Wolverine (birth name: James Howlett; alias: Logan and Weapon X) is a character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics, mostly in association with the X-Men. He is a mutant who possesses animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, a powerful regenerative ability known as a healing factor, and three retractable claws in each hand. Wolverine has been depicted variously as a member of the X-Men, X-Force, Alpha Flight, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers.

The character appeared in the last panel of The Incredible Hulk #180 before having a larger role in #181 (cover-dated November 1974). He was created by Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, writer Len Wein, and Marvel art director John Romita Sr. Romita designed the character's costume, but the character was first drawn for publication by Herb Trimpe. Wolverine then joined a revamped version of the superhero team the X-Men, where eventually writer Chris Claremont, artist Dave Cockrum, and artist-writer John Byrne would play significant roles in the character's development. Artist Frank Miller collaborated with Claremont and helped revise the character with a four-part eponymous limited series from September to December 1982, which debuted Wolverine's catchphrase, "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice."

Wolverine is typical of the many tough antiheroes that emerged in American popular culture after the Vietnam War;  his willingness to use deadly force and his brooding loner nature became standard characteristics for comic book antiheroes by the end of the 1980s. As a result, the character became a fan favorite of the increasingly popular X-Men franchise, and has been featured in his own solo Wolverine comic book series since 1988.

He has appeared in most X-Men adaptations, including animated television series, video games, and the live-action 20th Century Fox X-Men film series, in which he is played by Hugh Jackman. Troye Sivan portrayed a younger version in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

MCU: Everything That's Been Said About Hugh Jackman Returning as Wolverine

Hugh Jackman said farewell to the Marvel character back in 2017, but is there now a possibility we'd see him return as Wolverine in the MCU?

Hugh Jackman played the famous Marvel mutant Wolverine in various X-Men films for 17 years. He was first introduced as the character in 2000's X-Men and became an immediate fan favorite when the movie was released, leading him to continue in the role for eight more movies until his retirement from the character in 2017's Logan, which saw Wolverine sacrifice his life. Jackman felt it was the right time to retire from the role, and it was time to move on to let someone else play the iconic X-Men character. However, in 2019, Disney acquired the rights to the X-Men following their purchase of Fox, and since then, there have been rumors that Jackman might possibly return as Wolverine in the MCU. Especially now that the MCU is exploring the Multiverse, and we've seen Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield return to their roles as Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it's not a huge stretch that Jackman could return even if it's just for a single movie.

Last year, when asked about the rumors, Jackman told YouTuber Jack Hamilton, "The fact that I'm hearing this from you, and there's nothing in my inbox from Kevin Feige, means it's probably, no matter what idea I came up with, not on the table." Yet, now that Patrick Stewart reprised his role as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and rumors are that Fiege wants Jackman to return as Wolverine to join the MCU, there could be a chance that he possibly got the email. In the past, Jackman has also said, if Disney had acquired the rights to the X-Men earlier, he would've loved to join the MCU, but regardless, he has made it clear that he will never return to Marvel as Wolverine.

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time a Marvel actor lied about being involved in an MCU movie. Many actors from No Way Home lied to keep the movie's secrets under wraps, and with how notoriously secretive Marvel is, we won't know if Jackman is returning as Wolverine until we're sitting in the movie theater watching the movie that'll introduce Wolverine into the MCU.

Should Hugh Jackman Return as Wolverine?
Many fans are crossing their fingers that we'll get at least one more movie featuring Jackman's Wolverine, but the honest truth is, should that really happen? He spent almost two decades in the role, and with that came maintaining his physique with strict diets, work out regimens to either bulk or cut, and dehydrating himself to look good shirtless on-screen — the latter of which is something, as Ranker has outlined, that has become very common for male actors in terms of body image since the rise of superhero movies. And even after all of that, Jackman still gave us closure with his farewell as the character in Logan. It was a great way to close the door on that era of X-Men and open the door for Disney to bring in the next generation of mutants. We've seen the full extent of Jackman's Wolverine and him returning, even just for one movie, wouldn't do much but provide fan service. It's possible that Marvel fans will need to learn to let go of their beloved actors in these roles and embrace the change if Jackman decides he will never return to the character. Looking at the MCU X-Men's future, anything he does would ultimately end up being just a cameo.

Actors Rumored to Play Wolverine in the MCU
Even if Jackman does decide to come back to play Wolverine, we'd likely only get something similar to No Way Home, with him only returning for one movie, which means Marvel Studios is currently looking for an actor to take on the character across an entire franchise of films. While we have our own list of actors we think should play Wolverine, there are already actors that are being considered. There have been rumors that actors like Daniel Radcliffe, Pablo Schreiber, Karl Urban, and Scott Eastwood, son of action legend Clint Eastwood, are in the running for the part, but it's Taron Egerton's name that keeps coming up, and he's apparently in talks with Marvel to play Wolverine. Egerton confirmed he has been in talks with Marvel and is very open about possibly playing Wolverine in the MCU, but we may not know for a while considering that an X-Men movie is years away.

Barry Windsor-Smith (born Barry Smith, 25 May 1949) is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best known work has been produced in the United States. He attained note working on Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian from 1970 to 1973, and for his work on the character Wolverine, particularly the 1991 "Weapon X" story arc. His other noted Marvel work included a 1984 "Thing" story in Marvel Fanfare, the "Lifedeath" and "Lifedeath II" stories with writer Chris Claremont that focused on the de-powered Storm in The Uncanny X-Men, as well as the 1984 Machine Man limited series with Herb Trimpe and Tom DeFalco.

After leaving Marvel, Windsor-Smith became the creative director and lead artist at Valiant Comics, where he illustrated the company's revival of the 1960s Gold Key Comics character Solar, and created the original characters Archer and Armstrong. He was also the chief designer of the "Unity" crossover storyline. After leaving Valiant in 1993, Windsor-Smith did work through a number of publishers, including co-creating the vampiric character Rune with Chris Ulm, which was published as part of Malibu Comics' Ultraverse. Rune's adventures included a crossover with Conan that Windsor-Smith wrote and illustrated. He also provided art for the WildStorm Productions/Image Comics storyline "Wildstorm Rising", though he later came to regret that work. He subsequently created an oversized anthology series, Barry Windsor-Smith: Storyteller through Dark Horse Comics, though it was cancelled after nine issues.