Marvel Studios intends to reboot the X-Men after Avengers: Secret Wars, but rumours continue to swirl that Hugh Jackman will still be the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Wolverine (a character he first played in 2000).
Nothing is confirmed as we write this, but it makes sense for Marvel Studios to keep the spotlight on Jackman. After all, Deadpool & Wolverine proved that he's a much bigger draw than any other actor who could take over the role. The actor's popularity will no doubt continue to rise after Avengers: Doomsday, and it seems neither Kevin Feige nor most fans are ready to say goodbye.
Regardless of what the future holds, we've rounded up the comic book stories we'd love to see adapted or used as a key source of inspiration for Wolverine—and, more specifically, Jackman's iteration—heading into the "Mutant Saga."
There are some exciting possibilities 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.
With that in mind, 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 brief 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 that respect, he isn't hugely 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 can be where we pick up with Wolverine as his MCU story begins anew?
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 MCU. Don't forget, Ogun's existence in this shared world was also teased in the aforementioned 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. Instead, Nitro could 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. All-New, All-Different Wolverine
When Logan died, X-23 stepped up to take his place as the All-New Wolverine. Seeing how Laura, Wolverine's clone, adapted to the mantle made for compelling reading, and the 2015 comic book series also introduced the hero's previously unseen clone sisters.
One of them, Gabby, even became Laura's sidekick, and this is something we believe would be well worth exploring in a future movie. Dafne Keen should obviously reprise the role, though we'd like to see Jackman's Wolverine serving as her mentor.
Not only would this allow the actor to step back into a supporting role, but it would also give the MCU a young new Wolverine, unlike anything we've seen on screen before (and fans would surely be invested in her story, seeing as it began way back in 2017's Logan).