Hail to The Wolverine

The Wolverine opens July 26th

In 2000, 20th Century Fox released X-Men and it cemented Comic Book Movies into the mainstream; making Marvel into a studio. At the center of Bryan Singer's first comic book film was the franchise's most popular character Wolverine. For the key role, Singer chose an Australian actor to play the Weapon-X subject Logan named Hugh Jackman. Many fans clamored for a bigger name to play X-Men's most colorful character. One such event was at the San Diego Comicon in 2000 where a Wolverine fan referred to Jackman as a "pipsqueak".  That said, Jackman took to the first X-Men like an actor taking on a role, but before long Wolverine acquired another huge fan- Jackman himself. In the 13 years since the claws first popped out of Jackman's hands, he has steadily improved on his performance so much so that fans cheered loudly at his cameo in X-Men: First Class. It's actually amazing how Jackman's career has flourished while perfecting his character and avoiding type-casting. While many other actors have been "perfect" for their comic book characters, Jackman has actually shaped his own performance more and more to fit the character in the books.

Jackman has refined his performance
with each film.

In an interview with TV Guide in 2000, Jackman simply referred to Logan as "the type of guy that wakes up with a cold shower", but in an X2 interview Jackman was already looking forward to a new aspect of his character, "I want to see Wolverine go berserk and really let loose." The result: Jackman nails Wolverine's berserk mindset when the mansion is invaded. By the time Jackman got his own series with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he had more ideas on how to perfect himself. Two-a-day training regimens to get all of the veins bubbling to the surface. His mannerisms and attitude was pitch perfect (and certainly less whiney than X3). It's a shame it was halfway wasted on the series second worse film, but that didn't stop Jackman from improving his flagship role. "If you don't improve each time, what's the point," Jackman said in a 60 Minutes interview.

It's impressive that Marvel
hasn't hindered Jackman's
career one bit.

What makes Jackman more impressive than Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark, is the diversity of his roles since donning the claws. He won 2 Tonys for The Boy from Oz playing a gay choreographer, appeared in a handful of romantic comedies like Kate & Leopold and Someone Like You, more action films like Van Helsing and Swordfish, animated films like Happy Feet and Flushed Away, as well as Christopher Nolan's magician thriller The Prestige. When Hugh Jackman hosted the Oscars, he sang and danced around the stage concluding the opening number with "I AM WOLVERINE". There hasn't been a role Jackman has taken on without worrying about his future as Wolverine thus allowing him to grow as an actor while growing the Wolverine brand. Unlike Robert Downey Jr.'s recent comments about "overstaying his welcome", Jackman doesn't plan on retiring from the Weapon-X experiment anytime soon. Next year he will appear as Wolverine for the SEVENTH time in X-Men: Days of Future's Past.
It is a note that this blog has named Jackman as the best Comic Movie Hero in it's second post.