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This article is the best at what it does, but what it does is spoil Deadpool & Wolverine.
When it comes to the big screen, there’s only one Wolverine and his name is Hugh Jackman. After Dougray Scott stuck shooting Mission: Impossible II for longer than anticipated and had to drop out of playing Logan in 2000’s X-Men, Jackman has owned the part. Not even a noble and beloved death in Logan can put a stop to Jackman’s reign as cinema’s premiere Canucklehead, as he dons the goofy mask and yellow duds in full for Deadpool & Wolverine.
But while Deadpool & Wolverine does further delay the inevitable recasting of Logan for the MCU, it also gives viewers a look at different types of Wolverine. Sure, these are all still Hugh Jackman—save, of course, for the one played by Henry Cavill—but at least there’s some more flavor. With that flavor, however, comes some questions, as these variations all come from deep comic book lore. So for anyone who wants to know as much about the alternative Wolverines as Deadpool knows, read on!
Wolvie-Verse Variants Explained!
The most obvious of the bunch is an old codger who Deadpool finds sitting on the porch. With his ragged poncho, brown hat, and weathered face, this Wolverine resembles Clint Eastwood more than he does the yellow-and-blue clad mutant we know and love. That’s because this is the original Old Man Logan. Where the film adaptation Logan just aged up Jackman a bit, the comics by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven drew inspiration from later Eastwood Westerns such as Unforgiven and Pale Rider, represented by the cowboy look in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Another Wolverine appears against a graffiti-covered wall, decked in a black suit with red highlights. Most notably, this version has only one hand, with a metal stub at the end of the other arm. Technically, that’s not Wolverine at all—he’s Weapon X, the identity that Logan adopts in the Age of Apocalypse universe. Introduced in a Marvel Comics crossover from 1995, the Age of Apocalypse came about when Charles Xavier’s son Legion accidentally kills his father before the formation of the X-Men, creating an alternate reality ruled by Apocalypse.
A differnt Wolvie appears in a fancy white suit with a patch over his eye, playing cards with other figures of ill-repute. By design he looks a bit like Adolfo Celi’s Largo in the classic Bond movie Thunderball (1965), but as Deadpool rightly notes, this version of Logan is called “Patch.” In the comics, Patch isn’t from an alternate reality; he’s an alias that Wolverine sometimes takes on when hiding out in Madripoor, a fictional East Asian country that has made one MCU appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
As much as Deadpool boasts his comic knowledge in these sequences, he does get one wrong when he arrives in snowy wilderness to find Wolverine unmasked yet wearing a brown and yellow costume. Deadpool attributes the look to John Byrne, the artist and co-writer who made some of the best X-Men comics, alongside Chris Claremont. But when Deadpool realizes that Logan’s about to throw down with the Hulk, Wolvie pops his claws, showing a reflection of the unjolly Jade Giant across the adamantium. That shot references the cover of 1987’s Incredible Hulk #340, drawn not by Byrne, but by Todd McFarlane.
Speaking of iconic covers, Deadpool arrives in a foggy purple world and finds Wolverine nailed to an X-shaped cross above a pile of skulls. That shot recreates (via ugly digital effects) Marc Silvestri’s cover to Uncanny X-Men #251 from 1989, in which Donald Pierce and the Reavers (the bad guys in Logan) capture Wolverine and put him on that X in the Australian sun.
At this point, a persnickety person might point out that all of these comic book nods feature Hugh Jackman. Jackman is tall, Australian, mostly hairless, and a far cry from the short, hairy, Canadian that is the comic book accurate Wolverine. Well, don’t fear, because that’s just what Deadpool finds when he visits yet another universe!
Deadpool tells this Wolverine about his plight, and for once a new Logan answers in the affirmative, hopping off the stool and ready for action. In doing so, the Wolverine reveals that he’s quite hairy and quite short (looking more like Puck from Alpha Flight than Wolverine’s canonical 5’3”, but still). Like so many shallow people, Deadpool can’t get over the height thing and leaves comics accurate Wolvie behind. His loss. (Why yes, this article i’s written by a very short man. How could you tell?)
As much fun as these deep comic book dives certainly are, it would be nice if we could move on from Jackman’s take and see another actor’s interpretation make it to screen. Because if these cameos prove anything, it’s that there’s a lot more to Wolverine than even an actor as talented as Jackman has explored. Although seeing Cavill show up in a gag at the DC franchise’s expense was a pretty good start…
All these Wolverines can be seen in Deadpool & Wolverine, now playing in theaters.
The post Deadpool & Wolverine: All the Logan Variants Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.
