Danny DeVito as ‘Wolverine’?
Hugh Jackman left a gaping hole when he decided to retire as Wolverine — a 6-foot, 2-inch hole (Jackman’s height), to be precise.
Wolverine was never supposed to be that big a physical presence. As originally conceived for Marvel’s comic book pages, the popular X-Men member stood at 5-foot-3.
He was compact, fierce, powerful and clawed — just like the animal he was named after. And just in case the Marvel Cinematic Universe decides to revive the character, die-hard fans of the comics are looking for a little more accuracy — an actor who measures at least a foot shorter than Jackman.
As of Thursday, about 25,000 Change.org petition signers’ actor of choice was Danny DeVito.
“The only man able to take the throne after Hugh Jackman,” wrote Ring Arius, who started the petition. “We believe that if Wolverine is to make an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that the only man able to pull it off is Danny DeVito.”
At 4-foot-10, DeVito actually is more diminutive than the comic book Wolverine, but we understand the support behind the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star.
Here are some of the petition signers’ reasons: “He isn’t the wolverine we deserve but he is the wolverine we need”; “Danny is love, Danny is life”; “He is the only one who is able to take on such an important role”; “He is a God”; “Haven’t seen a Marvel movie in theaters yet, but I’d pay to see this”; “This is our duty to the world.”
DeVito as Wolverine isn’t a new idea. A fake movie poster previously posted on Instagram also received glowing reviews.
Jackman, 50, played Wolverine in nine X-Menrelated films, starting with 2000’s “X-Men” all the way to 2017’s “Logan.” The character died — super-heroically, of course — in the latter film.
The X-Men characters have not been part of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe because their movie rights had belonged to 20th Century Fox. But there’s a very good chance that Wolverine could be revived by Disney.