21 Perfect Superhero Movie Casting Choices That Nailed Their Characters
4. Hugh Jackman As Wolverine - X-Men Franchise
20th Century Fox
With the role propelling Jackman to international stardom and critical acclaim everywhere, you'd probably be surprised to hear that, back in 2000, people weren't too happy with his casting as the metal-bound Canadian icon.
No, fans were far more concerned with the Aussie actor's height than they were his acting chops, which is probably the most pedantic criticism to level at an actor before they've even shot their first scenes.
Either way, Jackman's initial detractors were most certainly proven wrong when the first X-Men film dropped, and as the actor is set to depart the role with the final Wolverine solo film, I think it's fair to say that the 16 years he's played the character were ones well spent.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
