Movie Club: X-Men

"LiamABC, post: 127403, member: 25438" said:

Hugh Jackman really looked the part of Wolverine - I've heard it said that he was too young, but not really when you factor in that the character of Wolverine was already way older than anyone else in the movie, he was over a century old already. As long as he looked old enough to not be asked for ID, he was fine...

Don't forget he was also far too tall.

"Wilycub, post: 127407, member: 25043" said:

It's funny you should say that because many of these actors were not the first choice of the producers. Dougray Scott was to play Wolverine but he backed out at the last moment because of "Mission Impossible 2". Instead of Rogue, the first X-Men movie was to have a character called Jubilee and they wanted Natalie Portman to play it. When she turned it down, they changed the character to Rogue and Anna Paquin was cast only after the producers first choice Sarah Michelle Geller couldn't accept the role. Cyclops was initially to be played Michael Biehn. When he turned it down Jim Caviezel signed on but later on had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Angela Bassett was the first choice to play Storm then it was Jada Pinkett Smith and only after she turned it down did the role go to Halle Berry.Helen Hunt was the first choice for the role of Jean Grey.

Strangely enough I think some of those first choices would maybe have been better than the actors that did get the roles.

"Mark M, post: 127414, member: 5058" said:

Don't forget he was also far too tall.

I remember reading an interview long ago in which the director said that they didn't think Jackman was physically right for the role as he was too tall and too good-looking and in the comics, Wolverine was short, stout and very animalistic. Believe it or not, back in the late 80s when the studios first started thinking about making an X-Men movie, the actor they had in mind to play Wolverine was................. BOB HOSKINS!!!!! :00

WTF? Actually it's quite ironic that the Australian Hugh Jackman played Wolverine given that I have seen two separate animated appearances of the X-Men from the 80s - one an episode of Spiderman And His Amazing Friends, the other a failed pilot for their own show, in which Wolverine appears with an Australian accent.

"Wilycub, post: 127417, member: 25043" said:

I remember reading an interview long ago in which the director said that they didn't think Jackman was physically right for the role as he was too tall and too good-looking and in the comics, Wolverine was short, stout and very animalistic. Believe it or not, back in the late 80s when the studios first started thinking about making an X-Men movie, the actor they had in mind to play Wolverine was................. BOB HOSKINS!!!!! :00

Bob Hoskins is indeed a strange choice. He would definitely have needed some serious gym time to get into shape.

The height problem is a real issue with Wolverine. For a really accurate representation of Wolverine on screen he really needs to be quite short. That's his thing. He is short and muscular. With todays technology perhaps they could do something like in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and shoot from certain angles and perhaps make him smaller digitally.
I read one of the things Marvel had to do when casting the new Spider-Man was find an actor shorter than Robert Downey Jr.
Even when casting Anakin in the prequel trilogies they had to get an actor who was quite tall.
Any actor can get in shape and be muscular and do their hair like Wolverine's but being correct size is a lot more difficult.
[LEFT][FONT=Tahoma]After all he is called Wolverine because he matches their characteristics.
Wolverines are quite small but ferocious with a lot more strength than something their size should have and are able to kill animals far larger than themselves. Just like Wolverine.[/FONT][/LEFT]

I always imagined Wolverine to be Canadian or American, not Australian. The first time I seen Wolverine was in a Spider-Man comic with him and Spider-Man in Canada solving murders blamed on Wendigo.
[LEFT][FONT=Tahoma]Also wolverines are from the northern hemisphere. [/FONT][/LEFT]

Wolverine is quite short in the comics as I've learned through images like these:



In the height chart the only people shorter than Wolverine are Rocket Raccoon and Howard the Duck! LOL!

I guess that if the filmmakers had cast an actor who more closely resembles the comic book Wolverine, then perhaps Cyclops role would have been expanded more an he would have been the real central hero.

Oh and as far as Bob Hoskins being Wolverine, ........

Eat your heart out Hugh Jackman!!

"Wilycub, post: 127421, member: 25043" said:

Oh and as far as Bob Hoskins being Wolverine, ........

Eat your heart out Hugh Jackman!!

LOL. To be fair though with a good bit of work in the gym he could probably have pulled it off.
I always imagined an actor playing Wolverine would need a physique something like Chris Benoit. But even at 5' 10" he was a bit too tall for the role.

Coincidently Chris Benoit was known as ''The Rabid Wolverine'' because of his strength and smaller size compared to other wrestlers. And he is also Canadian.
Benoit was a great wrestler but sadly he is now remembered and known more for the tragic event surrounding the end of his life rather than his wrestling ability and career.

Wolverine in the actual X-Men cartoon and also the films was from somewhere either in the north of America or Canada, I forget where. His voice in the 1990s cartoon was just right for the character, and you could imagine him saying, "here, kitty, kitty!" in a very slow menacing growl.

Actually now that you mention it, Jackman's voice is an issue. It never sounds intimidating or menacing like in the cartoon.
When I read an X-Men comic I imagine the voice just like the cartoon.
If Jackman had done a different voice it may have helped him capture more of Wolverine's character.

It's been a while now since I saw it last but I seem to recall Jackman was playing him a la Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Actually that analogy does sort of fit with Wolverine's healing powers.

The funny thing with Rogue is, I didn't know her main power was taking people's life force energy when I saw the cartoon, or it didn't sink in, because it wasn't shown much, especially in the later series. Her flying and super strength were showcased more, but they were inherited from another character whose powers she'd accidentally taken permanently. By having Rogue as a younger character in the film discovering her powers, that was actually a very good move.

It would have been a lot more entertaing if the had shown Rogue getting her powers from Ms Marvel. Maybe not in the first film but definitely the sequels and wear costume, the leather jacket at least, like the comic and cartoon.

Possibly not very practical though. It's a tough power to display a good character using. Obviously a villain would use it willy-nilly but that's not Rogue.

Actually as far as I know in the comics I believe Rogue's first appearanc was as a villain involved with Magneto, Mystique and the Brotherhood of Mutants. Perhaps Rogue being manipulated by Magneto would have made a good sub plot for the movie.

"LiamABC, post: 127429, member: 25438" said:

Possibly not very practical though. It's a tough power to display a good character using. Obviously a villain would use it willy-nilly but that's not Rogue.

They could have shown her using it on the bad guys. ;)

"Wilycub, post: 127432, member: 25043" said:

They could have shown her using it on the bad guys. ;)

That was technically what Magneto did to her, he took advantage of her power in that first movie so that she could absorb some of his power.

The idea that the late Bob Hoskins was even considered as Wolverine is, to be honest, patently ludicrous - LOL. No offense to the guy, but he doesn't look anything like the character in the comics; would have been too old for the role (even in the first X-men film (2000)); and was nowhere near in the shape he needed to be to portray a tough & muscular brawler.

That being said, in addition to his many well-known roles (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, etc.), Hoskins also starred in two of my all-time favorite UK crime dramas, The Long Good Friday (1979) and Mona Lisa (1986) - both excellent films.