Hugh Jackman first donned the steel blades in 2000’s X-Men. He appeared in seven more movies as Wolverine before he finally hung up the role, apparently for good, in 2017’s Logan, with the probable exception of the upcoming Deadpool 3.
There are no plans yet to introduce the Merry Mutants to the MCU, but with Patrick Stewart’s Professor X making an appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it seems inevitable the X-men will be used eventually, and Wolverine is of course the brand’s most famous superhero. Hugh Jackman’s portrayal was iconic and replacing him will be difficult – difficult, but not impossible. Taron Egerton has certainly been mentioned as near-perfect for the role, but he’s far from the only one who could play it.
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe became a household name playing Harry Potter, the iconic boy wizard with round glasses and a trademark lightning bolt scar. It is all too easy, especially for child actors like him, to get typecast as the prototypical franchise-leading character he’d played in eight movies. Lucky for him, Radcliffe seems to have an excellent sense for career longevity and has put his Potter days firmly behind him with a series of interesting indie choices, such as a farting corpse in Swiss Army Man, an internet troll with rapid-fire stigmata in Guns Akimbo, and a singer with a penchant for parody in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
Although Radcliffe couldn’t rightfully be called stumpy, he does share Logan’s lack of stature. He’s also surprisingly muscular and has proven himself capable of growing facial hair. He’s also got something rather important with the wolverine: a willingness to fight beasts bigger than himself. If a boy armed only with a wand can take on He Who Must Not Be Named, surely a man with foot-long bone claws coated in indestructible adamantium could take on Sabretooth, a villain of equal might but lacking Logan’s strict code of honor.
John David Washington
The handsome son of Denzel Washington has all his father’s charm and chops, and more than enough talent to hush up any whispers of nepotism. Since he burst into public consciousness with leading roles in BlacKkKlansman, Tenet, Malcolm & Marie, and Beckett, John David Washington is taking up a lot of space in Hollywood but has yet to attach himself to a franchise.
Though Washington may not perfectly fit Wolverine’s description, he certainly has the physicality to play the role. He played ball in college, attending Morehouse on a football scholarship where he set the record for rushing yards. He signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent, played for NFL Europe with the Hamburg Sea Devils as a running back, and spent four years as a Sacramento Mountain Lion, but his football career ended when he tore his Achilles while trying out for the New York Giants. Football’s loss was Hollywood’s gain; in 2015 he joined Dwayne Johnson on Ballers playing a pro football player, and the rest is history. Wolverine never played football as a teenager, but having grown up in Cold Lake, Alberta his local team would have been the Calgary Stampeders, which coincidentally is the CFL team Dwayne Johnson played for briefly.
Shia LaBeouf
Like Radcliffe, Shia LaBeouf was also a child actor, known for TV’s Even Stevens and the movie Holes. A role opposite Will Smith in 2004’s I, Robot helped him transition to his own franchise-leading role as Sam Witwicky in Transformers. After some personal and career turbulence, LaBeouf seems poised to make a comeback after stunning audiences in films like Honey Boy, The Peanut Butter Falcon, and Pieces of a Woman.
LaBeouf has an undercurrent of tension running through him that would serve him well in portraying Wolverine’s explosive temper. But he’s also got a sad aloofness to him that is essential to Logan’s character who, despite being a prominent member of the Avengers, New Avengers, X-Force, and X-men, is still a loner at heart.
Aaron Paul
Aaron Paul became a household name starring in some of the world’s best television, including Breaking Bad, BoJack Horseman, and more recently, Westworld.
Paul often chooses outcast characters driven by rebellion, perfect for playing a brooding man given to animal-like savagery. And like Wolverine, Paul may also have a sense of animal empathy, being an avid beekeeper. Despite his success, Paul doesn’t see himself as a leading man, and Logan seems to feel much the same way, happy to keep to himself until called upon.
Chris Pine
As one of Hollywood’s heartthrob Chrises, Chris Pine has a unique vibe. Pine's roles are diverse enough to encompass blockbusters like Star Trek and Wonder Woman but also include animated voice roles, rom-coms, and the best part in a bad musical.
Chris Pine as Logan would be brilliant casting as he has an energy that screams BWE: Big Wolverine Energy. He’s a bit wild and a little mysterious. Pine is the dark horse of Chrises. He’s cool because he doesn’t try to be. He has the breadth to be a leading man, an action hero, and a character actor. He may not be the obvious choice, but like Jackman, he’d become the role, making it his.
Nick Offerman
Ron Swanson may have been a man’s man, but Nick Offerman is an enlightened individual. He does, however, carve wood with his bare hands and grow facial hair on demand. He brings the machismo without the toxic masculinity. He oozes a bushman mystique that would translate well to Wolverine.
Offerman is without a doubt the most believable as a man who would seek solitude in the Canadian wilderness. He’s also got an old-school energy that would choose blades over guns. But he’s also got that gruff uncle thing going, convenient since Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is currently looking for a new mentor and Wolverine and Spider-Man do go way back.
David Oyelowo
David Oyelowo is a classically trained actor who can do anything, from playing civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma to voicing ultimate bad guy Scar in Disney’s The Lion Guard. Were he to play Wolverine, he could bring the gravitas, with simmering rage hidden cleverly beneath. Like Hugh Jackman, who memorably played Jean Valjean in 2012’s Les Misérables, Oyelowo was a scene stealer as Javert in the 2018 miniseries, to much more acclaim than Russell Crowe, though to be fair, it was a nonmusical adaptation.
Some Marvel fans like to insist on strict accuracy when it comes to casting, but most viewers would agree that essence is much more important. In any case, Oyelowo has already made history as the first Black actor to portray an English monarch for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He’s a trailblazer.
Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon is a delightful loose cannon, constantly shocking audiences with his pinballing talent, going from a book burner to shady broker, crusader, mob boss, holiday drug dealer, and more.
Wolverine feels like a credit that belongs on Shannon’s resume. There’s something essentially undomesticated about him that feels right for the role. Wolverine is said to be cursed with a berserker fury, and if anyone has berserk energy just waiting to be unleashed, it’s Michael Shannon.
Phil Dunster
Known to British audiences as LCpl, Will Jensen on Strike Back, Jamie Tartt on Apple TV’s Ted Lasso and to wider audiences as football’s bad boy, Phil Dunster is poised to take the next leap in what promises to be a fruitful career.
A rugby player in his youth, he was keeping fit with boxing when the producers of Ted Lasso called. Now he does high-intensity interval training to keep a leaner footballer’s physique. As Jamie Tartt, fans already know Dunster’s got what it takes to play a hard man with ferocity, but he’s also got that physique that keeps Wolverine in fighting shape.
Dafne Keen
In 2017’s Logan, the near future (2029) saw a world where mutants were nearly extinct. Logan was dispirited and lonely when a girl named Laura is left in his care. Laura (aka X-23) is a mutant made from Logan’s DNA in a genetic experiment to make mutant children and train them into super soldiers. Laura has two adamantium claws in each hand, and one in each foot. Logan gives everything he has left to get her to safety.
Hugh Jackman decided to retire as Wolverine with the film Logan. Thanks to Logan’s sacrifice, Laura survives the end of the film, her future uncertain but at least she’s free. At the time, Jackman expressed hope that X-23 (Dafne Keen) would go on to become the new Wolverine. Only time will tell.