encounter with Sabretooth in Logan. One of the ideas thrown around was Sabretooth running a Casino out in Las Vegas. The second idea involved a deep reference from the comics. An enthusiastic Jackman pitched the idea to Logan director James Mangold.
“The other idea that I always loved was the idea in the comics that every year on Logan’s birthday, his brother comes and beats the crap out of him,” Jackman said. “I just thought that was such a cool very fun idea and very in keeping to those characters. His birthday present was just a beating and that’s the only time he sees him.”
But Mangold didn’t think it would fit the story they were telling.
Hugh Jackman’s height was a concern before he was cast as Wolverine
There was another way Jackman’s Wolverine deviated from his comic counterpart aside from wardrobe. Wolverine is typically depicted as a shorter character in the comics, standing around 5 feet, -3 inches. Meanwhile, Jackman was much taller than how Wolverine was drawn as the actor is 6 feet, -2 inches.
It was a concern that film producer Tom DeSanto expressed to Jackman during his Wolverine auditions.
“I did about seven auditions. I remember, finally, I did audition, audition, audition, and then I went to see – they had a production. We were talking, and he said, ‘You know, it’s just one problem. I hope the fans are not going to have a problem because the character is meant to be [5 feet, -5 inches]’. And I said, ‘Tom. Really, it’s going to be absolutely fine. Don’t worry about it, thank you,’” Jackman recently told CNN.
The first X-Men film, however, did make a temporary effort to make Jackman appear shorter.
“I never had my shoes on. Every other actor around me – the rule was, unless they were a kid, they had to be taller than me…I was literally crouching like that. Shoes off. People were on planks and boxes all around me. So, we went to a great effort. And I think after a while they just gave up on that,” he said.
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