There are almost no actors on this Earth who could ever replace Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies. Portraying the role of Logan, Jackman found worldwide fame and love with the X-Men franchise. However, the road to success wasn’t always smooth.
When he was initially cast in the role of Wolverine, director Bryan Singer claimed that Jackman was “too nice” for Wolverine. As time continued, it was revealed that Singer actually yelled at Hugh Jackman in order to bring some meanness about him while shooting the X-Men movies!
Bryan Singer Feared Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Was Too Soft!
No. That’s not what we are saying but director Bryan Singer and screenwriter David Hayter felt during the initial days that Jackman was too soft as Wolverine. With the adamantium-claw-wielding mutant having an animal-like ruthlessness, Hugh Jackman was the complete opposite of that.
In an interview, screenwriter David Hayter talked about the initial days of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Talking about the soft-spoken nature of Jackman and how he had been raised to always be respectful, Hayter revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he thought that this wasn’t going to work with Hugh Jackman!
“And actually I said to Bryan one day, ‘We’re going to have the nicest Wolverine in film history.’ And it was a bit of a concern. Hugh is just a love. He is so sweet,”
David Hayter further continued,
“Bryan, he yelled at Hugh one day and was like, ‘You need to be edgier. You need to be meaner, you need to be tougher. You need to go home and get into a fight with your wife. Have a screaming match with your wife!’ And Hugh said, ‘Bryan, if I went home and got in a fight like that with Deb, I’d come in crying!’ We were like, ‘Oh no, we’re all dead,’”
Well, what was supposed to be an intervention for Hugh Jackman to stop being nice actually turned out to be the opposite. With Bryan Singer worried that the worst part about Wolverine would be his softness, Jackman adjusted his level of emotions but also managed to turn it around.
Hugh Jackman Brought Humanity To The Character of Wolverine
With Singer fearing the softness of Wolverine, he and Hayter wrote the character as very mean, edgy, and overall, a tough guy. However, as the interview continued, screenwriter David Hayter revealed that Jackman’s softness brought humanity to the character of Wolverine!
“We wrote him very tough. Very edgy, and then Hugh brought his humanity to it. In the end, there’s a core of steel there he brought to it that made it into a full person. Wolverine could be a caricature. He could be a growling a**hole, really. I think it was the balance,”
It has been years since Jackman was last seen in the role of Wolverine in the theaters. With the release of the upcoming MCU film Deadpool & Wolverine, fans will be able to relive the glory days of Logan.
Starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the lead roles, Deadpool & Wolverine is set for a release date of 26 July 2024 in theaters across the U.S.
