Henry Cavill’s appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine was brilliant, but Marvel Studios missed an opportunity to make this sequence even better and solve a major Wolverine casting issue in the MCU. Despite hanging up the claws and retiring from his iconic role after 2017’s Logan, Hugh Jackman returned as James “Logan” Howlett, a.k.a. Wolverine, in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. His inclusion alongside Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth helped the Phase 5 movie become one of Marvel Studios’ most successful installments, but also created some problems.

Deadpool & Wolverine established 20th Century Fox’s X-Men universe as an alternate reality in the MCU’s multiverse, dubbed Earth-10005, which should one day allow its titular antiheroes to join the MCU’s main continuity. Deadpool & Wolverine took advantage of Marvel’s recent multiversal exploration by introducing many variants of its eponymous heroes, with Wolverine’s variants including Old Man Logan, Patch, a Wolverine of comic-accurate height and more. However, one of these variants demonstrated how the others should have been introduced, and Marvel really missed an opportunity by avoiding this casting choice.

Hugh Jackman Played 7 Wolverine Variants In Deadpool & Wolverine

Only One Wolverine Variant Was Played By Someone Other Than Hugh Jackman

Even though some of Deadpool & Wolverine was set in Earth-10005, Hugh Jackman did not reprise his role of that universe’s Wolverine, who met his demise at the hands of X-24 in Logan. Instead, Jackman returned primarily as the “Worst Wolverine”, a version who did nothing to stop his X-Men family from being massacred before going on a killing spree of humans and mutants alike, and Jackman also appeared as a number of Wolverine’s other variants. In fact, Hugh Jackman played seven different versions of Wolverine – all but one.

Wolverine Variant
Actor
Comic Debut

Worst Wolverine
Hugh Jackman
N/A

Short Wolverine
Hugh Jackman
The Incredible Hulk #180

Age of Apocalypse Wolverine
Hugh Jackman
Age of Apocalypse

Patch
Hugh Jackman
Marvel Comics Presents #10

Cavillrine
Henry Cavill
N/A

Old Man Logan
Hugh Jackman
Wolverine (Vol. 3) #66

Crucified Wolverine
Hugh Jackman
Uncanny X-Men #251

Brown Suit Wolverine
Hugh Jackman
The Incredible Hulk #340

The one variant of Wolverine that Hugh Jackman didn’t play in Deadpool & Wolverine was instead played by former Superman actor Henry Cavill. This was a surprising cameo appearance from the Man of Steel, The Witcher and Argylle actor, as he became only the third actor to play Wolverine in live-action, behind Hugh Jackman and Troye Sivan from the opening of 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The fact that Marvel cast Hugh Jackman as most of Wolverine’s variants, however, might have backed the studio into a corner when considering the mutant’s future in the MCU.

More Actors Could Have Easily Mirrored Henry Cavill’s Cameo In Deadpool & Wolverine

Wolverine’s Variants Didn’t Need To Be Played By Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman and Wolverine are synonymous, and Jackman has become beloved in the role over the last 25 years. However, it was refreshing and enticing to also see Henry Cavill briefly flex his Wolverine muscles, so it’s a shame that Marvel Studios didn’t take the opportunity to introduce more differently-looking variants of Wolverine in this montage inDeadpool & Wolverine. More new actors could have sported the adamantium claws to portray Wolverine’s variants, just as several new MCU stars played variants of Deadpool in the Deadpool Corps.

It’s already been established that, while some variants across the MCU’s multiverse look identical to their Earth-616 counterparts, many are also wildly different. Benedict Cumberbatch might have played several Doctor Strange variants in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but Spider-Man: No Way Home saw three vastly different Spider-Men team up. It would have been great to see new actors assume the role of Wolverine, even if only for brief cameo appearances similarly to Henry Cavill, and this could have paid off some of the best Wolverine fan-casts.

Who Could Have Played Wolverine Variants Alongside Hugh Jackman & Henry Cavill?

Marvel Could Have Paid Off Some Of The Best Wolverine Fan-Casts

Even though Hugh Jackman has now reprised the role of Wolverine, it’s still expected that Marvel Studios will recast the mutant for the MCU’s upcoming X-Men reboot. This expectation has prompted many fan-casts to emerge, with some of cinema’s biggest names, as well as some surprising additions, being suggested to be perfect for the role of Wolverine, and these fan-casts could have been tested in Deadpool & Wolverine. Most notably, it was heavily theorized that Daniel Radcliffe would play Patch, while many wanted to see Tom Hardy portray Wolverine, too.

Hugh Jackman himself once noted that he’d want Tom Hardy to take over as Wolverine after his retirement, so Deadpool & Wolverine missed a huge chance to show what the Venom star would look like as the clawed X-Men hero. Other stars, including Taron Egerton, Keanu Reeves, Karl Urban, Andrew Lincoln and more, would also have been great to see as Wolverine variants. By avoiding these casting opportunities, Marvel Studios might have made the actual job of recasting Wolverine in the MCU much harder.

Marvel Has Made It Harder To Recast Hugh Jackman As Wolverine In The MCU

Hugh Jackman Probably Won’t Play The MCU’s Official Wolverine

Recent speculation has suggested that Hugh Jackman will be returning as Wolverine for an indefinite number of years, though the actor has previously stated that it’s unlikely he’ll play the character for much longer, if ever again. It takes a huge amount of work to become Wolverine and, at 56 years old, Hugh Jackman may simply be becoming too old to play an action-based and physically-impeccable hero. Deadpool & Wolverine had the chance to introduce the MCU’s new Wolverine, but, instead, Marvel just made recasting Hugh Jackman even harder.

Hugh Jackman first appeared as Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men, and has now played the iconic Marvel hero in 11 feature films, including X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Logan, Deadpool 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Deadpool & Wolverine suggested that most variants of Wolverine look exactly like Hugh Jackman, which leaves a slim margin that the official Wolverine of the MCU looks like someone else. While, before, Hugh Jackman had only played one version of Wolverine, he’s now suited up as eight different variants across a variety of Marvel Comics’ more iconic storylines. This will make it significantly harder for a new actor to fill Hugh Jackman’s shoes, and may even scare off potential stars who Marvel approaches, so only time will tell what the future holds for Wolverine in the MCU.