Kevin Feige learnt the biggest lesson of his career by casting Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
While today nobody can imagine Wolverine being played by anyone other than Hugh Jackman, there was a time when doubts floated when Jackman was being considered for the role. Kevin Feige moved forward with Jackman as Wolverine and made history.
Highlights —
- Fans protested Hugh Jackman’s casting in ‘X-Men’
- Kevin Feige stuck to Hugh Jackman when the world was against him
- Hugh Jackman loves American audience when it comes to film watching
Fans protested Hugh Jackman’s casting in ‘X-Men’
Jackman made a thundering debut as Logan/Wolverine in ‘X-Men’ in the 2000 movie. The movie became a blockbuster and is often credited for unleashing the modern era of superhero comic book films. This wasn’t the emotion when the news of Jackman being cast as Wolverine hit the headlines. In fact, as noted in Abrams book “The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe”, a huge section of fans were against the casting because of Jackman being taller and leaner than the typical comic book depictions of Wolverine.
Kevin Feige stuck to Hugh Jackman when the world was against him
Kevin Feige was in a fix but he didn’t listen to anyone and forged ahead believing in Jackman. For Feige, even though Jackman didn’t resemble the comic book’s Logan physically, he was similar to him in spirit. This was the sole reason he thought of continuing with him thinking that fans will see what he is seeing in him.
The rest is history. ‘X-Men’ went on to become a huge hit among the audiences and critics. Feige learnt his lesson that even if the actor did not match the physical look, he must align with the spirit of the character. Wolverine is still one of Hugh Jackman’s best works. The movie launched a franchise wherein Jackman went on to play Wolverine in multiple sequels and spin-offs. His accolades for the work reached the pinnacle when the character Logan was nominated for Oscars in 2017.
Hugh Jackman loves American audience when it comes to film watching
Recently, Jackman revealed that he watched X-Men with a packed up audience after sneaking into a Friday night screening in Times Square. Jackman confessed, “So I just walked in, sat up in the back, I watched the movie, and [it was like] woah”. He said that this was a lifetime experience for him as they don’t watch films like that in Australia. The audience in Australia is much quieter and docile than in the US.
Fans should certainly thank Feige for not paying attention to them because if he had done that, we wouldn’t have seen a handsome version of Wolverine on screen.
Let us know if you believe that Hugh Jackman matches the spirit of Wolverine in the comments box below.
