It is no secret that Avengers: Infinity War is going to have a lot of characters in it. This impressive gathering of the Marvel Cinematic Universe biggest heroes is a fan dream, as they will be coming together for a cosmic clash with the Mad Titan Thanos, akin to the crossover events of the comics. That said, the vastness of the comic universe dwarfs the MCU, and thus there will be many popular Marvel characters that will not show up in Infinity War. But of all those many Marvel characters, which one do the Russo Brothers most wish they could have added to Infinity War. Well, Anthony Russo echoed the sentiments of many a Marvel fan, saying:
It would probably be Wolverine.
Sometimes the obvious answer is also the right one. Speaking to Games Radar, the Russo Brothers touch on a long held hope by fans that Wolverine, ideally Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, would one day show up in an Avengers film to fight side by side with Spider-Man and Captain America as he has done in the comics. When asked the question, the Russo's begin by saying to look at the favorite Marvel characters and there is no argument that if he isn't the most popular Marvel character, Wolverine is almost certainly top 3 and unquestionably top 5. Hugh Jackman has spoken in the past about how much he would like to show up in an Avengers film, and the Russos are fans themselves, so there really is no better answer.
If you were to ask me "Do you want to see Wolverine in Infinity War?" the obvious answer is "Of course I do." But when you actually look at the logistics, things get much more complicated. Ignoring the fact that Marvel doesn't have the rights to Wolverine (yet), seeing Hugh Jackman or a recast Wolverine tearing into Thanos and the Black Order sounds awesome, but introducing the character in a movie like this causes a lot of problems. Wolverine isn't some kid who got bit and put on a suit one day; he's a mutant, and mutants haven't been established in the current MCU. So to do so would require dedicating a certain amount of screen time to that character and that mythology in a film that is already stuffed to the brim with character and story. The rumored appearance of Silver Surfer or the Fantastic Four would all be less complicated than introducing mutants into a world that has never had them. The multiverse and reality-altering implications of Scarlet Witch and the Infinity Stones could make it work, but it would be quite the task.
It's a good bet that the Marvel Fox characters, like Wolverine, will one day show up in the MCU once the Disney-Fox deal is finalized, and Logan will probably be one of the first to make the jump. If this deal were done three years ago, perhaps Wolverine would be showing up in Infinity War, but the nice thing about the MCU is it isn't going anywhere and there is plenty of time left. In the meantime, there are still plenty of characters from the MCU that probably won't be showing up even if we'd like them to, like those from Marvel's television series. I fully expect that Marvel and the Russo Brothers have some surprises in store for us next week, but we'll probably have to wait a little longer for Wolverine and the X-Men to appear the MCU. At least we also have Avengers 4 next year.
Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters, sans Wolverine, on April 27. For all the latest on why you can never have too many superheroes, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.
