Once the first X-Men movie in the Fox universe aired in 2000, it was obvious that Hugh Jackman playing the role of Logan/Wolverine was a perfect fit. Not only did audiences adore him, but he seemed born to play the character. He may have been a bit too tall to play the 5’2” Wolverine, but he made up for his extra height with some extra charisma, as well.
The problem, unfortunately, was that there are plenty of other X-Men characters. Wolverine’s success drove the franchise to focus almost exclusively on him. Tragically, though Wolverine is a beloved fan favorite, he ended up overstaying his welcome in the Fox X-Men movies.
10 Made Jean’s Death About Himself
After X-Men made it obvious that Wolverine was going to stick around for the long haul, X2: X-Men United decided to tie his story in more directly with the main plotline. Wolverine’s mysterious origins take center stage here as he rallies against Stryker in a quest to uncover the truth about his own past.
However, this means that the second movie in the X-Men franchise heavily focuses on Wolverine specifically. In addition, despite the fact that Jean Grey, a beloved member of the team, dies, Wolverine manages to make it about his loss specifically. Jean has been a member of the X-Family for years, and Scott was in an actual relationship with her. This death should not be about Wolverine.
9 Put Everyone At Risk Because Of His Feelings For Jean
After Wolverine finds out that Jean Grey is still alive in X-Men: The Last Stand, he is understandably concerned. However, he is also so happy to get her back that he is willing to stand by her and overlook a lot of red flags. He also willingly goes to her when she summons him mentally using her powers.
He does this despite the fact that this, again, is an obvious red flag and something he should not be doing. Just because he is in love with Jean, he allows her to cause untold damage. In the end, when he has to kill her, her death is, again, more about the impact it has on him specifically than the fact that she’s actually dying.
8 The Entire Fourth X-Men Movie Was A Wasted On A Subpar Wolverine Origin Story
After a good movie followed by a great one, the third entry in the X-Men cinematic universe was seen as a massive disappointment. At this point, the franchise decided to pivot slightly and try something new. The fourth entry into the X-Men franchise over at Fox was a prequel. In fact, the entire film is a Wolverine origin story.
With so many different possible routes to take with the many X-Men characters, it is obvious that Wolverine has been given far too much screen time. He is interesting, but having an entire movie dedicated to him after three films that already heavily focused on him was too much.
7 Made An Unnecessary Cameo Just To Reject Charles & Erik
When the opportunity came for other characters in the Fox X-Men franchise to get their own origin stories, it seemed that an X-Men movie without Wolverine might finally happen. X-Men: First Class was an origin story about Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, how they met, and what ultimately drove them apart.
Unfortunately, these movies were incapable of not including Wolverine in some way, shape, or form. While Charles and Erik are recruiting mutants to their fledgling X-Men team, they encounter Wolverine in a bar, who cusses at them and blows them off, driving them away instantly in a needlessly distracting stunt cameo.
6 Rather Than Give Someone Else A Solo Movie, Wolverine Got A Second One
As if giving Wolverine X-Men Origins: Wolverine was not enough, Wolverine got his own entire trilogy within this franchise. The second movie in this trilogy— and the sixth in the franchise— was The Wolverine. In only six total movies, two of them were completely dedicated to Wolverine, with three others revolving heavily around him.
Again, the story is not uninteresting, but it was high time to give somebody else screen time, and the series failed to do it. Giving Wolverine a second solo outing before anyone else even got a first was unfair to the many other great X-Men characters.
5 X-Men: Days Of Future Past Used Wolverine Instead Of Shadowcat
The old timeline and the new blended together in the film X-Men: Days of Future Past. This film intended to clean up the X-Men movie universe and write it all together into one existing storyline where everything was fixed. This film chose to adapt the acclaimed comic book storyline of the same name.
In The Uncanny X-Men, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin gave fans a story where Shadowcat went back in time and prevented their dystopian future. Rather than giving this storyline to Elliot Page, who was already playing Shadowcat, the story was changed so Wolverine got sent into the past instead. The entire plot was altered exclusively to give Wolverine even more screen time, which he did not need at that point.
4 Made A Random Appearance As A Deux Ex Machina Of Sorts
Fans got a fair way in to the film X-Men: Apocalypse before Wolverine inevitably appeared. It seemed that this would be the first movie not to feature him, but he did show up at one point. When the existing X-Men are trying to escape from the Weapon X facility Stryker has put them in, suspecting them of being involved in En Sabah Nur’s attack, Logan, of course, is there.
Jean Grey is the one who finds him, and she releases him, the team using him as a weapon to escape the soldiers in the facility. Logan himself also escapes, running out of the movie and plot as if he had never been there, which he may as well not have been.
3 His Movie Basically Ended The Entire Fox X-Men Franchise
While it was perhaps fitting that a franchise that focused entirely too much on one character ended the franchise with a movie about that character, it was still relatively frustrating. The third— and final— movie in the Wolverine trilogy was Logan.
Not only did this movie end Wolverine’s story, it effectively ended Fox’s X-Men universe as fans knew it. Disney is now holding onto the rights to these characters, and Evan Peters’ Quicksilver is already over on WandaVision. It is unfortunate the movie was so focused on Logan; however, it is an excellent movie, and perhaps makes up for the sins of its predecessors to a degree.
2 Cannot Stop Appearing In Cameos
Even when Wolverine isn’t appearing directly in X-Men movies, Fox always makes sure he has some sort of cameo appearance. In Deadpool, his face is used, though it is technically just Hugh Jackman the actor and not specifically Wolverine.
In Deadpool 2, archival footage of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is used in the film. These funny moments and subtle digs from Ryan Reynolds, who plays Deadpool, at Hugh Jackman are enjoyable. However, Wolverine’s welcome was so overstayed by this point that it all became old hat quickly.
1 The X-Men Movies Basically Became All About Wolverine
In the end, it was sad to see the X-Men movie franchise as it existed over at Fox become mostly about Wolverine, more so than anyone or anything or anyone else. While the X-Men still frequently took the stage, and characters like Professor X and Magneto got a fair bit of screen time, nobody comes close to getting as much as Wolverine did.
The franchise had a lot of space to try out new things, but, in the end, Wolverine kept popping up, and too much time was devoted to him. Making Wolverine the mascot and/or connecting threads of these movies, in the end, just held them all back.
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