Hugh Jackman Wins Over Indian Fans By Suggesting Bollywood Legend Shah Rukh Khan Could Play WOLVERINE
Here's a fun bit of fan casting, courtesy of Logan star Hugh Jackman himself, who recently suggested that megastar Shah Rukh Khan could take up the Wolverine mantle in the future. Come take a look!
With over seventy film credits (which include countless award-winning performances) to his name, an unprecedented net worth (for an actor) of over $600 million, and a passionate fan base that reaches into the hundreds of millions worldwide, Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan (a.k.a. King Khan) is unequivocally the biggest movie star in the world.
So, you're probably wondering: 'How come you haven't heard of him?' Well, that has more to do with him steering clear of Hollywood for the better part of his nearly 25-year career, but that's not to say there haven't been flirtations over the years, with a prime example being a potential project with Martin Scorsese & Leonardo DiCaprio back in 2010 that started to pick up some steam but never materialized for reasons unknown.
Now, ever since Logan was confirmed to be Hugh Jackman's final outing as the fan-favorite Wolverine, there have been countless fan castings over the past few year or so on who should be the next actor to take up the claws, with Jackman even publicly voicing his support for The Dark Knight Rises star Tom Hardy back in 2015. And, while the jury's still out on whether we'll actually even see a new Wolverine on-screen in the near future or if it'll be Dafne Keen's X-23 who takes on the mantle (as she rightly should), it's still always fun to hear some of the potential candidates.
Earlier this week, while on the press tour for Logan, Jackman added another name to the pot when he was asked by popular Indian film critic Rajeev Masand on how he might feel seeing another actor playing this character that's more or less become synonymous with his entire career. "I think I'll be fine with it, I hope other people play it, maybe Shah Rukh Khan could play it, who knows? The comic book series is so good because you've had so many people interpreting this role. I think there's like six origin stories. Everyone puts their own stamp on it. This is a great character. I'll be really interested to see how I'll feel about it, I want it to be really great... but, I don't want it to be that much better than me. A little bit better is fine, but if everyone were like 'Oh thank God, now..." I might find that a little difficult."
Check out Jackman's comments in the video below:
SRK definitely has the acting chops to bring forth Wolverine's rage and intensity (an intensity he's become well known for throughout the course of his illustrious career) and at 5'7" stands much closer to the 5'3" frame of the X-Men hero seen in the comics, however, considering Khan, at 51, is three years older than Jackman, it's highly unlikely we'd ever see this bit of awesome casting come to pass, but it is still a pretty cool gesture from Jackman, who first met Khan back at the FICCI Frames Awards back in 2011. Also, later in the interview, Jackman expressed his interest at potentially working with SRK in the future if the right project came up.
So, what do you guys think? What do you think of SRK as Weapon X? And who's your pick to play Wolverine next? Sound off with your thoughts below!
UPDATE: Shah Rukh Khan has responded to the buzz with his trademark wit:
In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border.
But Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.
Logan features:
Director: James Mangold
Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X
Dafne Keen as Laura Kinney/X-23
Boyd Holbrook as Donald Pierce
Richard E. Grant as Zander Rice
Stephen Merchant as Caliban
Eriq La Salle as Will Munson
Elise Neal as Kathryn Munson
Quincy Fouse as Nate Munson
Doris Morgado as Maria
Elizabeth Rodriguez as Gabriela
David Kallaway as Danny Rhodes
Han Soto as Valet
Krzysztof Soszynski as Mohawk
Logan claws his way into theaters March 3