8 Reasons Wolverine Is The Most Disappointing Part Of X-Men: Apocalypse
One thing Logan won't want to remember.
What would an X-Men movie be without Wolverine? Hugh Jackman's appeared as his most famous character in every film in the series (even getting a quick cameo in the one set forty years before he even met Charles Xavier) and, while not popping up in the flesh, was a running joke in Deadpool.
So of course he was going to be in X-Men: Apocalypse. The actor and crew repeatedly denied it, sure, but it came as little surprise when the claws "snikting" out at the end of the movie's third trailer (I mean, he was on set, which is typically a big giveaway).
The promise of getting Wolverine in the doomsday-inclined mutant showdown made the X-Men once again a must-see superhero flick - like Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War or Wonder Woman in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice it was some straight-up "added value" - and in the lead up to release was one of the biggest points of speculation.
But it doesn't work. X-Men: Apocalypse is a disappointing film across the board, with none of the strong characters or tight storytelling we've come to expect from the franchise (flubs The Last Stand and Origins: Wolverine notwithstanding), but the most lacklustre element is this extended Alkali Lake cameo sequence. Here's why (with pretty heavy spoilers).
8. It's The Continuation Of An Annoying Comic Trope
It's not just on film that Wolverine's a massive draw. After being first introduced as a one-shot villain for Hulk, he quickly became a defining part of the newly refreshed Giant Size X-Men. From there, it was just a snowball effect, with him rising above the original characters to become the series' massive icon.
It got to a point where the effect he had on an issues sales began to eclipse anyone else and, in an effort to capitalise that, there was a spate of offshoot comics where Logan would appear on a cover along with the disclaimer "Wolverine does not appear in this issue." That's right - to boost sales of random characters, Wolverine was called in to dupe unsuspecting readers.
That's very similar to the situation we have in cinemas. Yes, Wolverine is in the movie, so it's not blatant false advertising, but Hugh Jackman's only in the movie so he can get a prime-positioned place in the trailers; he's become essential to such a point where he's viewed as a key deciding factor for the audience. It's just as cynical on screen as it was in print.
If Fox really do believe it isn't even an X-Men movie without Jackman, they're going to have to switch tact soon given that the actor's citing Wolverine 3 as his final film. Maybe just replace him with Deadpool (he did well enough with just a Jackman mask).