Deadpool & Wolverine gave fans the much-needed emotional moment when it brought back Dafne Keen to explore the father-daughter relationship from Logan. Keen’s appearance in Ryan Reynolds’ third Deadpool film has opened up possibilities for her future in the MCU. The Acolyte actress shared that she would kill to come back to Marvel and play Laura/X-23.
Keen’s character played the biological daughter of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in James Mangold’s Logan. Fans still remember the heart-wrenching climax of the film where Logan sacrificed himself to protect Laura and the other kids. Despite fans wanting her back in the movies, they don’t want her to take on the Wolverine mantle.
Dafne Keen Expresses Her Interest In Reprising X-23 In Future MCU Films
Fans were elated to see Dafne Keen‘s Laura reuniting with Hugh Jackman‘s Logan in Deadpool & Wolverine. Although this Wolverine variant was not her biological father, fans see the two characters forming a father-daughter bond. Keen’s appearance in the final scene of the film also meant that she could have a larger role in the MCU.
Some fans are speculating that she would take over as the Wolverine from Jackman’s character eventually. When Keen appeared for an interview with Phase Zero, she was asked about her potential return to the MCU, especially in the films, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Keen has answered these questions numerous times and she repeated the same here.
Keen shared that she is even willing to pay Marvel to bring her back as Laura. She shared that playing the character has been one of her biggest honors and she would always love to revisit the fun and cool character. She shared that the role had so much more to explore in terms of her psychological complexity and her fight sequences. Keen shared with Phase Zero:
I would love to come back. Like I’ve said this before. I would pay them to come back. Playing Laura has been the biggest honor of my life. She’s such a fun character. To me, we’ve only scratched the surface. She’s such a psychologically complex character and she’s so cool. From a fans’ standpoint, there’s so much to do with the fights. Basically summarizing… I would kill to come back.
Keen had been hoping to return to her role ever since Logan. Her hopes were crushed when Disney bought 20th Century Fox. When Deadpool & Wolverine was announced, she had a tiny bit of hope that she could reprise X-23. She revealed that her agent negotiated with the makers in secret for a month before she landed the role (via EW).
Fans Don’t Want Dafne Keen As Wolverine, Instead Suggests Another Path For Her Character
Some fans have made it clear that they don’t want Dafne Keen to take on the Wolverine mantle in the upcoming films. As the Phase Zero interviewer explains in his tweet, mass audiences have unanimously fallen in love with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Keen as X-23. The fans want her to remain that way when she appears in her future MCU projects, instead of replacing the Wolverine.
One fan comment rightly pointed out that Keen’s Laura is her own character in the movies. By making her a “second fiddle” to the already existing Wolverine, the MCU would possibly ruin X-23’s arc. Fans also mentioned that making her take the Wolverine mantle meant rewriting the lore, which wouldn’t work with the fandom. Some of the fan reactions read:
This feels like classic MCU hype. Characters mass audiences unanimously fell in love with hit the screen and it seems we all now hope to see them again.
— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) August 6, 2024
Bring them all back for Avengers: Secret Wars!! https://t.co/be5amt0Y9t
Move forward with developing X-23, sure. But trying to change, arguably one of the most popular characters in all comic book history to be something else is a bad move. Wait, are you just trolling?
— Super Talk Podcast (@SuperTalkPod) August 4, 2024
Counter campaign let her remain X-23 😌👍
— Brotha K (@KessenaO) August 5, 2024
That’s a horrible idea. She’s already her own character. Don’t make her play second fiddle to an existing character.
— Twinwar (@Twinwar) August 5, 2024
Spoiler alert, she is X-23. Don't try to rewrite something. You are not qualified.
— Melissa Kampers (@MelissaKampers) August 5, 2024
Earlier, Keen shared with EW that she was doubtful whether she could pull off X-23 with the same feral intensity that she did as an 11-year-old kid. When the film started rolling, the His Dark Materials star felt like “we were back doing Logan.” She added, “It was like eight years hadn’t passed.”
Deadpool & Wolverine is currently running in theaters. Logan is now available for streaming on Disney+.
