Earlier this month, a crazy rumour found its way online claiming that Hugh Jackman plans to continue playing Wolverine for the next decade.
Marvel Studios supposedly wants a Deadpool & Wolverine trilogy, while we have to believe the actor would also take centre stage in the X-Men franchise and his own standalone projects (one of which is rumoured to be Wolverine vs. Hulk).
Nothing is confirmed as we write this but it makes sense for Marvel Studios to keep the spotlight on Jackman, especially when he's a much bigger draw than any other actor who could possibly take over the role. Now, we've rounded up the comic book stories we'd love to see adapted or used as a key source of inspiration in the next decade.
There are countless ways for these stories to inform what's next for Wolverine in the MCU, and you can see our top picks by clicking the "Next"/"View List" buttons below...
8. Enemy Of The State
After being brainwashed by HYDRA, Logan was sent on several missions that involved him hunting down some of his fellow superheroes and, tragically, even saw him forced into killing fellow X-Man, Northstar. When he did finally regain his senses, Wolverine was out for revenge, using a Sentinel to take out a group of ninjas and taking on the seemingly unstoppable Gorgon in an epic, bloody battle.
Deadpool & Wolverine renewed interest in Logan but the character is still one we've spent an awful lot of time with in theaters.
So, sending him on a rampage through the MCU and having him cross paths with everyone from Captain America to the Fantastic Four would make his return another must-see event (and should give Jackman more to sink his teeth into than the team-ups we'll see in the next Avengers movies).
7. Mister X
Mister X is a wealthy businessman with a killing addiction who cuts a scar into his body for every life he takes. In all honestly, that side of things isn't too different from classic Batman villain Victor Zsasz.
Still, Wolverine encounters the villain (who soon realises that he too is a mutant with the ability to psychically predict the next movement of his opponents) when they come face to face in a Madripoor fighting tournament Logan is forced to take part in. After initially being overpowered by X, the clawed hero goes into a berserker rage to stop him once and for all.
The Madripoor setting and tournament - no doubt featuring plenty of familiar faces - would make a great backdrop for a project like this following the island's all-too-brief introduction in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Perhaps this is where Jackman's Wolvie will go after being forced to come to terms with his new reality.
6. Savage Wolverine
Savage Wolverine was written and pencilled by Frank Cho. Stranded in the Savage Land (an iconic Marvel location we still haven't visited in the MCU), Logan battles dinosaurs and mutates, ultimately finding an unlikely ally in Shanna the She-Devil.
However, the twist here is that rather than having Wolverine and Shanna become romantically attached during their adventure, they actually annoy the hell out of each other, a fun dynamic to explore on screen. This was a fun and pulpy tale with a unique take on the well-known mutant, thereby giving Marvel Studios some solid material to use as a starting point.
A Savage Land setting also means that Wolverine could slash his way through monstrous enemies, showcasing what a powerhouse he is when those claws are unleashed. Another of those stories with the potential to unfold in any time period, what a way this would be to introduce the Savage Land. And yes, it needs to be R-Rated.
5. Get Mystique
Mystique was a major part of pretty much every single one of Fox's X-Men movies, and it seems the majority of fans have had quite enough of her at this stage. However, there are still ways for the MCU to reinvent the shape-shifter.
With that in mind, why not give her a supporting role in a future Wolverine project? In "Get Mystique," Logan hunts down the blue-skinned beauty after she betrays the X-Men. However, as well as being a story that features the two mutants outmanoeuvring each other at every turn in the present, it also reveals some of their shared history in flashbacks to the 1920s.
In that, they went on a Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque robbery spree in Kansas, and this stands a chance of being a legitimately enjoyable way to explore the history of both Wolverine and Mystique in a period the MCU hasn't ever really explored in a significant way.
4. Wolverine & Kitty Pryde
There were once plans at Fox for Kitty Pryde to get her own spin-off, but those fell by the wayside after the Disney merger. Despite that, a future movie pairing Shadowcat with her father figure/mentor, Wolverine, gives Marvel Studios a great opportunity to highlight one of the strongest female characters in comics.
After Kitty follows her actual father to Tokyo where she believes he is being harassed by the Yakuza, Wolverine sets out to track down the young mutant. However, he finds that Kitty has been brainwashed by one of the samurai who once trained him; Ogun. By delving into the relationship between these two, we'd end up with a Wolverine movie that feels like a breath of fresh air.
Kitty, now more commonly known as Kate, is one of the best X-Men characters, and we're optimistic that the hero is going to have a bright future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Don't forget, Ogun's existence in this shared world was also teased in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier...
3. Nitro
While the X-Men decided to keep out of the superhuman Civil War in the comic books, Wolverine still took it upon himself to track down the villain responsible for the explosion which killed sixty children at a nearby elementary school and around 600 people in the surrounding neighbourhood in Stamford, Connecticut: Nitro.
We've obviously had a "Civil War" in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Nitro could instead be a mutant that Wolverine decides to hunt down for causing a similar disaster (one which perhaps takes out a young group of mutant superheroes rather than the New Warriors). Wolverine is always at his best hunting down an enemy, and this is a story with tonnes of potential.
This feels like a story Jackman's Wolverine would be particularly well-suited for, perhaps even touching on some of the themes and ideas surrounding the hero's immortality that James Mangold didn't have room for in 2017's Logan.
2. Wolverine And The X-Men
20th Century Fox's X-Men movies rarely tried something new, explaining why Magneto was a villain in every one of them. In the MCU, we're hoping Marvel Studios plans to shake things up a little and that could mean bidding (a temporary) farewell to Professor X.
X-Men '97 soared by showing characters like Cyclops and Magneto leading the team, but what about Wolverine? If he's the only mutant from the Multiverse left on the new Sacred Timeline when all is said and done - and even if he's just older than his young teammates - why not make him the team leader or, better yet, Headmaster?
This happened in the pages of Wolverine and the X-Men when the team split into two factions. Taking on Professor X's old role was a learning curve for Logan and would be a fascinating new dynamic for Jackman to explore after playing this character for such a long time.
1. Old Man Logan
Logan was not the Old Man Logan adaptation we wanted. In the comics, villains rule the Earth and the Avengers and X-Men are both long gone. Wolverine has retired but is later forced to travel through the Wastelands, encountering many familiar faces along the way.
The story culminated with Wolverine killing the President - Red Skull - and The Hulk who, as he's aged, has bred a family of inbred children. It's all pretty dark and twisted, and could only really play out in a standalone "possible future" movie. So, why include it here?
Well, as much as we'd love to see Old Man Logan on screen, Marvel Studios can follow the comics by having this older Wolverine join the X-Men. In the comics, that happened after the original Wolverine died, and it makes it that little bit easier for Jackman to continue playing the hero for upwards of a decade.
Perhaps when he finally falls in battle, it's then that the "new" Wolverine can make his presence felt?