Whether he likes it or not, Hugh Jackman will always be known for his role as Wolverine. For decades, the actor has faithfully portrayed Marvel’s most feral hero, even if Fox Studios’ original depiction of the character deviated away from the yellow-and-blue standard to adopt Ultimate Marvel’s muted black look instead. However, Jackman’s recent time in Wolverine’s original yellow suit has shown him why wearing the comic-accurate costumes matters.

When Hugh Jackman first debuted as Wolverine in 20th Century Fox’s X-Men (2000) film, the world was introduced to a new type of comic book adaptation that shifted away from seemingly outlandish costumes and absurd antics to instead embrace the black-leather look of Mark Millar’s Ultimate X-Men.

However, Jackman revealed in the media campaign for Deadpool & Wolverine, originally reported by Cinemablend.com, that donning the classic yellow-and-blue costume made him feel “more grounded, deeper, connected than [he] ever had before.” Just like Logan himself, when the pointed cowl goes up, the person underneath is transformed into something greater than themselves.

Superheroes Are As Symbolic As Their Costumes

The Hero Isn’t The Person Underneath The Costume, It’s The Idea

If Marvel Comics has any point to make as a whole, it’s that anybody can be a hero. Whether it’s Sam Wilson or Steve Rogers, Captain America still valiantly stands for freedom and democracy in the face of tyranny. It could be Peter Parker or Miles Morales underneath the hood, but Spider-Man will always be there for the “little guy” regardless. Logan, Laura Kinney, and Hugh Jackman each face the same phenomenon; the moment their identity is concealed by the costume, the raging mutant hero Wolverine arises to unleash feral justice against the truly evil. In Hugh Jackman’s own words:

“When I got in the yellow and blue, I knew immediately it would work. I was astonished at how we never tried it, never looked at it, but when I see it, particularly with that cowl, I feel more than ever before that Hugh Jackman is lost, gone. It’s just Wolverine.”

While there has been an active discourse around the practicality of superhero costumes, Jackman perfectly defends the use of comic-accurate costumes in modern superhero mixed media. Superheroes are just as much a symbol as the costumes they wear. Their ideals are just as abstract as the evils they face. But the moment a person dons the colorful costume, they assume the physical embodiment of the symbolic ideals their costumes represent. This is the point of superhero costumes, you put them on and instantly embody something bigger than yourself. The X-Men franchise is easily the best example of this concept.

The Original X-Men Films Miss Something Crucial Without The Right Costumes

Mutants' Costumed Looks Are A Cultural Identity To Mutantkind

In a time that sought to deviate away from traditional superhero comic norms, 20th Century Fox’s original X-Men films were inspired by the newly emerged Ultimate Marvel Universe, which sought to break away from color and spectacle to instead embrace a modernized, “realistic” version of Marvel’s iconic heroes. However, in doing so, the Ultimate Universe, and therefore the X-Men films, lost something critically important to the characters within the story. Not only did they lose the symbolic nature that being a superhero often demands, but they also lost a crucial element that defines the X-Men franchise: identity.

Nowadays, it’s become a social norm for mutants to shed aside their birth names to embrace a new mutant-specific identity. In a world that seeks to exterminate mutantkind, choosing one’s mutant name and costume is a rite of age, just as something like Terrigeneisis would be for Inhumans. In time, every mutant is given a chance to transcend their human limitations and become a living symbol of their own ideals. For mutantkind, this transformation is part of their culture. To the X-Men, every mutant is a hero of their own making and their costumes are a mark of that belief.

Logan Doesn't Need To Be A Hero Because Wolverine Is

Hugh Jackman Isn't Too Different From Logan Himself In This Way

Whether it’s the X-Men or any of Marvel’s non-mutant heroes, a hero’s costume isn’t just a claim to identity, it’s a promise. It’s a promise to be something bigger than yourself. Logan and his successors don’t need to be heroic people at all times because the Wolverine is. Most characters who have donned the title and look carry a long and bloody history which is made null the moment they become the hero. Yes, Wolverine is savage and often furious, but it’s also a weapon against the forces of evil that would seek to undo mutantkind’s tepid peace.

Marvel Studios’ choice to rely on the comic-accurate costume aligned both the actor and the character’s intent to become something greater than themselves.

Hugh Jackman’s relationship with the character isn’t all that dissimilar. Ultimately, Wolverine was always supposed to be the hero, not Jackman. While the actor has become synonymous with the character, he isn’t the hero himself. Through Fox Studios’ X-Men films, most characters simply became extensions of the actors portraying them. But Marvel Studios’ choice to rely on the comic-accurate costume aligned both the actor and the character’s intent to become something greater than themselves.

With Deadpool and Wolverine, Marvel did what Fox wouldn’t, and, in doing so, debuted a completely realized version of Wolverine who could be the savage hero that High Jackman probably couldn’t ever be in real life.

Source: Cinemablend.com