The Marvel Cinematic Universe will introduce, reintroduce (and in one case reintroduce) a whole phase of new characters to its roster over the next few years. Many of these newcomers are fan favorites, sparking rampant casting debate, storyline possibilities, and general outrage.
Among the most hotly debated are the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and a crabby adamantium-clawed mutant, in particular, Wolverine. The character was played to perfection on the Fox side of Marvel by Hugh Jackman for 17 years, culminating in 2017’s best Wolverine outing. logan.
With the rights to the Fox properties finally squabbled back to the MCU, news of Wolverine’s first appearance is eagerly awaited. We recently got an IV and/or a little info She-Hulk episode, in which extremely astute fans caught a sub-headline in a news flash scene of the show describing a man with metal claws who had been caught in a bar fight.
A nice teaser for Logan’s entry into the MCU, but what about the real thing? How will Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel minds officially grace us with Wolverine’s appearance? Here are some of the best ways the Marvel Cinematic Universe can introduce us to their new Wolverine.
Facing the Hulk
Comic book fans first met Wolverine in 1974 and appeared as an antagonist on the pages of Incredible Hulk #181. Wolverine roams the wilderness in search of the berserker green beast and battles both the Hulk and the creature Wendigo.
This would be a purist first appearance for Wolverine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we already have a great Hulk with Mark Ruffalo. The story should stretch the comic’s premise to two hours, which would be a pretty thin and disappointing film. Bigger themes should be mixed in, like Wolverine’s indoctrination into the Weapon X program and his date with the adamantium pumps. His training in the mind-blowing world of Weapon X would also make for a great plot device, which could then introduce nemesis Sabretooth, allies like Maverick, and wildcards like Deadpool.
The story can also break free from the comics and allow Wolverine and Hulk to become full allies against a greater evil. It wouldn’t be a total blasphemy as it could be a nod to their brief truce in the pages of #181. This plot has produced excellent results in the animated feature Hulk vs., since that story had both Banner and Hulk, it would be cool to see what Bruce was up to in the pre-Smart Hulk blip days. We would see him wandering through the woods in search of a purpose and a reason to carry on in the wake of so much death and chaos at the hand(s) of Thanos, only to encounter a deadly little man with claws .
Appear as an X-Men Out of the Gate
In Wolverine’s Fox Journey, we first saw him as a lone drifter, living out of a primitive RV with a propane stove and its drawers hanging by a cord. A brief but fierce brawl with Sabretooth later, he’s at Xavier’s mansion to get the tour and elevator speech of Chuck’s mutant/human harmony dream. Something similar to this, but modified, would be a great introduction to Logan; he’s just already on the X-Men.
A bold and unexpected take on Spider-Man in the service of the MCU and Sony dropped Peter Parker just into the mix, post-spider bite and ready to go. Why not the same for Wolverine? We meet the X-Men in their verse of the merger reboot and Logan is already part of the team. That would certainly be the path of least resistance, but ultimately a little on the lazy side, but an introduction to the post-Jackman Wolverine will be a welcome one.
A solo Wolverine movie
The best way to introduce Wolverine would be the same as his preferred status; alone. A Wolverine solo movie would be the perfect way to indoctrinate mutants into the MCU. It would also be a nice relaxation in this world, with only a few characters to deal with instead of the whole ranks of Xavier’s school.
We could see the loner Wolverine trudging through life, trying to summarize his past. We already saw this via the Fox X-Menverse, but it was mixed with a whole ensemble of mutants and their respective stories. A 100 percent, pure focus on Logan and his story would be the ideal way to meet the character and the world of mutants in general. It could be a street-level borderline movie, with a Weapon X based plot rather than the usual world that hangs in the balance story we get from Marvel. Only Wolverine and his worst enemies go for the personal victory, not the universal one.
But as we get to know Wolverine, Marvel knows this is a big one that they need to get just right. Whether he’s playing with the Hulk, fighting for humanity with the X-Men, or just minding his business until he’s crossed over, we can’t wait to meet the MCU Wolverine.