What if? director implies how Hugh Jackman could’ve almost played Wolverine in a Season 3 episode

Hugh Jackman, the legendary actor behind Wolverine in the X-Men franchise, was almost going to feature in the third season of Marvel's animated What If...? as revealed in a recent fascinating behind-the-scenes revelation by the show's director Bryan Andrews.

Unfortunately, due to the property rights issues concerning characters during the acquisition process of Fox by Disney, this instance was not able to be explored completely by the creative heads.

Andrews regretted not having incorporated the character into the storyline and explained how clearer communication regarding the merger would have paved the way for Wolverine's inclusion. Fans surely would love to know what could have been in this alternate Marvel reality.

The Missed Opportunity

When the creative team was in the throes of developing What If...? Season 3, they were not quite aware of how far Disney's buying from Fox had opened up character rights for them. This uncertainty resulted in some of the characters being put aside, especially mutants like Wolverine. Andrews said, "In hindsight, I think we were kicking ourselves.... we could have done more mutants this season."

Especially with Hugh Jackman back to reprising his iconic role, anything including Wolverine would have made the episodes even more extraordinary. Jackman has been electrifying ever since making his appearance as Wolverine back in the early 2000s, and with What If...? this would have tied the worlds of live-action and animated Marvels even closer than ever.

Implications for Future Marvel Projects

This just underlines the fact that there are so many complications at play when giant corporations merge, not to mention the integration of their intellectual properties. Only after the rights were already secured, the superheroes discovered to have character rights delayed factored in the opportunity missed with the What If...? series. Future Marvel projects will open their doors more freely to these characters with the rights now firmly in place.

Trending

For fans, the possibility of Hugh Jackman voicing Wolverine in a new animated series or making a live-action appearance in the future is a very thrilling prospect. As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand, the inclusion of characters like Wolverine promises a whole host of exciting new narrative opportunities.

While What If...? Season 3 missed the chance to incorporate Hugh Jackman's Wolverine due to uncertainties in production, this emphasizes the need for absolute transparency in the creative process, particularly during transitions of a corporate nature. The character rights are now clear, and there are indeed fresh hopes for featuring Wolverine in upcoming Marvel projects that fans all over the world highly anticipate.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback

Comment